Meet the Trustees

Hartlebury Castle Preservation Trust is run by a team of committed trustees, who work closely with staff to ensure our activities are in line with the charity’s vision and objectives. Our trustees volunteer to be on the Board of Trustees, and receive no financial benefits for being in post; they provide governance and guidance inspired by a love for this historic building, its fascinating characters and the local community.

Our current trustees

Richard Amphlett

(Chair)

Richard is Managing Director of Cox Mahon Limited, a specialist insurance broking & advisory business, with offices in London and Shrewsbury. He was also a founding director and shareholder of a city-based marketing consultancy. Married to Annabel, with two adult children, he lives near Tenbury Wells. He was born and bought up in Worcestershire and moved back to live in the county in 2000. He served as High Sheriff of Worcestershire in 2021/22. He is a Patron of the Worcestershire Community Foundation and has been involved in many charities over the years, serving as a trustee of the Abberley Hall Foundation and the Tenbury Regal Trust. In his spare time, he enjoys many sports and is an active member of the Worcestershire Archery Society, using traditional long-bows.

David Cook

David is a retired IT professional with almost 40 years of experience in a variety of positions, including project, development, programme and release management. He worked for most of his career for a Midlands based IT company supplying solutions to major retail companies and was involved in managed services, loyalty, replenishment and point of sale. He is a keen caravanner and walker, spending time touring the UK over the summer. During the winter, he can often be found at Kidderminster Harriers where he is a season ticket holder.

Richard Earl

Richard trained as an engineer with Cosworth and changed direction to work for the NHS as a Rehabilitation Engineer, specialising in custom made seating for physically disabled people. Richard sits on the Wheelchair Leadership board, supporting the rights of disabled people and their access to wheeled mobility. He became interested in Hartlebury Castle following a life changing accident and began volunteering as a House Steward. He soon developed a passion for the place and particularly the structure and fabric of the buildings and grounds. He now leads the Odd Jobs team, who buzz about the buildings and grounds doing small repairs and projects.

Jane Finch

Jane taught in Worcestershire for 15 years before moving into local authority educational advisory services. She had an award winning career providing ICT support for Worcestershire schools, receiving BECTa awards for innovation. She also has international experience of consultancy in Italy and Hong Kong. She is a Fellow of NAACE and Senior Fellow of Mirandanet. Following retirement form the local authority she ran an independent consultancy service for local schools before retiring fully to devote her free time to Hartlebury Castle Preservation Trust. Jane leads on the Estate and Gardens for the Trust.

Robert Greenwood

Robert is a retired Chartered Civil and Structural Consulting Engineer. Previously Regional Director with Arup in Birmingham. Experience in historic buildings projects, leading design teams for performing arts project at home and abroad, including International Convention Centre and Symphony Hall, Birmingham. Wide procurement and commercial experience. As a post-graduate of Emmanuel College Cambridge Robert wishes to ensure that the library of Bishop Hurd, a Fellow of Emmanuel, stays intact and on the shelves created for him. Robert served as HLF project sponsor for the Trust and was a previous Trust Chair.

Lois Maguire-Cox

Lois started her career supporting children and families while working for various children’s charities across the country. She won Education Supporter of the Year in 2008 shortly before making the move to working with older people’s services. Lois currently works for a large local authority within their neighbourhood development and support unit – supporting small groups and charities with capacity building, training and distribution of grants. She has volunteered in her community for over 25 years – and since moving to Hartlebury, has wasted no time in getting involved with her new community. Lois wanted to join the Castle team to help build accessibility for people from all walks of life so they can enjoy the Castle and its rich history with no barriers!

Stuart Munday

Stuart is a retired Chartered Electrical Engineer with extensive experience of managing projects and operations in major projects in the materials handling and automotive industries. Since retiring in 2018 Stuart has become heavily involved with volunteering in various sectors and, with a developing interest in local history, joined Hartlebury as a house steward volunteer mid-2019. Subsequent to that, Stuart wanted to use his business experience to help further with the important heritage work being carried out at Hartlebury and was seconded to the Board of Trustees in early 2020. He has recently been appointed as joint Deputy Chair of the Trust.

Doug Smith

Doug spent his working life as a teacher of History at a girl’s secondary school. He retired from teaching in 2011 but has continued to contribute to the life of the school and 2023 marks his 50th year in teaching. He achieved a B.Ed degree in 1973 and an M.Ed degree in 1993. He was awarded an MBE for services to Education in 2012. He is chairman of the Bodenham Trust which gives grants to children with learning difficulties and has also helped to raise thousands of pounds for Muscular Dystrophy. He is passionate about history, gives talks to many different societies and has written four books.

Peter Stickland

Peter qualified as a Chartered Engineer after a degree in Natural Sciences from Cambridge. He has retired from a major multinational company, Corus Group and worked in international consulting for the mining and metals industry, specialising in business planning and business development. He then set up new manufacturing and construction businesses in different countries. Peter is also vice-chair of the Palace Trust, for Bishop’s Palace in Wells, Somerset, and led the implementation for the project, transforming it into a visitor attraction. He also advises international companies based in Romania. Peter and his wife Carol live in West Gloucestershire.

Paul West

Paul has 32 years of policing experience, including 8 years as the Chief Constable of West Mercia Police. He led the police service nationally on all matters concerning police misconduct, counter corruption and complaints against the police from 2006 to 2011. He sits on charitable and educational boards across the county, including as Chair of Governors for Bromsgrove School. Paul serves as an Independent Member of the Judicial Appointments Commission and is a member of the Prison Service Pay Review Body. He is the Bishop of Worcester’s Advisor on Criminal Justice and in 2018, was presented with the Cross of St Wulfstan in recognition of his voluntary roles in the Diocese.