Annual General Meeting 2023

AMANDA CRAIG has a lifelong interest in natural history having the privilege of being encouraged to explore the outdoors and be curious about nature throughout her childhood. Born and brought up in Kent, she has lived in Shrewsbury for almost 20 years.  She loves watching wildlife and travelling to visit different places, and has a particular passion for butterflies. Her career has spanned a variety of roles in the natural environment, ranging from habitat and site management through to policy development for Government. She has worked for Natural England over the past 20 years, including as Area Manager for West Midlands, Operations Director and presently as Director for People & Nature working on access to the outdoors, health and the environment, social inclusion and connecting people with nature. 

MANDIE HAYWOOD has worked as a teacher in Shropshire for over 32 years, 27 of those as a Headteacher. Since 2004 she has lead Old Park Primary School and Nursery in Malinslee, Telford. She believes that outdoor learning can enhance all areas of the curriculum and engage children of any background.  In 2020, Old Park was the first school in the country to sign up for the Nature Friendly Schools programme and the school has worked closely with Shropshire Wildlife Trust ever since.  Mandie has recently retired from teaching and is looking forward to getting involved in a range of projects with SWT now she has some spare time.

LARA RICHARDSON  has previously worked at the BBC and in other corporate environments; agency-side and in-house at a global animal welfare NGO and a marine conservation NGO, and is now the Associate Director of Marketing and Communications UK & EMEA at GlobalGiving and a Trustee at the Sumatran Orangutan Society. Lara works with organisations that aim to change hearts and minds, leading to shifts in behaviour and policy reform. She specialises in understanding different audience needs and then devising and implementing awareness-raising campaigns to spark action and create change. Passionate about social justice, animal welfare and protecting the planet, Lara lives by the words of Robert Swan: “The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.” 

ROB PAUL is a land agent specialising in estate management, diversification and renewable energy schemes. He graduated from Reading University in 1994 and then joined Strutt and Parker in Cheshire, moving to Shropshire in 2008. From 2020-22 he worked for Bradford Estates, a major landowner in Shropshire and Staffordshire, before joining the Telford office of Savills, where he leads their Estate Management team. He currently manages property portfolios for major institutional landowners as well as an array of private, corporate and charitable clients.  He has extensive knowledge the rural economy and in particular of emerging ‘green finance’ markets. Rob enjoys country pursuits - particularly walking in the South Shropshire Hills where he lives – and is a keen ‘birder’.