Management Committee

Ben is Chief Finance Officer at Yeo Valley Limited, and in the past has run his own business, providing financial services to assist new start-up businesses in the South West. He is a Chartered Accountant. He is passionate about organic horticulture, sustainability and environmental conservation, and is a founding member of Chew Valley Plants Trees and Chair of the Compton Martin Parish Council’s climate working group. He recently sat his RHS Level 2 Horticultural exams and is a keen gardener. Ben strongly believes that The Community Farm plays a vital role in the community as a platform for locally farmed organic produce that benefits our environment and our health and wellbeing.

Angela is a medical doctor with a grown-up family and lives in Bristol. She was part of the group of volunteers that established The Farm in 2010. She’s been on the management committee since the beginning, and became Chair in April 2015. Her motivation comes from a commitment to social justice and the care of the natural world. After qualifying in medicine, completing junior hospital jobs, and working for a while in Africa, Angela moved to Bristol in 1984. She worked as a Consultant in Public Health, and then became involved in Transition Bristol in 2008 and Bristol’s Food Policy Council in 2011.

Born in Croydon, South London, our family holidays to the countryside (combined with a love of food) created a basic curiosity in where food comes from. My education focused on business: Business Studies at school, Management at university, and then Financial Audit and becoming a Chartered Accountant as a graduate. But it was an organic veg box in Brisbane, some stern words from my partner, and the purchase of a campervan that persuaded me to spend six months on organic farms in Australia; this lit a passion for food and farming that helped me realise just how vital these things are when trying to look after our own health as well as that of the land. Following my return to the UK, I decided to pursue an MSc in Sustainable Agriculture. It was during these studies that I was lucky to start volunteering at The Community Farm. The rest is history! As Managing Director I am bringing together my experiences of both business and farming to guide The Community Farm forwards as it navigates turbulent times.

Elisa was born and grew up in a small village in the Dolomites in Italy and moved to Dublin in 1999 for what was supposed to be a short experience abroad to learn English. She settled in Bristol in 2003 where, over the last 20 years, she achieved her Chartered Accountant qualification, advanced her career in the financial services industry and raised a family. With the children growing up, she wanted to give back to the community as well as revive the connection with the land that she felt when helping her family in Italy tend to the allotments and fields. The Community Farm volunteering role provides the perfect opportunity to fulfil these goals.

Annie is a regular volunteer at The Farm, both with the Field Team and the Wildlife Group. She trained as a social worker in Liverpool and worked and lived for many years in the Bristol area specialising in early years childcare and support. Since moving south of the city she’s enjoyed being involved in the way of life of The Community Farm. She carries out monthly ‘Bee Walks’ on The Farm as part of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust’s national monitoring scheme, as well as the summertime Big Butterfly Count, which she’s supported along with leading wildlife and pollinator walks during the annual Valley Fest. Annie is devoted to supporting the close working partnerships across this organic farming community where ethical food production and increasing biodiversity are seen as mutually beneficial.

Claire is Chief Executive of Somerset and Avon Rape and Sexual Abuse Support and has worked in the voluntary and social enterprise sector for 20 years. Her family rented a house in the field next to the Community Farm in 2018, became box customers, and were impressed by the work of The Farm. Born and raised in Dublin, Claire has always been passionate about social justice. She has a degree in politics and social policy and worked in the homelessness sector in Ireland before moving to London where, for three years, she supported apprentices at the Jamie Oliver Fifteen Foundation. Claire’s love of food and farming blossomed during this period. Then, after ten years in Australia working as a senior manager in policy and charities, Claire returned to the UK with her partner and two young children, switching from city life in Sydney to the joys of rural Somerset, and they are loving it.

Although not native to Somerset, Ian and his wife Jill  and have made Portishead their home since retiring in 2017. Both of their children married west country partners and live nearby, so they are very fortunate to see their three  grandchildren regularly.  Ian has a background in finance in the legal sector, as a qualified management accountant. Community work has been an important part of Ian's life, ranging from help-lining to charity finance over 20 years. He is looking forward to learning about sustainable farming and the challenges ahead!

David has held roles as Head of Services at a small charity in Bristol and trustee of an HIV organisation. He is currently Social Investment Lead for an international development social enterprise. An intermittent box scheme customer (and reluctant cook), he was motivated to get more involved with The Farm when old interests in food and sustainability reappeared as part of family life. Originally an apprentice electrician, David studied digital communications and art history and worked in IT before moving overseas to run an environmental social enterprise. He has worked for charities in Bristol since moving here just over ten years ago and is strongly supportive of The Farm’s community and education work.

Born and brought up in Spain to Scottish parents, Jason is a real “Foodie” and passionate about everything food, appreciating good produce and recognising the benefits of clean eating. With a strong business background and a BA in International Management, Jason is lending his considerable expertise to The Community Farm. He has worked for nearly 30 years in the food service industry, from growing up as part of a small family food business through to managerial level posts in major companies, both in Spain and in the UK. Jason lives in Saltford with his fiancée and 2 children and is never happier than when cooking food for friends & family.  

Rachel is a Landscape Architect, Urban Designer and gardener by trade, specialising in edible landscapes, food production and biodiversity planting. She has worked in the sustainability sector for the last 20 years – in finance, recycling, eco building, cycling and food, whilst always growing her own food and learning from her grandparents who had an acre for food growing when she was growing up. She now runs edge, a non profit which educates on and designs urban food production systems and ecological/regenerative farming practices.

Naomi has lived in the Chew Valley for over 20 years and in this time been a regular veg box customer and rather more irregular volunteer at The Community Farm. She is a social and market researcher having run her own business for over a decade working with a range of organisations in the environment and sustainability arena (e.g. Sustrans, Soil Association) and the food and drink industry. She brings this commercial and research experience to the management committee alongside an interest in the impact of spending time in the natural world on mental & physical wellbeing.