Meet Our Trustees
Nick Amyes
Trustee & Chair
Hi, I'm Nick and I chair the trust and lead on strategy and direction. I got involved with Brymbo Heritage Group over 16 years ago, and have always had a strong interest in history. I put together the first successful 'Our Heritage' bid to NLHF in 2013 - our first step on the fundraising journey. I've also led the establishment of the Trust itself.
Outside of the Trust I'm an Apple Professional Learning Specialist supporting schools in the development of their vision, ICT strategy and Continued Professional Development. I have over 40 year’s experience in the ICT industry working in senior management, sales, marketing, development and finance. This broad experience helps me to keep a general overview as a trustee on all aspects of the Trust's work.
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Bernard Winstanley
Trustee & Treasurer
I've been involved with the Heritage Group and now Trust since 2013. I'm the Treasurer, and its been a delight to be part of the trust's work to secure the funding our community needs to preserve and celebrate its fantastic history.
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Managing the money is great, but better still is the feeling of being part of something, and my most precious memories of being involved with the heritage project are all concerned with the team work, camaraderie and sense of satisfaction that comes with achieving simple improvements at the site - be it vegetation clearance, laying stone for new pathways, or helping set up the bar for an event.
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I'm originally from a farming family in Bolton, and my family settled in Brymbo in the 1980s, where I was postmaster at the village's Post Office for more than 30 years. I was also one of the founding trustees that brought the Enterprise Centre project to life.
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Keith Williams
Trustee & Vice-Chair
An enthusiastic member of the Heritage Group (and now Trustee with the Heritage Trust) for some sixteen years, amassing many thousands of volunteer hours, working on the former iron & steelworks site and planning for its future.
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I have a passion for Industrial heritage and nature preservation, which helped me put together the original “Vision” for the Heritage
Site, on which the current “Stori Brymbo” project is based, and II successfully campaigned to have the old link road named “Heritage Way”, hoping this would eventually help guide visitors from far and wide to sample our wonderful history.
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Apart from an engineering apprenticeship, I spent most of my working life at Vauxhall Motors, at their Ellesmere Port plant, with responsibilities for the overall site layout and the installation of production facilities and equipment.
In 1997 I received an award for my work from the General Motors Presidents' Council.
Prof. Barry Thomas
Trustee
I'm Barry, a lifelong academic with a love of learning! My main reason for joining the board of trustees back in 2018 was to help to develop the Fossil Forrest as a world class visitor attraction and site for academic investigation. I've been involved in developing the vision for this aspect of the Trust's work for more than 17 years, and I'm passionate about seeing its development as part of the whole site.
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Outside of the Trust, my main areas of research have been Carboniferous palaeobotany especially the taxonomy, geographic and stratigraphic distribution and ecology of the lycophytes and calamites. I lecture at Aberystwyth University and am a research fellow at the National Museum of Wales. I'm also involved with the Wildlife Trust and the British Institute for Geological Conservation.
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Duncan Sutherland
Trustee
I joined the Trust in 2020 to help try and resolve the land issues the trust was facing. For the last 30 years I've been Regeneration Director at Sigma Capital Group, where I've worked closely with many local authorities, investors and developers to enable them to realise large scale, long-term, partnership regeneration projects.
I was instrumental in setting up Sigma’s successful local authority partnerships, including with Solihull, Salford and Liverpool. I've previously held a number of other senior development roles working with local authorities, including Director of City Development in Coventry and as Chief Executive of the property and investment arm of the City of Edinburgh Council. I've been a member of the Boards of British Waterways and Scottish Canals.
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Andrew Foster
BDL appointed Trustee
My whole working life has been in opencast coal mining, bulk earth moving, mineral extraction and land reclamation. I have been involved with the former Brymbo Steel Works site for over 32 years working for The Parkhill Group of companies and Brymbo Developments (BDL).
I have been responsible for the design, planning and finding solutions to the technical and contamination issues, including negotiating the grant funding from start to finish.
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During the reclamation works we unearthed the Fossil Forest, I was instrumental in identifying its significance, preserving and then obtaining SSSI listing for the area.
In 2000 I was appointed Operations Director for BDL - the Landowner - and have recently been appointed as their representative trustee for Brymbo Heritage Trust.
Cllr Nigel Williams
Wrexham County Borough Council's appointed Trustee (since February 2023)
Nigel is the Councillor for our nearby ward of Gwenfro, and he's also the Council's Lead Member for the Economy.
New trustees - Summer 2023
Brymbo Heritage Trust is the not-for-profit organisation responsible for bringing the vision for Brymbo’s Heritage to life. We have been awarded funding of more than £8m for two key projects – Stori Brymbo, covering the Fossil Forest and the built remains of the iron and steelworks; and Roots to Shoots, covering the wider historical landscapes in an around Brymbo.
These projects are funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and The National Lottery Community Fund, with several other public sector funders and charitable trusts providing matched funding.
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We are looking for 4 further trustees to join our highly motivated and effective Board. Candidates should have a broad range of experience and skills and be passionate about community heritage. In particular, applicants with knowledge of project delivery, fundraising, business development and marketing and learning & interpretation would be welcomed.
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The role of trustee is voluntary, and we are seeking individuals who can commit to attend monthly Board meetings as well as up to four sub-committee meetings a month. We value a diversity of backgrounds and experiences and would be happy to discuss the commitment with you.
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This is a fantastic project led by people who care deeply about what they do. If you believe you have the skills, qualities and time we're seeking, we very much look forward to hearing from you.
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Our governing document, the trustee role description and application form can all be downloaded here, and feel free to get in touch to discuss the opportunity informally by email on recruitment@brymboheritage.co.uk or by phone on 0800 772 0981.
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Closing date: 12 noon Monday 7th August 2023.
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Downloads:
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Memorandum and articles of association
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