Lesley Bennett

Chair. Joined board 2014

Previously Trustee of WWT, Non Executive Customer Director Wessex Water, Member of SW Courts Board NED Great Western Hospital as well as having been an elected Councillor in Wiltshire for 15 years chairing and the Agenda 21 and Planning Panels.  

Jake Burnyeat

Asset Manager

Jake is a renewable energy professional with over 14 years' experience. He is a founding director of CfR, a community interest company which helps communities to set up local energy enterprises and works with them to develop, finance and manage their own renewable energy generation. 

Jake has an MSc in Environmental Technology from Imperial College and has sailed over 24,000 sea miles.

Julian Barlow

Communications Lead

Julian Barlow is a local businessman who joined the board of the WWCE shortly before the 2019 AGM.  As a Trustee of the WWT Julian not only sits our board but also is a council member of the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust. He is member of Compton Bassett Parish Council and has run his own Public Relations business for over 25 years based in the South East. 

Julian was previously a Journalist working in the USA and the UK on regional and national Newspapers as well as broadcast media. His client base now is varied working with legends like Olympian Sir Steve Redgrave CBE as well as United Biscuits Group, Tesco, Johnson and Johnson and Project Management firm Gleeds who have a base in Bristol.

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Finally Julian works for Senior Members of the House of Lords advising on their daily social media activity. He has a special interest in the environment and issues associated with climate change and bio-diversity.

Damian Haasjes

Wiltshire Wildlife Trust Advisor

Head of Business Development and Community Engagement

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I manage many of the people focussed teams within the Trust including the education teams, adult wellbeing, the Milestones programme and the Repair Academy.  I  also develop new initiatives such as Lakeside care farm in North Wiltshire and work to create new income streams and business opportunities to bring in diverse funding and support for the Trust.

I have a wide ranging background of working with young people and adults which includes teaching in mainstream and special needs education, managing a young carers project, voluntary sector development and leading the education and STEM team at Winchester Science Centre.  I have over 20 years of management experience and has worked in local government, the voluntary sector and the commercial sector.

I moved to Wiltshire with my family 15 years ago and I love the history and beauty of the county. I see the development of green community energy as a practical and positive way to help preserve Wiltshire’s environment and help minimise our human impact on the planet.

Louise Hale

Wiltshire Wildlife Trust Advisor

Head of Finance and Resources at Wiltshire Wildlife Trust

Jonathan Bateman

Finance and Community Fund Committees

Jon is a professional Engineer specialising in Water, Utilities and Environmental Management and formerly Director of Halcrow Management Sciences (now Jacobs) – a regulatory advisory business focussing on utility policy and regulation. He has been a member of WWCE since 2015 has been a Board Director of BWCE since 2014.

Jon brings bring in-depth experience in utility performance regulation and compliance. He has worked extensively with regulators in the water and energy sectors on strategic planning, price controls, asset management and performance monitoring. He also volunteers in community support and was recently co-opted onto an Area Community Operations Board reporting to Wiltshire Council. His interests include: environmental conservation, sustainable energy and Long Distance Trail and Alpine walking and, time and weather permitting, tending his allotment.

Jon was co-pted onto the WWCE Board in 2018.

Rob Gillies

Land Management Lead. Elected 2015

Rob has been a member of Wiltshire Wildlife Trust since moving to Chippenham in 2010. Rob is a senior manager at the Natural Environment Research Council, part of UK Research & Innovation, where he works with UK Government, business and the UK academic research community to develop funding programmes for world-leading environmental science. With a background in environmental and sustainability consulting, prior to moving into the environmental sector Rob has worked in the postal and IT sectors as well as in local government.

Rob is a member of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (MIEMA), a Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv) and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (FRSA). He is an enthusiastic volunteer in community development linked to environmental and sustainability issues and is the founder of Refill Chippenham, a campaign to reduce the negative environmental impacts of single-use plastics within his home town

David Lewin

Finance Lead

Elected 2015

Re-elected 2017

Non-executive director of WWCE. 

Founded Companies Ovum and Plum and providing policy and regulatory advice to international Telecoms companies. Non-Executive Director of WWCE since 2015

Robert Kapp

Finance Committee.

Coopted 2017

Bob Kapp has over twenty years of experience in commodity markets both in the USA and Europe. Most recently, Bob was Executive Director at Macquarie Bank where he was Head of European Power, Gas, Emissions and Uranium trading, managing a multi disciplinary team of 15.

Over the last 10 years Bob has held senior positions at Macquarie Bank and BNP Paribas after coming to the UK with American Electric Power in the late 1990s. Bob started out with an options market maker on the floor of the NYMEX where he earned his stripes before moving to Houston with Equitable Resources to start up their gas options desk prior to it being acquired by AEP.

In addition to energy trading, Bob has a keen interest in burgeoning businesses and has held the position of Director with an online financial betting company, set up a property development business in Houston and holds numerous investments in start ups and social businesses.

Bob is passionate, charismatic and has a great sense of humour, especially when it comes to American politics. In his spare time, Bob loves photography, the countryside and being with his family, relishing time with his 2 recently adopted children.

Bob was Co-opted onto the Board in 2017.

Angela Wright

Company Secretary

Angela graduated from Southampton in 2002 with a BSC in Management & Accounting. She completed her certified accountancy training with Good Energy, a 100% renewable energy supplier, eventually becoming Group Financial Controller and remained with them until 2013.After a short career break from until 2015 she engaged as a consultant with companies with renewable energy interests, before aligning with Community Energy in 2016.