NOMINATIONS FOR ELECTION OF OFFICERS AND BOARD MEMBERS
Officers
Sara Robertson – Chair of Trustees
Sara has a real passion for the historic built environment, having spent a considerable amount of time working within organisations dedicated to preserving heritage. She spent 12 years working at the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) in a number of roles, most recently as Deputy Director and Head of Casework; four years at the National Heritage Lottery Fund as Head of the Historic Environment, and four years as the Chief Executive at Icon. Although having now moved outside of the heritage sector in her professional role, she maintains close ties through voluntary work, including returning to SPAB as a Guardian on their advocacy committee, Trustee of the National Heritage Science Forum, and Chair of Europa Nostra UK.
Anthony Peers – Deputy Chair of Trustees
Anthony is an architectural historian and works as a consultant, teaching, lecturing and providing guidance to those planning the repair, alteration and extension of historic buildings. Anthony’s interests in the field are broad ranging – from farm buildings, and their adaptation, to the colonial buildings of India. In his rich and varied career he has worked at SAVE Britain’s Heritage, Historic England, the DTI in Mumbai, India, and as Rodney Melville & Partners’ historian. Anthony’s book on the history of Birmingham Town Hall was published in 2012 to much critical acclaim – it is one of the seven British ‘projects’ cited in the European Union’s 2013 Europa Nostra Awards. He sits on the Ironbridge Gorge Museum’s Collections and Learning Committee.
Giles Adams – Hon. Treasurer
Giles brings valuable expertise to Historic Buildings & Places from his career in the financial sector. Working for the Bank of England from 1986 to 1998, he joined KPMG in 1998, working on financial services regulation; he became a Partner in 2009 and retired in 2023. Alongside his financial experience, Giles studied History of Art at both undergraduate and post-graduate level, and has actively continued his interests in the fine and decorative arts and architectural history. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He joined the Board of the British Library in 2023 and is a member of its Audit Committee.
Board Members
Jill Channer
Jill is an independent historic building and architectural glass consultant with professional experience of developing policy, operating and reconciling the ecclesiastical and secular historic building statutory systems in the public, private and voluntary sectors. Currently a member of the Church Buildings Council, its Statutory Advisory and Stained Glass Committees, the Wells Cathedral Fabric Advisory Committee, she is National Amenity Societies’ nominee on the Bath and Wells and Salisbury Diocesan Advisory Committees, a board member of the Register of Architects Accredited in Building Conservation and Trustee of the St Andrew’s Conservation Trust. Jill is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Glaziers, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, the Royal Society of Arts, and a member of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation.
Kerrie Fuller
Kerrie Fuller is a freelance consultant specialising in membership. She has worked in the membership sector for nearly 20 years, across professional bodies, private members’ clubs and museums. Kerrie brings valuable experience in developing membership strategies and improving member engagement across a wide range of organisations.
Rebecca Harfield
Rebecca Harfield is a built heritage specialist and heritage planner with over 25 years’ experience. She currently works for Cadw, delivering conservation and visitor improvement projects across sites in state care. Rebecca has previously worked for Historic England, in local authorities, and in New Zealand for both Heritage New Zealand and Auckland Council. She is a Full Member of the IHBC, a Chartered Town Planner, and an Individual Member of ICOMOS.
Cara Hepburn
Cara has a decade of experience in fundraising, beginning her career at the British Museum before working for four years at Sir John Soane’s Museum, which lead her to Royal Museums Greenwich, before she went to English Heritage where she was Head of Private Philanthropy. Cara has created a number of long-term strategies and initiatives, which have grown philanthropic income along the ‘individual giving pipeline’.
Amy Hondsmerk
Dr Amy Hondsmerk is the Heritage Skills Adviser at Historic England, where she works to ensure the sector has the skills needed to care for the historic environment in the future. Prior to this, she completed a PhD exploring video games as tools for museum and heritage interpretation, and she continues to explore new approaches to playful and digital experiences.
Moe Horikawa
Moe is an Investment Manager at the National Lottery Heritage Fund and holds a MA in International Cultural Heritage Management from Durham University. She has a particular interest in historic buildings forming historic urban landscapes. Moe is originally from Japan.
Bob Kindred
Bob has been professionally involved in front-line management for over 40 years in the public, private and voluntary heritage sectors, and runs his own heritage consultancy. He has particular experience with the Institute of Historic Building Conservation, serving on its Council, Policy and Education Committees. He is currently a member of the St Edmundsbury & Ipswich DAC, the RIBA Suffolk Design Review Panel, and is one of the four consultant editors of the international Journal of Architectural Conservation. He was awarded the MBE for services to historic building conservation in 1999.
Clare Knowles
Clare is Head of Marketing & Digital at Durham Cathedral and has fifteen years’ experience in the charity, culture and heritage sector, leading digital marketing communications for well-loved North East and national brands. In her present role at Durham Cathedral, Clare has had the opportunity to transform the Marketing & Digital department – from shaping a new team to redefining the marketing communications strategy and approach. Previously Clare was Marketing & Communications Consultant for National Trust across the North region, managing regional strategy and campaigns and supporting properties on high profile projects in the North, including Seaton Delaval Hall. She is CIM qualified and has a degree in Public Relations.
Peter Mitchell
Peter is Head of Sustainability at Gascoyne Estates, custodians of Hatfield House among other historic buildings and landscapes. His work covers all aspects of the business from farming and forestry to leisure and development, helping the team deliver ambitious sustainability commitments.
Tim Moore
Dr Tim Moore is a lecturer at Oxford University and also a curator for the National Trust. He specialises in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and is particularly interested in Global and Inclusive Histories; the latest publication he is working towards is about the lived experience of people of colour in Georgian England. As a proud, gay person of colour, Tim has a particular passion for diversity and inclusion in the heritage sector. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, travelling and sketching, as well as enjoying all the richness of London’s queer culture and community.
Kate Solecki
Kate’s interest in history has taken her across the world (literally!) having completed an undergraduate degree in Near Eastern archaeology in her home country of Canada, she moved to the UK to complete her master’s degree at Durham University in prehistoric archaeology. She fell in love with the UK, and now lives here, having worked in a variety of roles across England, most recently at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Her interests and experience centre around pioneering new and innovative ways to engage audiences with historic built and landscape environments.
Philip Thomas
Phil has worked as a freelance architectural historian, musician, writer, and educationalist across England, Wales, and Scotland, and has been, and still is, variously Chairman, Secretary and trustee of a number of Building Preservation Trusts, and has played an active role in rescuing several historic churches and giving them new uses. In 2001 he was appointed Church Buildings Officer and Secretary to York Diocesan Advisory Committee, of which he had been a member since 1993. In 2016 he relinquished both positions to become Church Buildings Advisor and Senior Advisor to the DAC. Phil is a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Glaziers, an Honorary Life Member of the Royal Society of Architects in Wales and a regular lecturer on architectural and design matters.
