Meet the team

Elizabeth provides strategic and operational leadership for Eden Rivers Trust in her role as CEO.

A keen cyclist, Elizabeth enjoys tracing the Eden tributaries from Penrith up to their source. For a more sedate experience she loves the metal seat in the centre of Kirkoswald village where she can listen to the murmuring of Raven Beck and watch wagtails, dippers and riverfly revelling in the summer sunshine.

John leads the different conservation strands of the Trust: monitoring, river restoration, natural flood Management, water-friendly farming, catchment management and volunteers. He also works with our community engagement team on the crucial task of ensuring that this conservation work is better understood by everyone within the Eden catchment.

from Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust where he was Head of Nature Recovery (South) and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience of land / riparian landscape management, farming, consultancy, forestry and conservation within the commercial, government and charity sectors.

Claire is responsible for all the financial and accounting processes at the trust, including the preparation of annual budgets and long-term financial planning.

When away from the office she loves spending time watching nature on the Eden at Wetheral, skimming stones with her family or taking in the varied delights of the Monks & Mysteries walk.

Kim is often the first person you’ll talk to. She undertakes a wide variety of administrative and financial tasks for the Trust, be it processing invoices, assisting with the admin for the Trust’s many activities or answering the phones.

When not in the office she loves to get hands-on in the river, helping with the Trust’s wildlife surveys or revelling in the ever-changing views from the shores of Ullswater.

Lev is responsible for the development and delivery of the Trust’s programme of river restoration as part of the Cumbria River Restoration Strategy.

Lev enjoys cycling and walking all over the Eden catchment while keeping an eye on the water and wildlife. He takes a particular pleasure in the hills around Mungrisedale and Bowscale where springs erupting from the hillside flow into the River Caldew.

Rhian manages all aspects of our £2.6m Access to Eden: breaking barriers, building bridges partnership project, made possible thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Chris supports the smooth running of the Access to Eden: breaking barriers, building bridges partnership project and promotes the fantastic work being undertaken by ERT adn our partners far and wide!

Anna runs the Fellside Facilitation Fund Farmer Group, in addition to being the Woods for Water representative.

Coming from a farming background and having studied Ecology and Environmental Biology at university, she is well-placed to help farmers and landowners enhance farming productivity and efficiency, improving its impact on the environment and enriching biodiversity.

Hilary looks after the conservation work being undertaken as part of the Better Becks project – part of Fellfoot Forward, a North Pennines AONB Landscape Partnership Scheme project supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

She also is involved with the Eden Catchment Partnership.

Tania develops and delivers the Trust’s learning programme, helping the next generation discover the amazing natural and cultural heritage of the Eden catchment.

Since moving to Cumbria from the south west, Tania’s started to discover many of the amazing places in the catchment for wild swimming (albeit only when the water’s warm enough!) She can’t get enough of the spectacular view of Ullswater from Place Fell and also loves the stretch of the Eden along Coombe Wood, Armathwaite.

Sam manages all of the strategic and tactical marketing and communications for the trust, raising awareness far and wide of the fantastic work done by the team, our volunteers, and partners to improve and protect Eden’s rivers.

From digital to TV, radio and press, Sam is the first port of call for a quick quote, articles, design work, film editing and a comprehensive marketing plan!

She adores the untamed wildness of Mallerstang and the river Eden as it rushes over Hell Gill waterfall.

From exploring the river through creative workshops to walks by the river for health, Jenni works with community partners who are delivering exciting projects that bring the river to life for local residents and families.

Jenni also manages our wonderful volunteers – arranging work parties, running skills sessions and making sure that the cake and coffee is always on tap!

Alex is part of our farming and catchment management team, working with farmers and landowners to find water-friendly farming solutions.

Gillian is working on the new PRISM (peatlands, rivers, invasives, species recovery and meadows) landscape recovery project led by Forestry England at the top of the catchment around the River Irthing.

Ali splits his time between broadcasting the ‘check, clean dry’ far and wide with water users to stop the spread of invasive, non-native species, leading balsam bashing events and talking about the role of nutrients have on the health of our rivers and wildlife with schools across the catchment (spoiler – what you flush down your toilet makes a huge difference!)