Sustainable St Albans is charity no. 1173118. We have a trustee group which meets monthly, volunteers who work with us on projects, events, administration and communications and an annual AGM. We are a member of the UK and international Transition Network.
Our governance
Our charitable objectives are:
1) to promote the conservation protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment, acting primarily within the City and District of St Albans, by promoting, for the benefit of the public, the sustainable use of resources; and
2) to advance the education of the public in the sustainable use of resources and the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment, acting primarily within the City and District of St Albans.
To ensure best governance and transparency, we have policies on the following:
- Safeguarding Policy
- Equality Diversity and Inclusion Policy
- Health & Safety Policy
- Data Protection & GDPR Policy
- Project Approval and Spending Policies
- Complaints Policy
- Environmental Policy
- Reserves Policy
- Ethical Partnerships Policy
Our trustees
These are our current trustees. You can email any of them using firstnameDOTsecondnameATsustainablestalbans.org, or email the whole group at TrusteesATsustainablestalbans.org. We are always interested in new people joining the trustee group. If you’d like to get involved or find out more, please get in touch.
Peter Block
Peter is an academic researcher and media consultant with a special interest in government skills policies and the career development of creative media workers. He began his career in the UK television industry as a sound engineer and production manager.
His engagement with renewable and sustainable energy is long standing; his first postgraduate project was to design a heat pump and a solar thermal system.
Peter became a trustee in 2022 and he is the link trustee for the St Albans District Fixers, with the team running regular Repair Fairs throughout the year in St Albans and Harpenden.
Helen Burridge
Helen is a community engagement and place management professional, leading events, activity and programming that raise funds and awareness and create memorable experiences. Helen is the lead trustee for Communications and has been a trustee since 2021.
She has worked in arts education in some of the largest theatres and arts centres in London as well as delivering community engagement and events locally for the Council and the BID. She also enjoyed a brief period teaching creative workshops on sewing, knitting and crochet. She now works to coordinate public sector policy on sustainability and net zero challenges.
Jack Easton
As one of the founders of Transition St Albans, our predecessor organisation, Jack has been a trustee since 2009, and is our Chair. He says, “I am an accountant by profession, and the environment is becoming ever more mainstream in corporate reporting; I am an economist by interest, and the realisation that ‘materialism’ and GDP are part of the problem is getting an ever better hearing. I live in St Albans and I am immensely proud to be part of the St Albans journey towards being a sustainable community. But there is plenty left to do …”
Lesley Flowers
Lesley has been a trustee since 2013, and is the driver behind the successful Our Planet Our Future initiative, which began putting on specialist talks and events in Harpenden in 2018, and more recently the Harpenden Sustainability Markets, which has has been running successfully in Harpenden since 2021, in partnership with Harpenden Town Council.
Lesley spent many years work establishing Playing Out St Albans District, which has now been running successfully since 2019 in conjunction with St Albans City and District Council . Lesley together with Nicola Wyeth has also been running the local Our Street Party initiative since 2014; they have recently supported up to 100 streets a year to hold community street parties.
Lesley also co-ordinates the Thermal Imaging Camera project across the district, and co-ordinated Open Food Gardens for several years.
Lesley has lived in Harpenden with her family for nearly 20 years .
Sarah Gataora
Sarah is a Chartered Accountant who started her career in audit and then moved into industry over 10 years ago. Sarah is the link trustee for Open Food Gardens and provides secretariat function to the Board since 2021. She has worked across a number of customer facing sectors including entertainment, retail and hospitality. A mum of two, Sarah is keen to help her own children and the local community to work towards a greener future.
Laura Grenier
Laura has over 20 years’ experience in financial services across investment banking, private equity and investment management. She has developed a keen interest in sustainability in recent years, particularly since joining the team at WHEB Asset Management (impact investors). She grew up in the Highlands of Scotland and is passionate about protecting and preserving our environment for current and future generations. She has lived in the St Albans area for nearly 20 years, and is actively involved in supporting local communities, particularly in her home village of Redbourn.
Ruth Montague James
Ruth joined Sustainable St Albans in 2023 as a Trustee.
Jill Watson
Jill has lived in St Albans since 2004 and joined Sustainable St Albans as a volunteer in 2018. She is now link Trustee for the SustFest Project team.
Jill especially enjoys being part of the projects that encourage bringing the community together to share our sustainability experiences and goals. Jill delights in collaborating with the District’s local community groups and their great ideas and great amounts of energy through SustFest, Sustainable Markets and the Events team.
She has a Biotechnology and Environmental Conservation background and owns a small business too.
Our volunteers
These are the people who make things happen – meet a few of our wonderful volunteers here…
Philip Nalpanis – Newsletter Editor and Membership Secretary
Philip has had an interest in environmental issues since his mid-teens; having done postgraduate research in meteorology he has some understanding of the physics behind climate change and hence has taken a particular interest in this. In the last few years he has been involved with Sustainable St Albans, editing their monthly newsletter and maintaining its membership register. Through this and his involvement with A Rocha, a Christian conservation and environmental charity, he has gained a wider appreciation of current environmental challenges. As a member of St Paul’s church, St Albans, he is encouraging the church and its members to live more sustainably.
Philip Nalpanis – Newsletter Editor and Membership Secretary
Philip has had an interest in environmental issues since his mid-teens; having done postgraduate research in meteorology he has some understanding of the physics behind climate change and hence has taken a particular interest in this. In the last few years he has been involved with Sustainable St Albans, editing their monthly newsletter and maintaining its membership register. Through this and his involvement with A Rocha, a Christian conservation and environmental charity, he has gained a wider appreciation of current environmental challenges. As a member of St Paul’s church, St Albans, he is encouraging the church and its members to live more sustainably.
Our events and project teams
Our work wouldn’t happen without enthusiastic, energetic and willing volunteers, sharing their time, interests and skills with the community to help us all move towards a more sustainable district. New friendships and experiences abound: why don’t you get in touch to see how you can get involved too?
Our most recent AGM’s
Open this link for most recent Annual General Meetings (AGM’s) notes.