The Board of Stow CLT is made up of people who are committed to the ideals of Community Land Trusts, and give up their time as volunteers to promote the interests of Stow CLT, in order to provide truly affordable housing.
Nigel Moor (Chairman)
Nigel worked in town planning for more than fifty years in the UK and abroad, at the same time serving as a councillor on town, district and county councils in Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire. Nigel represented Stow on Gloucestershire County Council for several years, during which time he began to understand the issues facing the town, particularly the need for affordable housing. He is a Trustee of Cotswold Friends and chairs the Cycling Advisory Group at Gloucestershire County Council. Now retired, he writes regularly on planning and environmental issues and has published several books; a launch of his most recently published work on planning saw a very lively debate.
(Deputy Chairman)
Details to follow.
David Germaney (Secretary and Treasurer)
David moved to Stow in 2015. Formerly a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (FRICS), he also has a degree in Computing & Law.
David is also the Treasurer of the Stow Civic Society and is involved in Community Speed Watch and Adult Literacy.
He was pleased to be invited to join the Board of Stow CLT in 2018.
Ben Eddolls (Board Member and Co-founder)
Ben has lived in Stow for 33 years and has over 40 years’ experience running a Cotswold-based building company. Ben is currently the Mayor of Stow-on-the-Wold Town Council , and has a passion to ensure that homes are available for the people who will build Stow’s future.
Helen Middleton-Price (Board Member)
Helen is a retired biomedical scientist who has lived in Stow since 2019. Her work concentrated on the diagnosis of serious genetic conditions and – most recently – running a Department of Health-funded initiative in Manchester aimed at introducing genomics into mainstream medicine. Outside work, she is interested in various human rights-related issues, most particularly in organisations supporting people around the world under threat from the death penalty.
John Holmes (Board Member)
John moved to Gloucestershire over 40 years ago and has lived in Stow-on-the-Wold since 2016. In his working life he managed R&D programmes addressing energy and environment issues, and in recent years led the Smart Villages Initiative supporting the development of rural communities in Africa, Asia and Latin America. As well as the Community Land Trust, he is actively involved in the Stow Civic Society and the Speed Watch group.
Liam Ratcliffe (Board Member)
Liam was born in Stow-on-the-Wold and has lived in Stow and the surrounding villages for the past 15 years, moving back to Stow-on-the-Wold in 2017. Liam has worked in Stow News and Post Office since 2014. Outside work, Liam has an interest in motorsport, and has a passion to ensure that we get affordable homes in Stow to secure for future generations.
Nigel Surman (Board Member)
Nigel has lived in Stow since 2005 and was always keen to be involved in community activities. He is a past President of Ealing Rotary Club and since moving to Stow has been involved with the Stow Cotswold Festival, Stow Motor Show and for the last 12 years has been heavily involved with the Stow & District Civic Society of which he is currently the Chair. Growing up outside Liverpool, Nigel then studied in London and after working briefly in Lloyds of London spent the next 20 years in the residential property world specialising in sales, lettings and management. Whilst still involved with block management in London he is keen to explore possibilities to help and promote truly affordable homes for local people and key workers in our town.
Dilys Neill (Board Member)
Dilys has lived in the area for 35 years since getting married to William, and they brought their children up in the Cotswolds.
From 1986-1997 Dilys worked as a GP, first in Moreton and then in Stow. Dilys then worked as a paediatric oncologist at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital until her retirement in 2014. Dilys lives in Broadwell but a lot of what she does is centred on Stow, Maugersbury and the Swells. She is proud to be a governor at Stow Primary School and is also a Lay Reader in the Anglican Church.
Paul Girvan (Board Member)
Paul is originally from Northern Ireland and went to university in Staffordshire. He moved to the USA and obtained a Master’s Degree in Urban and Regional Planning. In 2000, he was a founding partner of The Innovation Group and in 2015 he left to start his own firm. Paul is currently a columnist for iGaming Business. In 2019, Paul and his wife moved back to the UK, and came to Stow in early 2020. He has become acutely aware of the problems faced by young people seeking housing in the area, and hopes to contribute to a solution to these challenges.
Kimberly Girvan (Board Member)
Kimberly was born in Winter Haven, Florida, graduating from Florida State University with a BS in Fashion Merchandising, Fashion History and Fashion Design. She has had an extensive career in fashion buying and retail management moving into advertising sales. Kimberly started a promotional advertising sales business Promotions by Kimberly. After living in the French Quarter of New Orleans, raising a son and fostering animals (adopting most of them), she rejoined the professional community as a marketing/events coordinator. She moved to Stow-on-the-Wold in early 2020 and is currently managing the Cutter Brooks retail shop.
Greg Forster (Board Member)
Greg moved to Stow on the Wold in 2016. He has thirty years of sales and marketing experience. After working up the ranks at Diageo and Unilever, he moved into the out-of-home media industry at board director level. Greg now runs his own project management business (based in Stow), specialising in wrapping giant scaffold structures and construction site hoardings in printed graphics. Outside work, Greg likes to invest time in his garden, on long walks, visiting country pubs & improving his clay pigeon shooting skills. He also sits on the Board of Trustees at St Edwards Hall in Stow.
Simon Clarke (Stow Town Council Representative)
Simon was born in Stow and came back to live in the town in 1998 to take over the family business, Christopher Clarke Antiques, with his younger brother Sean. He has been a town councillor for over ten years, with a keen interest in seeing the town evolve with low-cost housing so that younger people can afford to live here, whilst still protecting Stow's historic past.
Tim Carter (Consultant Architect)
Tim and his young family have lived in Stow-on-the-Wold since 2016 and in 2022 co-founded Habitat+ Architects whose ethos is to add exceptional value through carefully crafted, creatively sustainable design. Tim is a competitive runner who has competed for Gloucestershire, an active member of the Bourton Roadrunners running club and organises the Bourton Hilly Half + Fun Run.
Steve Watson (Technical Adviser to Community Led Housing projects)
Steve worked in the housing association sector for 22 years, leading projects across the East Midlands. This work included many community-centred housing projects around the UK and abroad. He later joined the Executive Management teams of several housing associations.
In 2010 Steve became a Director of Middlemarch Community Led Housing CIC and leads the Community Land Trust work; his background in housing enables him to give in-depth technical advice for communities, local authorities and housing associations that work with CLTs. Steve is a keen runner but aggravated an old leg break in 2018. Over the next four years he had cutting-edge treatment at Bristol Royal Infirmary where new leg bone was grown to replace the old. He’s running again now.