The Arkleton Trust

The Founders

John Higgs had a background as a rural historian (he set up the Museum of Rural Life at Reading), academic (at Reading and Oxford), senior international official (with FAO) and had farms (in Oxfordshire and Dumfriesshire). Latterly he was Secretary of the Duchy of Cornwall from 1980 until his untimely death in 1986.

Keith Abercrombie was a Trustee from 1980 until 1990 when he accepted the position as Honorary President until his death in 1995. He was a consultant to FAO, Shell and BP amongst others. From 1952 – 1980 he was with FAO as Deputy Director, Policy Analysis Division, Rome and Director FAO /ECLA Joint Agriculture Division, Santiago.

David Moore was the first Programme Director of The Arkleton Trust appointed in 1977 and staying until 1980 when he had to return to FAO. He was also the first Secretary to the Trustees and continued in this position until he died at age 41 in 1984. Prior to being with FAO David was Deputy Education Officer with Oxfam. Other positions held included: Joint secretary, International Service United Nations Association; Member of the advisory committee for the Young Volunteer Force Foundation; and, Executive member of UNESCO Coordinating committee for International Voluntary Service.

And Friends

An assortment of other eminent people who shared the concerns of John Higgs with problems of rural development and education were involved over several years in the formulating of the idea behind The Trust.

Current Trustees

Caroline Higgs (Chairman) has been involved with The Trust since 1988, becoming a Trustee in 1990, Secretary in 1994 and Chairman in 2004 following her mother’s retirement.

A primary school teacher, Caroline taught in the private sector before becoming a freelance cook and soft-furnisher. During this time she was also a supply teacher in Cumbria and Dumfriesshire where her interest in rural affairs developed. She is currently running an English programme for bi-lingual French children.

Caroline was formerly a board member with Voluntary Action Cumbria and is on the Advisory Committee of the Arkleton Institute in Aberdeen.

Lady Higgs became a Trustee of The Trust following her husband’s death in 1986, taking over the Chairmanship after the AGM in 1986. She is now a trustee and the President of the Trust

Elizabeth Higgs has as her principal interests all aspects of rural life and was very actively involved in many organisations.  She is currently President of Oxfordshire Rural Community Council, previously she was chairman.  She was a district councillor, a lay chairman of the Oxford Diocesan Synod and on the Bishop’s Council – Parsonages Board and the Chairman of the Glebe Committee. Other committees she was a member of include the Rural Stress Information Network Committee, the village low cost housing scheme, the Young Farmer’s Club advisory committee.  She was a Governor at the local comprehensive school and is Master of basset hounds.  In 2005 Lady Higgs was awarded the Diocesan order of St. Frideswide.

Margaret Clark OBE has been a Trustee of The Trust since 2002

Margaret is Director of the Countryside Agency’s Commission for Rural Communities division. She has been a director of the Agency since it was established in April 1999 and was previously Director of Policy at the Rural Development Commission.

She has been mainly responsible for the Agency’s socio-economic work, focusing on issues such as access to services and affordable housing, local governance, social capital and rural economies, as well as working with Defra and other government departments to help rural proof policy and delivery. Following publication of Defra’s rural strategy in July 2004, she has led the work to establish the Commission for Rural Communities.

She is a member of the leadership team for Business in the Community’s

(BiTC) Rural Action programme and is a member of The Prince of Wales’s Affordable Rural Housing Initiative. She was also closely involved in HRH’s Rural Revival Initiative and the three pilot projects in North Yorkshire, Cumbria and Cornwall. In July 2004, she was appointed as one of HRH The Prince of Wales’s personal Ambassadors at the BiTC Awards for Excellence ceremony in London.

She is a member of the Housing Corporation’s Rural Advisory Group and in 2004 was appointed as a member of the Carnegie Commission for Rural Community Development. She also chairs the OECD’s international Working Party on Territorial Policy in Rural Areas.

She is a member of the Executive Committee of Hastoe Housing Association and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. She was awarded the OBE in 1999 for services to rural development.

Malcolm Moseley is Professor of Rural Community Development in the Countryside & Community Research Unit of The University of Gloucestershire. From 1987 to 1993 he was Director of ACRE, the national association of England’s Rural Community Councils and prior to that Dean of the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia. His current post at Cheltenham is mainly one of research and consultancy, broadly in the field of ‘rural development and social issues’.  Recent research has related to such subjects as ‘Parish Plans’ and ‘The Future of Rural Services’.  Malcolm has also completed a major cross-national EU study of ’Partnerships for Rural Development’. He is a member of The Carnegie Commission for Rural Community Development.

Frank Rennie became a Trustee in 2005.

Professor Frank Rennie is a past Arkleton Fellow (1985) and is currently with Lews Castle College, University of The Highlands and Islands. He is head of research and post-graduate development. His research interests lie in the general areas of rural and community development, especially in community-based approaches to integrated sustainable development. Recent work has been on new approaches to online education for and about rural communities. He is a Fellow of a number of learned societies, an advisor to several government programmes and committees and is a regular speaker at international conferences.

Deborah Hinton became a Trustee in 2008

I have spent over forty years working in the Voluntary and Statutory Sectors with a wide range of organisations ranging through special needs housing, ex-offenders, refugees, pre school children, health, mental illness, death and bereavement, single parents, learning difficulties, social inclusion, criminal justice, alcohol and drug dependency, horticulture and the environment. I have worked at Executive and Board level.

My experience includes:

Consultant to the Eden Project/Eden Trust, (Third Sector advisory and partnership role); Board and Executive Member of the Cornwall Garden Society; Member of the Board of Trustees of the Magdalen Hospital Trust; Member of the Board of Trustees of Winston’s Wish, (a national child bereavement organisation); Member of the Board of Trustees of the National Schizophrenia Fellowship. (RETHINK); Member of the Board of Trustees of the National Council for One-Parent Families; Elected member of the Council of Management of Stonham Housing Association; Member of Riverside Health Authority; Vice Chair, Hammersmith and Fulham Voluntary Services Council; Council and Executive Committee Member of The Society of Voluntary Associates (SOVA); Three year appointment by the Home Secretary to the National Parole Board. Justice of the Peace, Inner London Juvenile Courts. I was awarded an OBE in the 1994 Queen’s Birthday Honours List for service to the community.

Oliver Baines OBE became a trustee in 2009.  His other directorships include Cornwall Community Foundation, CoaST Sustainable Tourism and Groundswell.

Vice President (Non-Trustee Position)

Kay Killingsworth was Horary Secretary to The Trust from 1984 until 1993 when she became Honorary Vice-President. Currently Kay is acting as a Senior Consultant to the Director-General of FAO on a part-time basis. Prior to her retirement in 2002 Kay was Assistant Director-General and Special Advisor for the World Food Summit Follow-up and in that capacity organised the five-year review summit held in 2002. Kay was with the FAO since 1970 in various positions.