David sold his business, and wanted to do something useful with the proceeds. On a trip to Zambia he saw the desperate need for safe water in rural villages and enlisted his friends and family to start fundraising.
The money raised was used to repair 20 broken water points in Zambia and began the development of a strategy, focusing on systems change, partnerships, building capacity and lasting benefits.
Today Village Water has grown to a small but dedicated team and a board of trustees for governance and strategic direction.
Our Trustees
Andrew Picken OBE – Chair of trustees
Andrew has an MSc in Development Management and is a specialist in social enterprise, project management and evaluation, although he started as a plant physiologist. He did VSO in Kenya and worked for the British Council in international development for 27 years including 16 years living in 4 countries in Asia. He has managed development projects in education, governance and health services, particularly in Russia, Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan and India and was the Director of British Council in Pakistan, Philippines and Indonesia. He is now a Director of Social Enterprise Europe Ltd and became our Chair of Trustees in 2018.
Trina Chakravarti
Trina is a marketing specialist who has worked across a variety of private and not for profit industries over the past decade. She has had the opportunity to live between India and the UK in that time and is passionate about sustainable development, particularly issues relating to women and children. For the last four years, Trina has managed marketing for the National Housing Federation and recently graduated with an executive MBA with distinction from the Warwick Business School.
Sarah Docherty
Sarah’s first home was a prefab at Musonda Falls Hydroelectric scheme, Zambia, where her father was the resident site engineer. Through her involvement with RowZambezi, she chose Village Water as the charity for donations in memory of her parents, who had met in Lusaka in 1953.
She graduated in English Language and Literature from Royal Holloway College, University of London and went on to experience a number of roles with Esso Petroleum/Exxon including Operational Auditing in various countries. Her key area of interest is effective process and good governance.
Now semi-retired, she is excited at the opportunity to be able to support Village Water and to give something back to Zambia.
Paul Marston
Paul is a Chartered Accountant and has a Combined Management and Languages degree. Paul has worked in Finance, Risk Management and Consultancy across a number of sectors in the UK and overseas including Water, Energy, Information Technology and Digital. He has been a business mentor for a number of years and is passionate about supporting small businesses and the charitable sector using expertise and learning from the corporate environment.
Louise Cook
Louise has extensive experience in maternity and infant well being, she has been a practising midwife for many years with additional training in nursing, tropical medicine and health promotion. Her speciality is infant feeding, in addition her recent role involved leading on hospital audits, policy and guidance documents.
Louise was born and brought up in Zambia and maintains strong and personal links with her home country.
Steve Andre
Steve has worked in the technology and consulting industry in Europe, the US and Asia as a partner for Accenture and Vice President at IBM. Most recently he founded Spirit AI to combat online harms in social media and gaming.
Zara Machado
Zara is a solicitor with over a decade of international legal experience. She has worked in India, Europe, the Middle East and APAC region in a range of sectors, including banking, infrastructure and (most recently) transport. Zara is eager to support initiatives in the charitable sector using her corporate and commercial legal experience, in particular local-led interventions to further sustainable development.
Martyn Anwyl
Martyn has held a number of roles in Sales, Lean Six Sigma and more recently HR & Total Reward. In these varied roles he has gained a breadth of knowledge and skills which he hopes will add value to the volunteering roles he is now active in having recently retired. In his last role he worked for an African based company spending time in several countries including Zambia and because of this was keen to find a volunteer role that had a connection with Africa.
Drake Peabody
Drake is a global finance leader with a background rooted in ethics & social responsibility. In addition to being a Trustee with Village Water, he has a passion for mentoring, championing diversity/inclusion, embracing new cultures, and volunteering. He leads the global FP&A function at IHS Towers and played a key role in successfully transitioning the company from being PE backed to listing (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
Drake also holds a seat on the Leader’s Plus Network Council, is a trustee at Equality Starts At Home and is a diversity & inclusion advocate with Men For Inclusion.
Martin Rickard
Martin’s working life has followed three major strands. Managing electronic component businesses and mentoring individuals, teams and S.M.E.’s. Participating in a range of company boards both private and local authority based. Volunteering. In the 1980’s he was President of the East Anglian branch of the Engineering Employers Federation and In the 1990’s was Chairman of Norfolk & Waveney Training and Enterprise Council. Until his retirement Martin was a Chartered Engineer and a Chartered Marketer. He has travelled widely and has an interest in improving health and education by reducing poverty in Africa.
Village Water staff
Ian Stone – Chief Executive Officer
Ian has spent the last decade working in Village Water's impact team, tackling challenging WASH issues in Zambia and Mozambique. Witnessing first-hand the transformative power of clean water, he understands the complexities of providing sustainable solutions to vulnerable communities. Ian has implemented several large-scale projects, and is committed to expanding Village Water's impact. Ian recognises the importance of collaboration and is always impressed by the passion and dedication of the Village Water team, partners, trustees, volunteers, and supporters, whose tireless efforts are making it possible to create a world where access to safe water is a fundamental human right for all.
Karen Goodman-Jones – Trusts & Statutory
Karen’s background is in programme management. After a career behind the scenes at BBC News & Current affairs she moved into international development as an emergency aid worker on programmes including emergency food distribution, water & sanitation & health in Indonesia, Kenya, Sierra Leone & Liberia. Returning to the UK, Karen has spent the last 10 years running international programmes to increase access to education, vocational training & health for children & young people with special educational needs.
Kelvin Hall – Finance Manager
A finance professional with several years’ experience in the charity sector, Kelvin originally came to Village Water as a volunteer in 2011, before becoming a member of staff in 2012. Kelvin has an AAT accounting qualification and has focused on the charity sector. During his time with Village Water, Kelvin has travelled to Zambia and Mozambique to work with local partner staff to improve their accounting systems.
Beth Llewellyn- Fundraising & Partnerships Manager
Beth began her career with Village Water at the beginning of 2017, helping to organise our social media content as a volunteer – and never left! Beth has always been passionate about volunteering, spending much of her spare time coordinating charity events, and decided to leave a marketing manager role to join us permanently as a full time fundraiser.
Philip Cartland – Monitoring & Data Manager
Philip joined Village Water in 2020. He previously worked in London for the human rights charity Freedom from Torture where he spent more than 10 years managing their website and digital projects. Besides his passion for digital design, he also has a degree in Fine Arts and enjoys photography and painting. Philip grew up in Kenya. He is excited to be working with Village Water, bringing him back to Africa, supporting Zambia and Mozambique with essential water projects.
Tom Cripps – Monitoring & Data Officer
Tom studied mechanical engineering at Bristol University for a year before realising it wasn't for him.
He volunteered with Village Water for a few years back in college and into 2021, helping with what he's now doing in his monitoring and data role. Previously he's spent a few years in the service industry, before working in a Covid test centre.
Selam Uma – Data & Monitoring Officer
Selam has worked both in the UK & Ethiopia in project management and monitoring & evaluation. Before joining Village Water, Selam worked for the NHS and various UK charities, supporting different international development causes including disability, health, education and livelihoods.
Alison Bruce – Finance Officer
Alison recently joined Village Water to support Finance in a part-time role. Alison is a qualifies AAT Accounting Technician and has over ten years experience working in the charity sector.
Rona Prince – Head of Fundraising
Rona’s passion for fundraising to eradicate the injustices of extreme poverty was refined in her previous Strategic and Partnership Management roles for international development and welfare charities, building internal and donor relationships. Prior to this, Rona’s career was in the corporate world, leading teams in Merchandise Management. Her passion led her on trips to Ghana, Tanzania and Ethiopia with various charities to reduce the effects of all aspects of poverty.
