IWA Trustees
Sir Robert Atkins has had a long and varied policial career, serving as MP for nearly 20 years and MEP for North West Region of England for 15 years. He was knighted in the 1997 Dissolution Honours List in recognition of his service as a Member of Parliament, as Minister of State for Northern Ireland and as Minister of State for the Environment.
As well as being a keen boater and narrowboat owner, Sir Robert was President of the “Ribble Link” Canal Campaign.
A chartered mechanical engineer and member of the Assocation for Project Management, Rick has over 24 years’ experience in engineering, change, project, programme and business management.
Having enjoyed many boating holidays, Rick volunteered with Waterway Recovery Group. He has worked on many restorations and in a variety of different roles with IWA over the past 20 years.
Treasurer
John is a semi-retired chartered accountant and has worked in many sectors throughout his career including retail.
He has volunteered with IWA for several years and has previously been a Trustee, as well as Chairing Events and Marketing Committees. He has been involved in organising festivals since 2013, and he is on the organising team for IWA’s Festival of Water 2021, due to be held in Worcester.
John is a keen waterway photographer and enjoys walking and cycling the waterways as well as getting afloat on his narrowboat when he has time.
Having worked with Xerox Corporation for 30 years, Dave’s time there included 15 years reviewing operating company performance and driving change in Europe, East Asia and Africa and 5 years facilitating relationships between European, US and Japanese organisations.
Dave has been a member of IWA for 46 years and is a long-time boater. He has been heavily involved in IWA national festivals and chairman of Chiltern Branch since 2013.
Nick is a retired chartered civil engineer where he was responsible for managing a number of major construction projects. He has experience as a company director and charity trustee. Most recently Nick has worked with several companies reviewing governance and risk management.
Nick’s interest in the waterways started with canoeing the River Nene. He has owned a narrowboat since 2001, living aboard when working away from home and more recently using it as a weekend retreat.
Rebecca is an experienced marketing and fundraising professional actively working within the not-for-profit sector.
She is currently employed at the wildlife charity and membership organisation Butterfly Conservation where she leads on individual giving, marketing, and commercial partnerships. Before moving into the not-for-profit sector, Rebecca was the European Marketing Manager for a global manufacturing company. She has also worked as a digital marketing consultant for several businesses helping to develop their online presence to ultimately increase sales.
Rebecca’s interest in waterways developed after she began stand up paddle boarding in 2013. Through paddleboarding, Rebecca developed a keen interest in the protection and restoration of waterways and became actively involved with cleaning up rivers with Plastic Patrol (now known as Planet Patrol) in 2018. She is also a member of the IWA.
Sue’s professional expertise is in new technology and innovation, gained through a career of working with a variety of companies, from corporates to public sector and start-up companies. Her voluntary roles include chairing a professional association and serving on the board of a science and technology outreach organisation.
Sue is a long-time boater. She started by hiring, had a share in a boat for 13 years, and recently became a boat owner. Sue has served on IWA’s Navigation Committee for the past four years, writing content articles and administering IWA’s policy reviews.
Chairman
Paul is chairman & founder of European payments community, Vendorcom; mentor at financial technology accelerator, Level 39; a member of the UK’s Payments Systems Regulator Panel and provided the secretariat for the All Party Parliamentary Group on payment systems in the last session of the UK Parliament.
Having enjoyed boating holidays, Paul volunteered with Waterway Recovery Group and joined Marketing Committee in 2016.
Hannah Sterritt has been a liveaboard boater since Autumn 2020, based on the Monmouthshire and Brecon canal in South Wales. Her decision to move onto the waterways was both a way to counteract rising property costs and to complement her passion for the inland waterways lifestyle and heritage.
Hannah will soon complete a MSc in Sustainability Planning and Environmental Policy at Cardiff University, focusing her final dissertation on the liveaboard boating community on the UK inland waterways. Hannah currently works for Cardiff University, responsible for alumni, staff, student and supporter engagement and community fundraising, planning and delivering several internal and external engagement and partnership initiatives. She has previously held a Trustee position for Cardiff University Students’ Union when she was a Sabbatical Officer, an elected position acting as one of the Union’s primary student representatives. Hannah has just completed a four-year term as a Local Authority Governor at a Cardiff Primary School.
She has recently become a volunteer lock keeper on the Monmouthshire and Brecon canal.
Alison is a retired chartered accountant. Her career in finance and business includes 20 years working in senior positions at the BBC and University College London. Alison has extensive chair and trustee experience across the charity and not for profit sector, with expertise in risk and change management. She was a member and Vice Chair of the Inland Waterways Advisory Council.
Alison was introduced to the waterways 30 years ago as part of a group that walked the Birmingham Canal Navigations. This led to hire boat holidays cruising the Norfolk Broads, followed by the purchase of a share in a narrowboat.