Children walking in a field Children walking in a field

Our Ambassadors

Empower, Advocate, Connect

Our Ambassadors are passionate, knowledgeable individuals who are well respected in their field. They wholeheartedly support our vision and mission, and volunteer to use their influence, and the platforms and opportunities that are open to them to get our charity and our mission heard and talked about. They also use their expertise to grow our understanding of the role we might play in society and the opportunities we might pursue.


“I’m inspired by the Country Trust’s simple yet effective mission: offering children experiential learning opportunities. Bringing the learning process alive and ultimately, making it far more effective.  Connecting farm to fork, flawlessly. I’m thrilled to become an Ambassador for the Country Trust as I believe this issue is of paramount importance. Nothing sparks greater joy than seeing young children become happier by connecting with the land and their friends! “
- Sophie Green

 

"What attracts me to The Country Trust are the children the charity is working with, who are marginalized in society and do not get the opportunities you provide to experience food and farming generally. I want to support the charity in achieving its aims of reaching out and providing as many children with this opportunity."
- Navaratnam Partheeban OBE

 

“We are both happy to be Country Trust Ambassadors because we believe strongly in what they do. We appreciate the charity's modern, thorough and ambitious planning and targets to deliver child-to-farm engagement in the most effective and positive life-changing way." 
- John and Alice Pawsey

Our Impact report Our Annual report
Navaratnam Partheeban - COuntry Trust Ambassador

Navaratnam Partheeban OBE - Farm Vet

Partheeban is a farm vet with roles which have included clinical practice, higher education, the pharmaceutical and the global animal health industry.

Partheeban is co-founder of the British Veterinary Ethnicity and Diversity Society (BVEDS).  He was a principal investigator researching 'The experiences of racism and the impact on the mental wellbeing of BAME people working or studying in the UK veterinary sector' and his Nuffield Farming study explored 'Encouraging and Supporting Black and People of Colour in Agriculture'.

As a current Director of the Oxford Farming Conference, he is leading the OFC Scholars Programme and Breaking Barriers Scholarship. He is previously a trustee of St Werburghs City Farm and The Country Trust.

 

Sophie Green Ambassador

Sophie Green - Environmentalist

Sophie Green has been passionate about education and the natural world since she was a young girl. Inspired, like us all by the magnificent David Attenborough; she believes our connection with nature is paramount. It is after all key to our survival and is our only life-support system.

During the pandemic, she helped Chester Zoo to call on the government to lead the charge to saving all zoos from extinction. 

John Pawsey - Country Trust Ambassador

John Pawsey - Farmer

John Pawsey is a fourth-generation farmer from Suffolk and is a Director of Shimpling Park Farms Limited. The farm is mixed with 650 hectares of arable land and 1,000 New Zealand Romney breeding ewes on Hanslope series chalky boulder clay.

John also farms an additional 980 hectares for neighbouring farmers under farm management contracts. All the farms are managed organically with the first farm being converted to organic production in 1999.

Crops grown feature an array of legumes and cereals as well as some speciality organic crops, some within an agroforestry system.

Diversifications on the farm include an extensive environmental scheme, commercial and domestic rentals and various renewable energy projects. 

Alice Pawsey - Ambassador

Alice Pawsey - Farmer

Farms with husband John.  With a background away from the farm Alice married into it and now does a mix-up of jobs that don’t really fit anyone else: farm education, property management, recording, events, hire and sheep sales.

Alice feels strongly about responsible food production, and about the underexploited opportunity to educate through the farming environment. Alice runs the farm visits at Shimpling Park Farm across all age ranges and is working to keep these as real, relevant and engaging as possible.  

Both Alice and John enjoy the engagement and opportunities that social media play in explaining what we do as farmers.  The conversation is invaluable for both sides.  And when people can visit the farm, it's even better.  The excitement of a child (or indeed an adult ) experiencing our fields and woods is visceral. The curiosity displayed and the energetic conversations that follow are really enriching.  Particularly as many of  those visits are linked with the Country Trust.  An organisation whose values we applaud and who facilitates for many an experience that might never have happened.