About Us

Our Aims

The River Waveney Trust is an environmental charity dedicated to improving and protecting the River Waveney, its tributaries and catchment, making it a better place for people and wildlife.

Proud to be part of the Rivers Trust movement, we are one of 61 local river trusts across the UK and Ireland.

We work in collaboration with a wide range of partners including government agencies and other organisations, individuals and local community groups with the aim of delivering a catchment based and integrated approach to managing the River Waveney and the surrounding land. Working in partnership is essential to enable us to deliver effective environmental projects in our river and its catchment.

Volunteers are essential to us, they support our project work through citizen science projects and carry out practical conservation work in the catchment. We have two local volunteer groups who meet regularly and manage sites along the river for all to enjoy, including Frenze Beck in Diss, a 14 acre County Wildlife Site.

Our People

Martha Meek
Director

Martha leads on development and management of the Trust, including projects and funding, as well as health and safety and day-to-day running. She has worked in the environmental sector throughout her working career, for both NGOs and in the public sector. She has specific experience in farming and catchment management, having previously worked in Suffolk as a Catchment Sensitive Farming Officer. She has also worked for Suffolk Wildlife Trust, Kirklees Council Countryside Unit and is a partner in a family thatching and straw growing business.

Emily Winter
Catchment & Farming Officer

Emily facilitates the Waveney Farm Cluster, runs a nutrient use efficiency programme for farmers and heads up on our farm advice work. She has over five years’ experience in aquatic ecology, including working on a Broadland fish tracking project as part of her PhD research. She was raised on a family farm in the Waveney catchment, which she works on alongside her work with RWT, and has a broad knowledge and understanding of agricultural practices.

Katie Utting
Rivers Project Officer

Katie volunteered for the River Waveney Trust on the Riverfly Monitoring citizen science project for three years before being recruited as Rivers Project Officer. She sees caring for our waterways and the local catchment as integral to wildlife and wellbeing. In previous conservation roles she has managed conservation work parties on local wildlife sites. Katie runs our River Access & Bathing Water projects and is a keen botanist and advocate for her local river.

Ange Lamb
River Restoration Officer

Ange leads on our river restoration programme as well as supporting farm advice and events. She is a keen paddleboarder and loves to explore local rivers especially the Waveney. She also works as a part time forest school leader, running Fox Wood Forest School in Roydon. She loves bird watching and is passionate about protecting and enhancing habitat for wildlife.

We are governed by a volunteer board of trustees:

Todd Strehlow
Chair
Todd is a town planner and urban designer with 25 years of experience in urban regeneration, project management and community development.  His roles have been across the public, private and voluntary sectors in the UK and US, and has run his own businesses (consulting and also in artisan foods). Currently he is a Visiting Lecturer for the BA (Hons) Architecture course at the University of Suffolk and advises a number of number Community Interest Companies (CICs) working with the creative sector and diverse communities. Todd is a regular paddler and is a Volunteer River Warden for our Canoe Access & Biodiversity Project.

John Blair
Secretary
John has been living and working beside the coast, estuaries and rivers of East Anglia for most of his life, which has influenced his regard for their habitats and the wildlife they support. He has worked at a senior level for several leading environmental education and youth development charities around the country. His career has focused upon providing opportunities for individuals and communities to participate in outdoor activities and education whilst engaging with their natural world.  

Keith Lead
Trustee
Keith is a retired civil engineer, having worked in flood risk management in the Environment Agency and predecessor bodies throughout his working life. He joined the original committee to offer his skills in project management of river maintenance and enhancement work. He is one of the founding members of the RWT.

Robin Twigge
Trustee
Robin is the owner of the Swan Hotel in Harleston which is one of the regular meeting venues for the RWT. His contribution, over the years, has been his commercial abilities for the benefit of the Trust. He is one of the founding members of the RWT.

Louise Bond
Trustee
Louise is currently a Company Director of a family farming business based in the Waveney valley.  She has worked in the environmental sector for several years both in the private sector and for the government, having spent 14 years working for the Environment Agency.  She has experience in catchment management and has project managed several river and habitat restoration schemes.

Katie Bayliss
Trustee
Katie is a planning, strategy and communications professional, with 20 years working in a variety of roles and organisations spanning public, charity and private sectors, both in the UK and globally. Currently working as a programme manager for digital products in finance, she has recently moved back to the East of England after 12 years away, and looking forward to supporting the local waterways where she grew up so they can be enjoyed by future generations to come.        

Katie Philips
Trustee
Katie brings over 14 years’ experience of working in supporter engagement and general management in the charity sector. Passionate about the environment, Katie has worked in the National Trust, Woodland Trust and the Essex and Suffolk Rivers Trust. Her focus is on engaging supporters in a cause through events, marketing and fundraising as well as through managing volunteers. Katie is a keen walker and recycles finds from beach and river walks to create unique pieces of art made from natural materials.      

Ollie Berman
Trustee
Ollie has worked in public relations, marketing, and external affairs for 25-years, including in the public and not-for-profit sectors and in a top-ranking PR agency. During his career, he has led both high profile national and local campaigns, and managed communications teams in central and local government, arms-length bodies, higher education, and the health service, as well for a range of charities. Ollie lives on the Suffolk/Norfolk border and walks sections of the Waveney daily with his dog, as well as using it for swimming in the summer months.

Mel Attis-West                                                                                                                             Trustee                                                                                                                                                        Mel studied Zoology at Bristol University, then went on to have a thirty year career in Finance beginning in the City as a junior Economist, then as a credit analyst for ten years, assisting multinational companies to raise funds on the international corporate bond markets. When she moved to Edinburgh, Mel was a fund manager for sixteen years, investing in the global corporate and government bond market. Now retired, she is able to revisit her love of nature and to devote her time and experience to helping causes she cares deeply about. Having recently moved to North Suffolk, The River Waveney Trust is an exciting place to be able to combine her passions with her experience.

Our local group leaders can be found on each of the Local Groups pages.