Jan Woolf

Jan Woolf is an artist, writer and political activist. Four of her plays have been produced and two of her short story collections published. She sits on the theatre committee of the Writers Guild.   Jan has held writers’ residencies at the Hackney Empire, Marx Memorial Library and Hampstead school of Art. She has worked as an art and special needs teacher, events producer, political activist, film classifier, editor and publisher and writes regularly for several papers. She has also  painted throughout her life and will have an exhibition at the Tavistock Centre Gallery, London in December 2024. Like Dorothy Parker,  Jan 'hates writing, but loves having written.’ 

Nick Wadham-Smith

Nick Wadham-Smith attended Bognor Comprehensive school in the nineteen sixties and seventies, living a couple of miles from Felpham at Middleton-on-sea. After teaching English in Port Said and Cairo he joined the British Council, building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide. For ten years he edited publications and staged conferences for those exploring British Cultures in schools and universities around the world. He also co-founded a think tank in the organisation. His last work before retirement was encouraging a better understanding of the arts and history of Iran. He passionately believes in the power of culture to transform lives.

Nick Tyson

Nick founded The Regency Town House project in Brighton (www.rth.org.uk) and still works as the institution's Curator. He has a strong interest in traditional building materials and practice and extensive experience of conducting historic building analysis.  Nick has led the development of several innovative IT-based systems for use in the cultural heritage sector and has interests in topics such as biochemistry, molecular genetics, the history of science, and Georgian trade and commerce, and when not working Nick spends much of his free time, on, in and under the sea.

Jane Summerville

Jane Summerville grew up in Felpham and has since returned, living close to Blake's Cottage. She remembers visiting it as a child and looking through a window towards the sea. She has degrees in English and Drama, and also Psychology. She worked at English National Opera, Carlton Television and the University of Sussex. She now volunteers with Felpham Village Conservation Society and St Mary’s Church in Felpham, (which has the beautiful Blake Window). Jane says she feels very connected to Blake through the cottage and his work.  She admires the way he was his own person, outside the establishment. She has recently discovered his letters and loves reading those!

Truda Spruyt

Truda is the founder of Collective Wisdom, a PR and marketing agency for culture and creative industries. She has worked in the sector for over 30 years. She specialises in integrated communications strategies and leading teams for complex projects. With extensive connections, she loves to make fruitful connections for clients. Campaigns have included HOME Manchester and the Library of Birmingham, Get Into Theatre for the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation and Future Skills for Kingston University.  She has developed the prestige of the International Booker Prize and the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction. She is a trustee of Theatres Trust and on the committee of the The Book Society. She read English Literature at Trinity College, Cambridge, where her Part I dissertation was on Blake.

Gawain Little

Gawain Little is General Secretary of the General Federation of Trade Unions, a democratic organisation responsive to the needs of affiliated trade unions. It aims to improve the lives of working people and their communities.

He has written widely on education and trade unionism, and co-authored a number of books including Global Education Reform: Building resistance and solidarity and Beyond the Blockade: Education in Cuba and Lessons in Organising: What Trade Unionists Can Learn from the War on Teachers.

John Higgs

John Higgs is a distinguished writer, novelist and cultural historian who specialises in finding previously unsuspected narratives, hidden in obscure corners of our history and culture.   He is the author of the acclaimed books William Blake Now: Why He Matters More Than Ever (2019) and William Blake vs the World (2021), of which Terry Gilliam said: “Absolutely wonderful! This book managed to make Blake’s mind and mythology understandable to me at last – for that I am truly grateful.”.

In June 2024, after a visit to the cottage, John wrote on his blog about the cottage, its importance and the parlous state it is in.

Tacita Dean

Tacita Dean says: "My first engagement with William Blake, like many children of my generation, was to learn the first verse of The Tyger off by heart in primary school. The words ‘What immortal hand  or eye,/ Could frame thy fearful symmetry?’ do something interesting to a young mind because they propose the idea that God is an artist." She describes Blake as a a maverick in the canon of British art - someone who was embedded in the Romantic tradition, but produced deeply radical work. Blake’s illustrations informed her designs for the Royal Ballet’s 2021 production of The Dante Project. Her film Paradise was projected in the last act of the ballet. It adopted Blake’s colours by combining light filters in front of the lens to achieve the depth, dirtiness and intensity of his watercolours. She says: "It will be an honour  and a privilege to be an Ambassador to help save and protect Blake’s Cottage." 

Steve Connor

Steven Connor is Director of Research of the Digital Futures Institute, King’s College, London. He is Grace 2 Professor of English Emeritus in the University of Cambridge, and an Emeritus Fellow of Peterhouse, Cambridge. He was born in Bognor not far from Blake's cottage.

Irene Campbell

Irene Campbell is multi-lingual having studied modern languages and also has an MA in librarianship.  She worked as a librarian in West Sussex and subsequently became an Assistant Director of East Sussex County Council looking after the front facing services and the county's cultural agenda.  She has a PhD in early 20th century literature and for the last 25 years has held various trusteeships including for foundations celebrating the work of Hilaire Belloc and Virginia Woolf.  She was chair of the West Sussex Literary society and a trustee on the Advisory council of the Royal Society of Arts.  She has written on subjects as diverse as Ian Fleming and novels set in Bognor Regis.  She was recently chair of the West Sussex Citizen's Advice Bureau and is deputy chair of Cats Protection. She keeps her librarianship skills up to date as librarian of the Orchid Society of Great Britain.