Trustees

CHAIRPERSON – Doug Nicholls is a writer and poet and was formerly General Secretary of the Community and Youth Workers’ Union (1987/2011) and then the General Federation of Trade Unions (2012/2023).

TREASURER – Steve Orchard is a former senior executive in the media industry. He coaches organisational leadership and serves in a non-executive capacity as a director and trustee on a number of company and charity boards.

TRUSTEE – Sharyn Wortman is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a practising contemporary artist. She has worked previously as an Art Director in advertising and loves solving problems.

TRUSTEE – Camila Oliveira is an international lecturer on William Blake with expertise in his influence on contemporary music. Born in Brazil, her translation of Jerusalem into Portuguese was published in 2024.

TRUSTEE – Jonathan Mullard is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology and a Chartered Town Planner.  He has expertise in the renovation of historic sites and listed buildings and is also a natural history author.

TRUSTEE – Rachel Higbee lived in Felpham as a child and returned as an adult.  She says Blake Cottage has always been part of her life.  She is an early years teacher and manager of early years educational establishments.  She has been director of the Chichester Children's Book Festival and a community ambassador for the Citizen's Advice Bureau in Bognor Regis. She also the coordinator for the adult reading charity, Read Easy in the Bognor Regis area. Rachel has special responsibility for Friends of the Blake Cottage Trust and the trust's volunteer co-ordination.

TRUSTEE – Richard Clemmow is a media executive, documentary producer, television and radio journalist and drama producer who has worked in the UK and the USA. He is also a trustee of the brain tumour charity OurBrainBank.

TRUSTEE – David Clarke is a culture and heritage project planner and co-chair of Heritage Crafts, the charity for traditional craft skills, co-chair of Metropolitan Arts Centre Belfast and a director of Sing Up, which exists to encourage singing in schools in the UK; has been inspired by Blake from his youth.