The Open Spaces Society has its headquarters in Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire. It has over 2,300 members throughout England and Wales.
It has a volunteer network, with members called ‘local correspondents’.
Vice-presidents
David (Lord) Clark, Len Clark, Paul Clayden, Roger de Freitas, Tony (Lord) Greaves, Richard Mabey, Edgar Powell, John Riddall, Bernard Selwyn, Ronald Smith, Anne Wilks and Pat Wilson.
Trustees
Tim Crowther (Chairman)
Tim has been an Elmbridge Borough Councillor (Liberal Democrat) since 1999, taking many opportunities to speak out on open space, common land and access matters.
A member of the Surrey Countryside Access Forum he is a lifelong walker, seeking out underused paths and creating his own long-distance routes.
Jean Macdonald (Vice-chairman)
Jean’s working life has included teaching in secondary schools and further education, and supporting people with disabilities to become independent.
She is a parish councillor, an enthusiastic walker and gardener and is involved in footpath maintenance. She brings organisational, project management and bid-writing skills and is keen to help OSS increase its profile and membership.
Chris Ambrose
Chris, a chartered engineer, is a parish councillor, committee member of the North Somerset district of the Campaign to Protect Rural England and member of North Somerset Local Access Forum.
He is keen to help encourage and influence decision makers to preserve, maintain and create open spaces for the enjoyment of the public. He sees his business experience and interpersonal skills as being of value to OSS.
Chris Beney
A chartered engineer, Chris ran a business and helped set up several charities.He is chairman of a rights-of-way association, an OSS local correspondent, and a Ramblers’ Area committee member.
His specialist area is Gaps, Gates and Stiles. He sees the society’s strength in its wide coverage of public access – alleyways, paths, greenways and all open spaces.
Chris Borland
Chris lives in Somerset. After a career in passenger transport, he is now senior partner of a transport consultancy involved in public transport for rural areas.
Current activities include independent chairman of the South Somerset District Council’s Standards Committee, and chair of the Schools Admissions and Exclusions Appeal Panel of Somerset and Dorset County Councils.
Sally Burfoot
Sally is a keen walker who has been involved in footpath conservation for a number of years and is only too aware of the importance of the work undertaken by the Society in preserving ‘spaces’ for present and future generations. She feels so strongly about this that she has decided to put her skills and experience to good use and become a trustee.
Peter Newman
Peter is a bookseller, and local correspondent for North Herefordshire. He fought a successful High Court case against Hereford and Worcester County Council, to force it to remove obstructions from several paths.
He runs a scheme in West Herefordshire to open up rights of way, putting in stiles, bridges and signs.
Hugh Pratt
Hugh says: ‘I seek to develop the primary objective of the OSS to “create”. Currently I am creating new footpaths (with the help of landowners), fulfilling the original intent of footpaths to enable local people to walk through their community.’
In 1991 he created and provided a public garden in Bristol ‘God’s Garden’.
Staff
There are six members of staff who work at our office in Henley-on-Thames.
Kate Ashbrook – General Secretary
Kate, a campaigner, became general secretary of the society in 1984. A former member of the Countryside Agency board, she is a trustee of the Ramblers, the Campaign for National Parks and the Dartmoor Preservation Association and member of the Institute of Public Rights of Way and Access Managers. She was a member of Natural England’s stakeholder group on public rights of way, and is patron of the Walkers Are Welcome Towns Network.
Kate had a personal victory when she successfully took East Sussex County Council to court for failure to reopen the infamous Hoogstraten footpath at Framfield. Her hobbies are walking, bird-watching and finding illegally blocked paths.
Nicola Hodgson – Case Officer
Our case officer is Nicola Hodgson, who helps members with queries and problems on common land, town and village greens and open spaces.
Formerly a solicitor in private practice, Nicola was instructed by Sunningwell Parish Council in Oxfordshire, whose application for a village green application went all the way to the House of Lords with a ground-breaking judgment in favour of the applicants.
Nicola is committed to ensuring that people’s rights to enjoy the countryside are upheld, and is an active member of the Youth Hostels Association and National Trust. She enjoys walking and cycling and spending time with friends and family.
Julie Jiggens – Administrative Assistant
Julie Jiggens from Woodley, Reading is our Administrative Assistant. She lives with her two daughters Emma and Katie and has worked for the society for 20 years.
She previously worked in the accounts department for the Prudential Assurance Company in Reading.
She enjoys swimming, reading, gardening, and meeting up with family and friends.
Mark Taylor – Accounts & Membership
Our Financial Administrator is Mark Taylor. He lives in South Stoke with his wife and has two grown up children. Mark worked for Barclays Bank in a variety of roles for thirty years both in England and the Channel Islands. More recently he spent four years as company secretary for the Comrades Club Ltd in Wallingford. A keen tennis player, he is a member of Goring Tennis Club and also enjoys cycling, walking and making the most of his membership of the National Trust.
Ellen Froggatt – Office Manager
Our office manager is Ellen Froggatt who lives in Watlington, Oxfordshire, with her husband. Ellen has had a long and varied career in office administration, most recently as operations manager for a multinational music company. She sings in a local choral society and is a member of the choir at St Mary’s, Chalgrove, where she is also a churchwarden.
Ellen and her husband are keen walkers and have taken walking holidays in the UK, Europe and America. They also enjoy their memberships of the National Trust, RSPB and the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust.
Esther Finch – Support Officer
Esther lives in Reading with her husband and two (nearly) grown-up children. She started her career as a teacher and then spent 15 years working for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, assisting young people through the programme and supporting teachers in schools to enable them to offer D of E.
Esther has been a keen walker for all of her adult life and also enjoys sailing, diving and other outdoor activities. She volunteers as a hostel warden for the Elenydd Wilderness Trust. At home she likes to potter in the garden and do Sudoku and crosswords.