Who We Are: The Directors of the NLCLT
Simon Gershon
Simon helped found LESS, Morecambe Bay Community Renewables and is currently a trustee of the charity, Lancaster Green Spaces which supports Friends groups in the district Simon is a former owner of retail and manufacturing businesses, and manages several rental properties. He has been refurbishing Victorian buildings in Lancaster and is coordinator for the Forest Friends project. |
Gina Dowding
Gina Dowding was elected in May 2013 to Lancashire County Council, representing Lancaster Central Division. She is a former City councillor and a cabinet member on Lancaster City Council where she had responsibility for partnerships, consultation with the community, and leading key strategic policy work such as LA21 and the Local Strategic Partnership. She previously worked for the NHS as a Health Promotion Specialist for 12 years, a non-clinical post which involved health development advice; working in a number of settings including universities and prisons; and work with the Healthy Cities Office of the World Health Organisation. 
Peter Wiltshire
Peter was born in and grew up in Lancaster, attending Skerton Secondary School, and later working in the music industry. In the 1970s he returned to Lancaster to work in his family’s retail outlets. He later developed a hobby of renovating properties which grew into a full time business and he formed a company specialising in Barn Conversions and New Build housing between 1988 and 2006. Peter was an NHBC registered developer during this period and at the same time ran his own construction company, called Bay Regeneration. He worked in partnership with Lancaster City Council to create 19 low cost homes in their Conversion for Sale Scheme. In 2006 he moved from construction to property management, and trained as a Commercial Energy Assessor in 2009 and as a Domestic Energy Assessor in 2013. Peter was appointed Energy Officer for LESS in 2010 a post which he enjoyed until their Home Energy Service closed in early 2016. He has participated in several conferences on Fuel Poverty, has participated in on line debates on Fuel Security, and has twice been invited to participate in all party discussions on Energy Conservation at the House of Commons. He is a Committee Member of the Lancaster Civic Society, Assistant Secretary of the Lancaster Engineering Society and a past president of Lancaster Loyne Rotary Club. Peter is also company secretary for the land trust. Reports and accounts
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Associates
Gail Capstick
Gail was a teacher for 14 years before retraining for a role in housing. She has a MSc from Salford University in Housing Practice and is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Housing (MCIH). She also has degrees in Law, Social Ethics and 2 Master’s Degrees in Leadership and Sustainability and Industrial Relations. Her work has also involved a contract for a housing association and teaching housing for an academic year at Salford University to MSc and BSc students. Gail has worked as a consultant and associate consultant on a number of different projects for 12 years. She has had involvement with a number of different vulnerable client groups, eg tenants with learning disabilities, mental health problems, older people and women fleeing domestic violence. She is keen to facilitate the empowerment of service users whether as tenants or as clients of social care and has worked with a number of different groups to enable them to have a voice. Gail has done a considerable amount of human resource work for charitable voluntary providers and provided appropriate training to assist organisations with action plans from the local authority to reach the required standard. Gail’s work in the private sector has involved consultancy, refurbishments of housing and tenancy and tenancy management. |
Michael Hallam
Michael moved to Lancaster in 2006 and has been a co-coordinator of the North Lancashire Social Enterprise Forum for the last three years. He founded the Ethical Small Traders Association [ESTA] in 2010 and is a co-founder of the newly formed Lancaster Car Club He is currently working with the Catalyst team at Lancaster University to develop a local trade-tracking card to help boost Lancaster’s local economy. Michael has a passion for sustainable development and for exploring the interface between personal and organisational development. He is a trained counsellor and over 15 yeas experience giving a variety of talks, presentations and developmental workshops. His business home page can be found here. 
John Whitelegg
John is a geographer, former green party city councillor (2003-2011), transport and sustainability consultant, research fellow at the Stockholm Environment Institute and founder member of the Gregson Community Association in Lancaster which is now 30 years old. He is passionate about community activism, growing food, walking and cycling and trying to accelerate the progression to a sustainable, equitable future. |