John Anderson

Chairman

John is a patron of a small country church in Northumberland and has been a trustee of the Lord Crewe Charity for 20 years. These experiences have convinced him of the importance of the Christian faith maintaining a wide geographical footprint in all forms. John took over as Chairman on 20th. April 2023.

Margaret Stewart

Vice Chair

Margaret has been a trustee since 2015 and is currently vice chair. She is a retired NHS director and holds a number of lay roles including Chair of Citizens Advice North Tyneside and Chair of Governors at Marden High School. She enjoys walking in the country and visiting Churches along the route.

Laurie McLeman

Treasurer

Laurie has been a Trustee for 6 years and he is currently Treasurer. He has spent some 50 years in a wide range of construction activities. He has 30 years of experience in the Reserve Forces throughout the North East. His interest in church buildings comes from his Christian beliefs.

Joanna Pullan

Vice Treasurer

Joanna has been a trustee since moving back to her North East roots in 2017. As a RIBA accredited Conservation Architect her role as a trustee brings together her personal interest of historic buildings and her professional experience of working on church repair and restoration projects.

Mark Allison

Trustee Secretary

Mark Allison MBE is currently a Permanent Staff Administration Officer with the Ministry of Defence. He has had previous employment within the private sector and has over 40 years experience within administration services.  Mark supports the NHCT trustees and acts as first point of contact for potential applicants.

Bill Heslop

Bill has been a trustee since 2019. Prior to that he served in Durham Diocese for 38 years as Housing Secretary. He is interested in church buildings. He has served on 3 PCCs, two of them as a treasurer, and he was a churchwarden for 10 years.

Canon Robert McTeer

Robert has served as a Trustee since 2012. He has held the post of Vicar of St Helen's West Auckland for the last 28 years.

During his time as a Vicar he has overseen major restoration projects at St Helen's Church, including a full restoration of the pipe organ and an extension to his grade l listed church building 

Christopher Wardale

Christopher is a retired Church of England Vicar having worked in the Durham Diocese and now living in Newcastle. He is currently on the Newcastle DAC and the Newcastle Cathedral Fabric Committee. Before ordination he worked at York Minister restoring the ancient and medieval stained glass.

Dennis Parker

Dennis' background is in the aircraft industry with avionic technical management. In recent years he has been involved with the repair and maintenance of historic churches and overseeing a major reservation spire removal/reinstatement from start to completion. His wife, Janet, is a priest in the Church of England. 

Liz Walford

Buildings - their history, construction, maintenance and changing issues - have always been an interest for Liz, lately focused on Churches. Her career was in not-for-profit housing and construction organisations, gaining extensive Board-level executive and non-executive experience during times of rapid growth. As a new member of the board she looks forward to contributing to the Trust's work in Northumbria at this time of change

Matthew Sinclair

Matthew Sinclair has been a trustee since November 2022. He is a Chartered Financial Planner amd has a particular specialism in investments and pensions. Matthew has previously served as an acolyte and crucifer at Hexham Abbey.

Eddie Tulasiewicz

Eddie Tulasiewicz is the Head of Communications and Public Affairs at the National Churches Trust. His mission is to make sure that people know about the vital work the Trust does to safeguard the UK’s church heritage.

He is a Member of the Company of Communicators and a Freeman of the City of London.