HOTV Management Committee

A Community Benefit Society like Heart of the Village is run by a Management Committee. Initially this committee consisted of those who signed the application for registration and others appointed by them, but from June 2020 the Management Committee has been elected by the Members. According to the Rules of the Society (10.4), those elected at the first election will serve for between one and three years depending on the size of their vote, with an election being held at the Annual Members’ Meeting each year to elect (or re-elect) members of the committee on a rolling basis.The current members of the Management Committee are as follows.

Mike Blair (Chair)
Mike is a retired data architect. Having consulted with various businesses in sectors such as banking, local and central government, retail and hospitality, he hopes that his experience of evaluating and influencing business projects will benefit HOTV.

Trevor Daniels
Trevor has been an active and invaluable volunteer from the start. He was elected to the committee in 2023. As the member who has lived longest in the village he has a wealth of experience of village life.

Tom Duxbury
Tom and Vicky Duxbury came to Stoke with their two children over 20 years ago and have all been very involved in village life. Tom brings a wealth of experience in business to the committee, to which he was elected in 2023.

Paul Fielding 
Paul has made his mark on the village in many ways since his retirement in 2010, including as Village Hall and Scouts Treasurer, driver for Stoke St Gregory meals and refurbishment volunteer at the pub.

Graham Gleed (Treasurer)
Graham has been associated with this project from the very beginning and chaired the committee for the first four years of its existence. With a background in international business, Graham has lived in the village for many years, and contributed to it in as many ways.

Martin Keswick
Martin move to Somerset with his wife Alison in 1986, living in Stoke since 2001. His background is in mechanical engineering with an extensive experience of company management. He is skilled in metalwork, runs a Somerset motorcycle club as well as being a director of its national organisation.

Emma Simon
Emma lives above the pub with her two boys. She also has wide experience in care homes and is thus in a position to contribute some unique insights to the committee, to which she was elected to in 2023.

Ann Woods
Ann has lived in Somerset for 27 years. She ran her own business making corporate ties for many years, and has been a long-time fundraiser for Macmillan Cancer Support. Ann puts her retail experience to good use by volunteering in the shop.

The members of the first elected Management Committee in 2020 were
Graham Gleed (Chair)
Mike Blair (Vice-Chair)
David Crabbe (Treasurer)
John Davison (Operations Manager)
Chris Reah (community Liaison) co-opted 20 July 2020
Nick Sloan (Secretary)
Dave Evans resigned from the Management Committee  on 11 July 2020, and Heather Venn on 15 July 2020.