About Us
We’re not your typical company. We don’t have an office – we all work from home which is why we are scattered across the country. We think it’s a brilliant way to work - we keep costs down by not having an office, we don’t waste time and energy commuting and we can live wherever we like. It has advantages for the people we work with too – one of us probably lives somewhere near you.
We’ve been around since 2008. In 2009 we took on The Access Company and the projects and staff associated with it.
We’re flexible and friendly, positive and determined, full of ideas and totally committed to doing the job right.
People
Everyone who works for us loves walking and is dedicated to encouraging and inspiring others to walk.
Some of the spots on the map represent full or part-time employees, others are self-employed professionals that we work with on a regular basis. Everyone is passionate about what they do, chosen for their dedication and hard work and because they are lovely people and good fun to work with. You can see what we look like by hovering over a spot with your cursor, to find out more click the spot.
Our CEO is Jim Walker – what more needs to be said!
Walk Finder
Looking for somewhere to walk? With thousands of walks there must be one for you.
Contact Us
You can contact us here
or by calling 07779 582446
Our registered address is:
24 Moorend Road
Cheltenham
GL53 0HD
WE Twitter
Anne Clark
Operations Director
Anne is responsible for making things happen at Walk England. Her job involves managing most of the staff and working out how best to use their skills to make sure projects are delivered on time, meet the needs of the client and are at a high standard. She also writes the Walk4Life Blog.
Anne's background is in recreation - she studied Ecology at Leeds University then volunteered at BTCV before starting a job as a Ranger for Durham County Council. From there she moved to manage the Pennine Way National Trail and then onto general access work with a government agency. In 2004 Anne joined The Access Company and in 2009 moved across to Walk England.
Anne's expertise is in delivery. She has managed the delivery of a wide range of projects across all aspects of walking. Her experience means that she not only understands the many different worlds of walking but also the varied challenges of working in the public sector.
Her favourite projects include the walk4life website, providing accessibility advice to the New Forest National Park Authority and managing the project to prepare access statements for all the National Nature Reserves in Scotland - during the winter!
Anne lives in the Pennines with her husband, two children and a dog. She spends as much time as possible travelling round in her camper van, exploring our wonderful country.
Jim Walker
CEO
(6).jpg "Jim Walker")
Jim leads the vision for Walk England. He concentrates on creating opportunities for new initiatives and brokering partnerships to deliver them between government, charities and business.
His background is in Environmental Interpretation - he worked as a countryside ranger, Nature Conservation Officer and Trail Manager before setting up The Access Company in 2003 working to encourage more people to enjoy the outdoors. He established Walk21, the International Professional Network in 2000 and continues to chair the annual conference series.
Jim is particularly proud of coordinating the £9 million Walk London project, securing support for the Jubilee Greenway in recognition of Her Majesty The Queen's Diamond Jubilee and in helping government ensure as many people as possible are inspired to walk during and after The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Jim lives in Cheltenham, a stone's throw from where one of the first campaigns for access started in 1902. He shares his enjoyment of the hills with his partner, four boys and his Gordon Setter.
Lisa Smith
Project Support Manager
Lisa is an essential part of the Walk England team - there is mild panic whenever she is on holiday. Lisa works across many projects supporting the team, providing excellent organisation and calm efficiency as well as much needed research, proof reading, design and layout.
On leaving university Lisa worked for an urban regeneration charity in Manchester. She then worked for a design and marketing agency before joining the Countryside Agency where she met Anne. Lisa joined The Access Company in 2006 and moved across to Walk England in 2009.
Lisa's favourite projects are the ones she gets on with without too much interference from Anne and Jim! Her favourite projects include Dr Maps - especially those done for the Olympic Park, the New Forest National Park accessibility audit and Walk London.
Lisa lives in the Midlands with her partner and cat. At weekends you'll often find them out exploring on their motorbikes (the cat prefers to stay at home). Lisa took a year out in 2007 to travel the world - even that didn't get her out of working though as she ended up doing the odd bit of research and proof reading from assorted weird and wonderful internet cafes around the globe.
Nicky Rowbottom
Associate
Nicky is a self-employed professional who has worked with Walk England and The Access Company on a range of projects over the past few years. Her main areas of expertise are research, production of teaching materials and community and professional engagement. She's also worked on signage audits and co-ordinated conferences and training events. Nicky is a wonderful proof-reader and has proofed many maps and reports on our behalf. She brings a calm, efficient competency to her work, which is much appreciated by those who work with her.
Nicky's background is in education and nature conservation and she has worked in the private, public and charity sectors. Becoming increasingly interested in access and sustainable transport, she worked for 4 years as a school travel plan advisor, striving to encourage more children and parents to walk and cycle to school.
Nicky's favourite projects include developing the schools pack for Walk4Life (see www.walk4schools.info), identifying Walk4Life Miles and carrying out consultation work with schools as part of a project to develop visitor standards for local nature reserves.
She lives near the East Anglian coast with her partner, 12 fruit trees and a pond. She enjoys nothing more than walking in the glorious Suffolk countryside (or riding the tandem).
Yvonne Hosker
Associate
As a long standing associate of Walk England, Yvonne manages accessibility projects, designs and runs training events and contributes specialist expertise to access and audience development plans.
Yvonne's background is in countryside management, training and interpretation. She worked as a ranger, chief warden, lecturer, training officer and project manager before becoming an independent facilitator in 1994.
She has a national reputation in the UK for her work on improving access for under-represented groups, and has worked jointly with The Access Company and Walk England on several accessibility projects, as well as contributing her facilitation skills to community consultation events and workshops.
Yvonne's two favourite projects have been access auditing around 60 National Nature Reserves (where the headache of the project management was offset by visiting the best landscapes in Scotland) and a recent trip to Taiwan to share good practice we've developed in imporving access for people with disabilities at an accessible tourism conference.
Yvonne lives in Manchester and is about to launch a new venture - Walks for Foodies - which combines her two great loves, walking and local food and drink.
Amanda Searle
Director of Communications
Amanda is our web expert and leads on all media and communications work. She is an expert in understanding how people interact with websites and understands more of the complexity behind websites than most of us ever want to know.
Amanda studied at Leeds University and went on to work in prisons as a Team Leader writing and delivering communication courses for inmates and staff. After developing a CD-ROM for young offenders she took a side step into communication through technology.
Working as a web and media manager for over 12 years Amanda has managed several high profile national initiatives as well as providing consultation for many Government agencies.
Amanda is a rare person, she understands websites but also understands how people use websites - she is anything but a geek! She uses her skills to translate the needs of each project into a brief which the web company can build to and no matter how complicated the website she always makes sure the end product looks good and is easy to use. She is a PRINCE 2 trained project manager and works with great efficiency and passion.
Amanda has enjoyed the challenges of creating a user friendly mapping system using Ordnance Survey base maps and looks forward to managing future developments on the Walk4Life site to ensure it is as user friendly as possible.
Amanda lives in Leeds with her partner and their two Staffies. She loves walking, horse riding and yoga.
Jenny Humphreys
Project Manager and Route Manager
Jenny is a Project Manager at Walk England, but in reality this means she gets involved with all sorts of projects at different levels, from surveying walking routes in London to meeting potential new Walk4Life partners or presenting Walk England's work to a local council or health forum.
Jenny has a First in English from Royal Holloway College London. After post-university globetrotting, she spent nine years in corporate communications directing client accounts for two London agencies. From there she set up as a consultant and took on roles with National Family Week as head of Partnerships and with Walk London. She became a permanent member of Walk England in January 2010.
During her time with Walk England Jenny's favourite project has been managing the Capital Ring walking route in London, as well as setting up the new Jubilee Greenway 60Km route to celebrate the Queen's 2012 Diamond Jubilee, through which she has been involved with the Jubilee Walkway Trust. Jenny also has a love for the South West of England and has particularly enjoyed communicating with walking groups and organisations in the region about the Walk4Life project.
Jenny has recently moved out of London to live in Windsor with her fiance. She fills her life with a variety of interests, including singing for two London choirs, learning the piano, playing squash and fitting in coastal or country walking weekends whenever she can.
Rachel Maile
Associate
Rachel is the newest member of our team. She is self-employed and works with us on walking projects in London.
Rachel previously worked for the London Borough of Tower Hamlets where she was Sustainable Transport Officer in the Active Travel Team and she has worked with Walk England to produce a Walking Action Plan for Greenwich. This involved planning and overseeing a number of projects designed to encourage and enable more people to walk for travel, health and leisure. Before this Rachel worked for the Ramblers, managing and delivering the Get Walking Keep Walking project in Hackney and Tower Hamlets. She has a strong background in community development and a couple of degrees in Theology from Durham University.
Rachel’s key strength is combining her practical experience with a strategic brain. She loves helping organisations formulate and implement projects to inspire and enable more people to walk.
Rachel lives in South London with her husband and young son. She loves walking, be it to the local park or on the coastal path in Pembrokeshire.
Ade Aboaba
Project Manager
Ade works as a Project Manager for Walk England. She is mainly responsible for delivering our lovely Walk4Life Maps (or Dr Maps). She's also working as route manager for London's Green Chain walk and has led on a number of other projects.
Ade has over 10 years of experience in regeneration, the built environment and community engagement. She studied Architecture at Manchester and North London University which was followed by a period in Rotterdam and Manchester working as an Urban Designer. Ade is passionate about engaging people in their everyday environments and has worked for a number of organisations advising on, creating and delivering community engagement and capacity building projects.
Ade joined Walk England in 2009 to deliver the second phase of Dr Maps (walking maps tailored for use in the health sector) for NHS Camden.
With Walk England she has enjoyed all the walking map projects! Each one has given her the opportunity to work with a rich mix of stakeholders and groups and to explore different environments. Feedback from the public on how much they enjoy the Green Chain Walk also provides great satisfaction.
Ade lives on a Dutch barge on the Thames with her partner. She is a keen runner and likes to explore new places - through walking, running, biking and now by boat.
Gavin Rose
Associate and Route Manager
Gavin is a self-employed professional. For the past five years he has been contracted by Walk England to work as Access Manager for the London Outer Orbital Path (the London LOOP). He also carries out survey and audit work on a range of other projects.
Gavin's background is in project management in both the marine industry and in countryside access. His role on the London LOOP gives him responsibility for sign installation, path improvements and audits. He also negotiates with local land owners, local authorities and contractors to ensure value and on-time delivery.
Gavin's happiest when he's given the responsibility and freedom to deliver a project in the way he thinks best - and because we know he will deliver that's pretty much what we give him. In addition to working on the London LOOP he has carried out audits on walking and cycling routes to and from London 2012 Games venues.
Gavin lives on the Dorset coast with his wife and surf board. If he doesn't immediately reply to an email or phone call he's probably either up a mountain or out at sea!
Abi Mansley
Project Manager
Abi leads on much of the mapping, auditing and data-management tasks. She loves maps! (she's not alone!)
Abi's background is in Countryside Management, although she actually studied French at University and lived abroad for 2 years. After leading many international conservation working holidays she decided to apply herself to the field of countryside access. She worked in Public Rights of Way - first with Kent County Council, then with Cumbria County Council - for 8 years.
Abi's strength is a happy blend of good interpersonal skills and the ability to work with a wide range of people, as well as an eye for detail and high quality work. In 2008 Abi joined The Access Company and in 2009 moved across to Walk England.
Her favourite projects include Walk London's Asset Management System (LAMS), auditing routes around Darwin's 'living laboratory' and working with the National Trust for Scotland on a review of their people counters.
Abi lives near Newcastle. She is learning German at evening classes and enjoys yoga, jogging and wildlife photography.