Directors

Jim is a policy and communications expert with 15 years of experience in developing access policy, coordinating professional networks, managing walks and promoting the joys of walking.

With a background in marketing, nature conservation and trail management Jim’s work has included founding Walk21, the international conference series, which he continues to Chair. 

Jim is Director of The Jubilee Walkway Trust, currently working with HRH The Duke of Gloucester to develop a new 60 mile walk in London in anticipation of a Diamond Jubilee and is also Vice Chair of the European Union funded ‘Walk Europe’ Project.

Jim has four little Walkers who ensure he walks the talk as often as possible!

Veronica is Partnerships Director of Walk England.  She has been involved with promoting walking for health for over 11 years.

She is co-author, with Dr William Bird, of ‘Walking for Health’. She has developed evaluation methodologies for health walks and carried out primary research on the health benefits of BTCV’s Green Gyms.  Her particular interest is in evaluation and 'measuring walking'.

Veronica is married with two grown up boys.

Gary is a social and business entrepreneur, initiating, consulting on and project managing projects in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. 

Gary previously worked with Natural England and Countryside Council for Wales on projects involving determining standards for trail management.  This detailed work required much consultation, research and innovation to help develop policies and procedures that make the bigger visions of inclusiveness and accessibility a reality on the ground for people to be encouraged to enjoy our open spaces. 

Gary is also co-founder of Furniture Finders of Winsford (www.ffow.co.uk) - a not for profit furniture re-use project encompassing what Gary does best - initiating exciting community-based projects and then delivering the details implementation.

Anne has been working to encourage walking and promote access to the countryside for over 20 years.

Anne’s background is in trail and conservation management. She specialises in delivering projects. She builds effective partnerships between managers and the public and has extensive practical experience in trail management, surveying, access auditing, managing rights of way and coordinating professional best practice and communication networks.

Anne recently re-married, with her 2 children and dog spends as much time as possible walking from her motorhome.

Walk England Advisory Board

Sir Muir Gray CBE - Chair

Muir Gray entered the Public Health Service from a career in academic surgery in 1974 as a local authority employee in the County Borough of Oxford.   During the years that have passed he has had over twenty structural reorganisations of the health service and the Public Health Service, and has been involved with every type of health service from smoking cessation to environmental protection, from antenatal counselling to end-of-life care.   His proud claim is that he has made every mistake possible, most of them only once (it was, however, pointed out to him that there may be completely new types of mistake that we are making that we don’t even recognise as yet).

Among the jobs he has held have been a Consultant in Public Health for the Oxfordshire Health Authority, the Regional Director of Public Health for the Oxford Region, the founding Programme Director of the National Screening Committee, the Director of the National Library for Health, and the Chief Knowledge Officer for the NHS.

He currently has three part-time jobs.

• He is a Consultant in Public Health in the NHS, seconded to act as Director of the Public Health commissioning Network whose aim is to use commissioning to create healthcare systems, for example a National Epilepsy Service, to complement the set of institutions which currently dominate thinking within the NHS.

• He is the founding Director of the charity called Knowledge Into Action which is leading the National Campaign for Walking and the Campaign for Greener Healthcare.

• He is the Director of Better Value Healthcare Ltd., a company which uses podcasting and other Web 2.0 technology to help those who pay for and manage healthcare create systems and change the culture of the organisations in which they work.

He was awarded the CBE in 1998 and knighted in 2007 for services to the NHS.

George Grace

Partner, King Sturge

George fulfils a unique role within King Sturge Consultancy, bridging regeneration, financial services and public sector, in order to bring a more holistic perspective to projects.

Significant experience has been gained advising public and private sector organisations in some of the most innovative new partnership arrangements currently being adopted in the UK.

In addition to experience of the asset backed vehicles created by King Sturge, he has been involved in some of the most successful voluntary developer partnerships in the UK (Paddington Waterside Partnership) and led the creation of one of the UK’s first BIDs (Business Improvement Districts).   

Tim Pharoah MSc, MRTPI, MCILT, MIHT

Tim works independently as a consultant and is retained by Tribal’s Urban Studio team, with over 40 years experience in public and private sector planning and as an academic.

He is a keen advocate of planning for walking as the prime mode of travel, a cause that he has furthered through membership of government bodies and authorship of key guidance documents. He was a member of the Government joint cycling / walking working group in1998, and was appointed advisor to the (UK) House of Commons inquiry into walking in 2001.

Guidance documents he has contributed to include:

• “Manual for Streets”, British Govt. 2007
• “Improving Walkability” Transport for London, 2005
• “Quality Streets: Why good walking conditions matter for London’s economy”, for Central London Partnership, 2003.
• “Going to Town” British Govt. 2002
• “Walking strategy for London”, London Govt. bodies, 1996.

His books include: Transport Organisation in London”, 1974; "Traffic Calming Guidelines" 1991; "Less Traffic, Better Towns", 1992; "Transport Concepts in European Cities" 1995.