Hello, my name is Koy Thomson and I have recently been elected as Vice-Chair of the Moretonhampstead Development Trust.

My wife Hilary’s family have farmed in Moretonhampstead for many generations, and we brought our children up here. While work took us to London – and me to places such as Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and even Borneo, we returned here permanently in 2021.

My career has been in environment, sustainable development and human rights, both in the UK and across the world. I have been the CEO of three organisations, and a trustee and Chair of trustees in many more. It has been a lifelong privilege working with people dedicated to making the world a better place, whether in their own streets or in distant elsewhere – whether a young girl facing terrible threats to attend school in Kabul, to volunteers in our own neighbourhoods simply helping out week after week, year after year.

Here at the Trust, my fellow trustees and staff are a joy and inspiration to work with. There is creativity, ambition, hard work, and a keen sense of working with others and responding to Moreton and even further afield. As Vice-Chair, I want to focus on making the organisation even more capable and sustainable, as well as finding and recruiting great individuals to join us as trustees, advisors, and other special volunteers. Together, through promoting health, wellbeing, arts, and care for our environment, we can make a real difference.