About Us

Kate has been a voluntary Director of the Hub since 2018, and in January 2023 she was appointed as Managing Director to lead on the development of the Hub, made possible by the Prince’s Countryside Fund Farm Support Group initiative.

For the previous eight years Kate worked at The Wye & Usk Foundation, establishing and managing a team of farm advisers and delivering projects to support farm businesses to take action to enhance their farms & deliver benefits for water and wildlife.

Fran keeps the Hub’s administration in order and and assists on various hub projects. She combines this with farm administration work which gives her working knowledge of the issues that farmers encounter on a day to day basis.

She is a member of the National and local Herefordshire branch of the Institute of Agricultural Secretaries & Administrators and is an active member of Our Lady Queen of Martyrs RC Church in Hereford.

In her spare time she enjoys walking, cooking, cryptic crosswords, and spending time with her family especially her grandchildren.

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Sarah runs this Prince’s Countryside Fund project on behalf of the Herefordshire Rural Hub.  This unique three year project aims to establish long term viability for Herefordshire’s family farms, working with each farm on an individual basis to create a brighter future.

From a farming background, Sarah also farms in partnership with her husband on the Herefordshire/Worcestershire border, producing commercial cider fruit, award-winning perry, and running a pedigree Lleyn sheep flock.  Sarah is an active member of the Tenbury Agricultural Society.

Livy works with Sarah in delivering our farm resilience projects.

Livy brings with her experience in soil and crop nutrition as well as bookkeeping and budgeting. She and her husband have a mixed farming enterprise across several tenancies on both sides of the Herefordshire-Monmouthshire border.

Cherry joined the Hub team in April 2022. Originally trained as an agricultural secretary she has for the last 13+ years been supporting farmers and other agricultural businesses to maximise the benefits of technology and farm software.

She has worked as a mobile farm secretary, in a different farm office each day, helping farmers to manage a variety of enterprises and overcome the challenges that come with running a business.

Liz was born and grew up on the family farm in the Golden Valley in Herefordshire, where the family still farms and where, as part of a farm diversification plan, they have developed a group of barns into luxury holiday accommodation. Liz moved back to the county 15 years ago.

Her career has included roles as operations manager for PGL Adventure Ltd and business development director for the Youth Hostels Association. She is a field officer for Four Acre Trust, a charity founded by her partner that supports charities that give individuals – mainly children and young people – help in making the most of their lives.

Cathy retired as Co-ordinator of Herefordshire Rural Hub in 2019, having spent 14 years in post.

She continues to support the Hub as a Director.

Having spent many years as a national committee member for the Institute of Agricultural Secretaries and Administrators (IAgSA) including a stint as Chairman, Cathy now leads a quieter life.

A large garden and 3 dogs take up her time these days but she still maintains her interest in farming issues, particularly the current Agricultural Transition Programme.

Christine is founder of one of Herefordshire’s leading local food retailers, Hopes of Longtown. She also runs Hope to Achieve, an enterprise that is a business mentor to start up and small businesses.

She represents Golden Valley and Black Mountains Experience group to improve the tourism offer and is a Governor at Peterchurch Primary School.

Christine aims to be a rural community champion and was delighted to be the catalyst that sparked the interest of film maker Ann Cottinger to follow six young rural people for over 12 months creating the documentary film “Tune for the Blood”.

Charlotte’s background is in education and agriculture. She worked at Holme Lacy Campus for 30+ years teaching agriculture and then managing a broad range of land based curriculum areas including Retail, Forestry, Gamekeeping, Equine, Animal Care, Blacksmithing, Farriery, Welding and Fabrication and legislative short courses.

Charlotte worked alongside Cathy to set up the Rural Hub and to run European funded initiatives including delivery of IT in village halls throughout the county and rural retailing.  Now semi-retired Charlotte has a part time role carrying out Quality Assurance for City and Guilds as well as helping her partner on their sheep farm on the Herefordshire/Worcestershire border.