Staff

Staff Day September 2023

Meet the team

Essex Wildlife Trust has around 200 permanent employees, split between our main offices (Abbotts Hall outside Colchester), our eleven Nature Discovery Centres and working across the region on nature reserves and other landholdings. 

The strategic leadership team are responsible for both the strategic and operational running of the Trust. Find out more about each member of the team below.

Interim Chief Executive Officer / Director of Engagement: Richard Yates

Rich Yates - Director of Engagement

Rich joined in April 2019 after spending the early part of his career working in the university sector. He leads the Engagement directorate which focuses on widening access to nature, inspiring a lifelong love of nature, and encouraging the people of Essex to take action for wildlife and wild places. He oversees marketing, brand, communications, education, events, and projects. This includes managing the external profile of the Trust and its relationships with stakeholders, including partners and the press.

If you have a query for the team please email:

Communications: communications@essexwt.org.uk
Marketing: marketing@essexwt.org.uk
Website: website@essexwt.org.uk
Events: events@essexwt.org.uk
Education: outdoorlearning@essexwt.org.uk  
Projects PDT@essexwt.org.uk

Director of People and Culture: Samantha Quill

Sam Quill - Director of People and Culture

Sam is the Trust’s Director of People and Culture.  She joined the Trust in September 2020 moving from Hertfordshire where she had worked for more than 30 years almost exclusively in Third Sector organisations.  Having relocated during lock-down, Sam is enjoying life in Essex, and feels very much at home.

Sam has a breadth of experience in leadership and management, having held roles in senior management including as Principal Officer, and strategic HR positions.  A Chartered member of CIPD, she specialises in Strategic HRM, change management/transformation, culture, and reward.  A qualified workplace mediator, Sam is also a trained (therapeutic) counsellor, and coach, a Mental Health First Aider, and a Wellbeing Champion.

A lover of outdoor life, Sam is a keen walker and cyclist – both road and static (indoor) - but is happiest when by (or in!) a river or woodland, with camera in hand.   When not outdoors in nature, she relaxes through music and reading.

Born in Ireland, on the banks of the River Boyne (famous for its salmon), Sam loves Irish/Celtic mythology and particularly appreciates the oral tradition of great storytelling.

If you have a query for the team please email:

Volunteering:  volunteering@essexwt.org.uk
HR:  hr@essexwt.org.uk
Recruitment: jobs@essexwt.org.uk
Safeguarding:  safeguarding@essexwt.org.uk

Conservation Director: Jeremy Dagley

Jeremy Dagley - Conservation Director

If you have a query for the team please email:

Enquiries: Enquiries@essexwt.org.uk

Director of Finance and Systems: Sue Howe

If you have a query for the team please email:

Finance:  finance@essexwt.org.uk
Business Support:  businesssupport@essexwt.org.uk
Facilities:  davidm@essexwt.org.uk
I.T.  it@essexwt.org.uk
Heath & Safety:  healthandsafety@essexwt.org.uk

Commercial Director: Position vacant

If you have a query for the team please email:

Fundraising: fundraise@essexwt.org.uk
Gifts in Wills: legacies@essexwt.org.uk
Membership: membership@essexwt.org.uk
Corporate: corporate@essexwt.org.uk
Essex Ecology Services: eecos@essexwt.org.uk