Ruth Bull

Community Missioner

STOCKPORT

Ruth has experience church planting overseas, and has worked in a number of parishes across the Diocese, working alongside her vicar husband. She lives in Bredbury, where she is a licensed Reader at St Mark's, heading up various ministries and is involved in Food Bank and CAP life skills. She has a heart to see communities transformed by the good news of Jesus, as churches and groups connect with the people they encounter through social action, welcome and hospitality.

Rev. Dr Andrew Knight

Chairman of Board of  Trustees

BOWDON

Andrew is Chairman of the Board of Trustees and currently  Vicar of Bowdon Parish Church after 7 years in Partington - a large overspill social housing estate from Manchester. He is an Ambassador for the charity People Against Poverty with whom he has worked with street children and their families in Romania, and supports projects for the homeless. Before ordination Andrew was a commercial services manager in a scientific pharmaceutical research company and is a research chemist by training.

Rev. Tina Upton

Trustee Board Member

BLACON, CHESTER

Tina is the Rector of Holy Trinity Church in Blacon, Chester, where she has been since 2012. Before ordination, she was a psychiatrist, and her medical practice showed her the needs of those who have broken lives or who suffer poverty. She has also been instrumental in working across agencies to improve what is provided for young people across the community. 

Rev. Dr Margaret Jones

Vice Chair of Board of  Trustees

SALE, MANCHESTER

Margaret taught for over 20 years in an inner-city high school in Manchester, caring for ethnically diverse communities living there and with concern for the poor and disadvantaged. After ordination, Margaret spent 12 years in ministry, first in Altrincham and then in Whaley Bridge, before retiring in 2019 and undertaking a doctorate in practical theology. Her thesis identifies that the organic, social enterprise form of partnership offers the established church a means to engage in community-based social action in today’s world. 

Canon Dr Anthony Lees-Smith

Trustee Board Member

CHESTER

Anthony is Canon Missioner at Chester Cathedral with responsibility for education and learning, arts and outreach. He recently moved from Leicester where he was a parish priest and oversaw curate training in the diocese. He was a trustee for a homelessness charity in the city and heavily involved in interfaith work locally. Before ordination, Anthony was a primary school teacher and has just completed a doctorate in practical theology at the University of Chester focussed on the lived experience of religious difference.

Myrtle Lacey

Trustee Board Member

WIRRAL

Myrtle is a third generation Salvationist and is the Community Team Leader at a Salvation Army community church. She has helped to develop a broad spectrum of community based services and activities including a Place of Welcome, a memory café for those living with dementia and their carers, lunch club and food distribution. Myrtle is also a member of the S.A.’s Emergency response Team for the North West and North Wales and has latterly become involved in Anti-Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery work. 

Vicki Wells

Trustee and Treasurer

HALE

Vicki qualified as a chartered accountant and worked in publishing and insurance. She now works with local charities and her church.