The Flavel Trust

Ian Downing Chair Of The Trustees

My relocation from Cambridge to Devon took place 13 years ago, but initially to run a B&B in Lynton, North Devon.  It was the difficulty of sailing on the Bristol Channel that brought me down to the Dart, there’s always water in the river and currents only run at 2 knots!  But the offering of a wonderful arts and community centre at the Flavel helped influence the move into the town in 2022.

Having started life as a schoolteacher encouraging groups of challenging young people when teaching special needs groups in ordinary comprehensive schools, taking opportunities out of school to develop self esteem and try to build confidence and sociability, I then worked at a residential outdoor education centre at Graham Water in the flat lands of Cambridgeshire.  The large lake, as well as the climbing towers in the grounds and bike track around the lake offered great opportunities for adventure.  After being a teaching deputy for 10 years, I was given the role of Head of Centre, where the interesting challenge of running a cost neutral business unit within the county council allowed me to hone my skills of operating something that was not core business for the county council but provided a wonderful community environment for a whole range of activities, adventurous, musical, cultural.  I was lucky enough to be able to build strong relationships with elected council members and senior officers to manage a substantial budget of earned revenue and then attract significant funding to increase the size of the operation.  Skills I hope to be able to use to helping the team look after and grow our Flavel.

Frances Davidson

I moved to Dartmouth in 2013 after living in London for 40 years, training and then working as a Doctor. I retired from inner city General Practice after 30 years supporting a very diverse population in South East London.  I was particularly involved with Child Health and Safeguarding and became Chairperson of Home Start Lambeth, a voluntary organisation training volunteers to befriend and support families with young children in difficulty. I am married with 3 adult children and currently 4 grandchildren.

An important element to our decision to move to Dartmouth was the presence of the Flavel Centre providing an alternative to the widely available Arts and Theatre opportunities in London. How lucky we are to have this facility in such beautiful surroundings. It seemed important to support the Flavel, initially and currently as a volunteer and then as a Trustee since 2018.

As a Trustee I have been involved in Volunteer issues and currently am part of the Fundraising Team and the Trustee Recruitment group.

Lindsay Ellwood

My background is in education. For a large part of my career, I was living and working in The Netherlands with my husband, John. After teaching for a few years in an international school, I moved to teaching adults, and taught in a number of institutes in the Netherlands. 

Eventually, I set up my own business, providing bespoke language courses for business people, diplomats etc. who were working in the international community.

Since moving to Dartmouth, I have been working in various charitable organisations, and I am currently a Director of Dartmouth Mayflower.

I am passionate about the Arts and was keen to get involved with the running of the Flavel, which is a wonderful arts centre, community hub and valuable asset for the town.

Since becoming a Flavel Trustee, I have undertaken a variety of roles, and am now responsible for Fundraising and Trustee Recruitment.

Andrew Dalton, Treasurer

I have lived in Dartmouth since 2020 and started volunteering at The Flavel in the spring of 2021. I moved from Oxfordshire with my wife Sally and chose Dartmouth due to its winning combination of coastal location, year-round community and great amenities such as the Flavel!

I have an IT and Project Management background and have led a variety of projects including Thornton’s chocolates, programming industrial robots, medical research systems and many commercial systems and websites.

I’ve found volunteering at the Flavel is a great way to give back to the community, meet people and to employ your experience and skills. I’m currently involved in projects relating to sponsorship, IT systems and the website.

My other interests (beyond the arts) are cooking, keeping fit, pottery and photography.

Paul Smith

As I look back on my career and life, it has been very much about connections, diversity, and the power of working together. This was largely more to do with the human world and the impact of culture. My latest assignment working as MD for The Eden Project, gave me the opportunity to gain a greater understanding in highlighting the value of changing how we all think about, feel towards, and relate to embodying a shift towards nature connections.

A great analogy of both of these is a tree; its branches are the people that feed, sustain, generate legacy and enrich the culture, its trunk, the organisational structures that shape and protect what we do, and moves energy throughout the organisation; Its roots anchor, stabilise and provide the values and principles that nourish the organisation, and finally The Soil, this feeds the tree and helps it communicate, the soil is the enrichment of community and networks that we are part of. The Flavel is Dartmouth’s tree.

I have enjoyed my career working UK and internationally as CEO, MD, etc, in many countries mainly in the F&B, Restaurant and Retail businesses. During this time mentoring and as a qualified coach growing young people, supporting female leadership, and developing strategy to engage organisations with their customers and communities. I happily live in Dartmouth with my wife Amelia.

James Dodd

I have lived in and around Dartmouth since the early 1960s and was raised in the town. As a young lad, I learned to sail on the river and that passion continues to this day.

I enjoyed a career of some 30 years in the Royal Navy as a Weapon Engineer and then operated as a professional yacht skipper employed by the town’s sailing schools of the day.

As a long-term resident, I have been a volunteer at the Flavel in various capacities while holding other voluntary roles that included Town Councillor, Chairman of the Joint Regatta Sailing Committee, Commodore of Dittisham Sailing Club, and more recently as a Board member of the DHNA serving as the Chairman for my last 18 months.

I consider the Flavel to be a very special asset for the local community and am happy to contribute in any way to ensure its future longevity. As a trustee, my focus will be on the Building and Equipment and all matters of maintenance.

Sarah Easton

I have spent most of my working life in the Automotive Industry. My areas of expertise lie mainly in sales, marketing and operations, and have written and completed many tender documents (both as a supplier and as a customer) which lends itself to completing grant applications! More recently I helped to set up and run 2 technology companies in the Automotive Industry which gave me an understanding of the principles of business.

I am married to Guy, we have 3 adult sons and 3 grandchildren.

We moved to Dartmouth from Buckinghamshire in August 2022 having lived there for nearly 30 years. I have always been drawn to Devon as we holidayed down here regularly over the years, and my father was a Plymothian! I can remember seeing Dartmouth for the first time from the steam train and thought what a stunningly beautiful place it was and still is!

My interests include singing in the Dartmouth Rock choir, rambling with our dogs, travel, and attending films and live music (particularly tribute bands) at the Flavel. The Flavel is such an asset to the town and wider community. I have been waiting for the right volunteering opportunity, and I am delighted to now be working with my fellow Trustees to keep the Flavel Forever.

Kealey Sherwood

I have lived in Dartmouth since 2012, moving from Dartmoor where I lived previously since 2002. I absolutely love living by the sea and can often be found enjoying the glorious River Dart by boat, kayak or paddleboard with my little dog Elsa. Whilst an outdoors and sports fanatic, I equally enjoy Music, Arts and Film hence my commitment to being both a volunteer and Trustee of the Flavel.

My background is predominantly in Education, Community Development and Charity. I spent my previous 14 years working at a school in Exeter where I was Headteacher up until September 2023. As you can imagine, I am particularly keen to see the Flavel used by young people who can benefit enormously from exposure to both literature and culture.

I believe passionately that organisations such as the Flavel have the power to bring communities together and provide a space where all people can, not only enjoy the cultural experiences on offer, but also meet new people, make lifelong friends and give back to their communities through volunteering.

I am really looking forward to seeing the Flavel go from strength to strength and increasingly become the heartbeat of our wonderful Town.

Johnathan Turner

I’ve worked with marketers all my life, firstly as a marketer myself, then founding a marketing consultancy which recruited marketers and worked for marketing teams in large and small companies all over the world.  The common thread for all of us was a desire to work out what our customers and other stakeholders wanted from our organisation and why – or why potential customers didn’t want to use or buy us.  And of course, then the challenge was to deliver for them, cost-effectively and sustainably - a challenge the Flavel faces today.  Getting things done, however, was (and is) only possible by working effectively within broad based, multi-skilled teams to get things done - by, with and through people – there’s no “I” in teams, as they say!  

Since retiring a couple of years ago, I’ve loved having more time to enjoy all that Dartmouth has to offer, on and off the water, including the wonderful events at the Flavel.  The community is so fortunate to have this amazing asset and it’s down to the whole Flavel Team to make it somewhere all community groups feel can be “their place”. I’ve always loved the arts and believed in their potential to support individual wellbeing and community cohesion. This vital role is increasingly well understood, and I hope we can use it to underpin the Flavel’s future.  

I also volunteer at the Museum which has some similar and some very different challenges as the Flavel. As a historian, I am very conscious of the importance of understanding and preserving the past, but of course, change and progress are what makes history.  So, I am looking forward to preserving all that’s best about the Flavel, but helping bring new and different experiences to all parts of Dartmouth’s community.