Our Trustees

We have a fantastic team of Trustees who support all that we do at South Mill Arts.

Deirdre Glasgow Chair

Deirdre has lived in Bishop’s Stortford for over 40 years and enjoys living and spending time in the Town. She is Chair to the Trust.

She has been involved in education all her life and believes strongly in long life learning.  She has worked across a number of schools as a teacher, executive headteacher and consultant. She was a local headteacher, before retiring and now has more time for other outside interests, including volunteering at South Mill Arts (SMA) as a trustee and usher.

The arts and our heritage are very important to Deirdre and she is passionate about the vital role they play in the development of our growing Town. She strongly believes in the long term future of SMA and recognises the importance that the wider public play in ensuring that SMA continues to sit at the heart of the local community and is the focal point of choice for cultural, social, historic, artistic and outreach activities in Bishop’s Stortford and the surrounding area. 

Steven Connors Vice Chair

Steven is a local resident and has lived or worked in Bishops Stortford for over 30 years. He is currently the Vice Chair of the Trust.  His professional life has been in education and he is now a freelance consultant In School Improvement, working mainly in London.

The Arts, particularly theatre and cinema, have always been a significant part of his life. He is absolutely committed to South Mill Arts enriching the cultural life of the local area as well as significantly developing the museum to make the towns heritage accessible. He is very supportive of the Trusts outreach work with schools.
He believes SMA needs to be continue to outward looking and leading the debate on Arts and Museum provision locally.

Patrick Brennan

Patrick is an experienced trustee having served on another board for nine years during which time he was treasurer and was appointed Chair in his final three years.

He brings this background together with over 40 years in banking and financial services experience to South Mill Arts.

He believes that a rich cultural life and the arts in all its forms should be accessible to all. It should also be central to the life of a local community – telling its story and creating opportunities for new ones to be made and told.

Patrick lives a short distance from Bishops Stortford and hopes the knowledge gained in his past career helps him contribute to running the Charity in a viable and sustainable way.

Graham Pettit

Graham is an experienced non-executive director and trustee in both the private and third sectors of the UK, with a track record as a strategic, performance, financial and risk management advisor. As a consultant and executive level manager, he has been involved in successfully designing and implementing complex transformation and business/service enhancement projects focused on delivering value, sustainability and sound governance.

He has 7 years of previous experience as a Trustee, Director and Chair of a small national charity for children with special needs and 3 years as a Founder/Trustee of a new CIO involved with critically and terminally ill children. He was previously an international banking professional with 3 leading Financial Institutions and involved with professional advisory services to banks and SME’s.

Graham has been a resident of Bishop’s Stortford for 38 years and involved with several local community organization’s. He sees SMA as the natural hub and collaborative centre for outreach in heritage and the arts and feels strongly about sustaining its cultural importance and social contribution to the community.

Valina Bowman Burns

Valina Bowman-Burns is a history enthusiast and has experience working and volunteering in museums, archives and heritage locations.
Her work has a strong education and engagement focus. She believes in the potential of museums to bring together people and communities and contribute to happiness and wellbeing.

Valina lives in Essex, but enjoys being close enough to Herfordshire to visit regularly. She enjoys theatre, music and the arts as well as frequent museum visits.

Elizabeth has spent her working life in pensions communications, staff training & development and adult learning.

She has a lifelong love of history, the theatre and music.  She especially loves visiting museums and art galleries wherever she travels. She likes to learn new things and her current interests are studying French and learning how to play the mandolin.

Elizabeth has lived in Bishops Stortford for 30 years and is passionate about the roleSouth Mill Arts has in our community, enabling residents to enjoy all forms of the arts on their doorstep and to understand their town’s heritage through the work of the Museum.