Our Staff and Trustees

Mark is a Land Agent with a strong agricultural background having spent the first 20 years of his life living, and mucking in, on a 300 acre tenanted family farm near Tisbury, south Wiltshire.  Early in his career Mark worked in Livestock Markets in Shaftesbury and Salisbury and has also been involved in the management of some significant rural estates in Wiltshire and Northamptonshire.

He is currently the Senior Estate Manager for the National Trust in Purbeck; previously he was Head of Estates for the 254,000 Ha Public Forest Estate in England which the Forestry Commission manages on behalf of the Government, and over 20 years has managed diverse property portfolios from Cumbria to the New Forest and Dorset.

In his home life, Mark has been the Director of a Community Land Trust and Community Interest Company in Wilton and continues to be inspired by the work of wildlife champions across Wiltshire. His family home is in Westbury.

Charles Fattorini retired from the British Army in April 2018 where he had an operationally focused career across the globe. He has extensive exposure in high-threat environments with considerable experience at international, diplomatic, ministerial and head of state engagement. His last appointment was on secondment to the Sultanate of Oman as a security and defence advisor and head of the UK military mission. He has held numerous leadership roles and has broad managerial experience within both MOD and FCO.  He has a Masters in Military Studies and is a Fellow of the Chartered Managers Institute.

Charles’s interest in Wiltshire Wildlife Trust started when he commanded one of the operational training units on Salisbury Plain which had to have a close relationship with Natural England, Defence Estates and a host of wildlife volunteers.

In semi-retirement he runs his own consultancy and a small-holding in Somerset and is a Trustee for The National Muslim War Memorial Trust.  He is a member of the British Deer Society and Somerset Wildlife Trust.  He is married to Cecilia, an artist, and they have two children.

Julian Barlow is Managing Director of BFC Marcomms Ltd, a Public Relations consultancy providing PR services across Europe for Pharma and Medical devices clients and organisations operating in the Built Environment.
He has a BA (Hons) in History and Politics, as well as an MA in Newspaper Journalism.

Julian lives in Wiltshire and serves on the Parish Council in Compton Bassett. He and his wife have taken up beekeeping and are members of the Kennet Bee Club. Julian is also the Chairperson for Wiltshire Wildlife Community Energy.

Matt currently works for HSBC Innovation Banking as Director, ClimateTech & Sustainability. In this role Matt leads the engagement with start up and high growth companies in the ClimateTech and Sustainability segments, supporting access to finance to scale and grow their businesses. He has worked in banking for 25 years across Australia and the UK in a variety of leadership, client coverage, debt finance and sustainability roles.

Within the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust Matt chairs Sustainability, Education & Wellbeing committee, and is a member of the Finance committee.

Matt studied Business Management at Deakin University, Melbourne, and emigrated to the UK 17 years ago. In 2020 he completed the Business Sustainability Management course at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. Matt spends his free time with his wife and two young children exploring the Wiltshire countryside.

With a background in international financial services Piers has attended the Trust's Finance Committee meetings since 2018.

In partnership with his wife Sally, he farms in a small way in North Wiltshire, benefiting since the '80s from advice and encouragement from the Trust to include the reversion of arable land to (wildflower-seeded) pasture and the creation of wetland (a catalyst for joining the John Muir Trust and to further efforts in this direction (if elsewhere)). Individually, Piers enjoys the unusual distinction of having coming last in the Trust's Sarsen Trail.

Separately, he will continue to serve as a director of the Marlborough Downs Space for Nature.

Sylvia is a semi-retired healthcare strategist who has worked with different organisations on complex ‘wicked’ problems in health, social care, housing and the voluntary sector. She co-developed national policies for healthcare innovation, care outside hospital and the use of the NHS estate.

Sylvia’s fascination with the natural world began when she was a child when exploring mountains and wild places of Europe, Africa and America with her family. Her Human Sciences degree at Oxford included ecology, geology, zoology and animal behaviour.

Sylvia is passionate about decarbonisation and lives in an all-electric home with an electric car. She has supported wildlife trusts in Scotland, Surrey, Warwickshire, Yorkshire and now Wiltshire where she serves on the Sustainability, Education and Wellbeing Committee. She lives in Great Bedwyn, where she is a School Governor (Sustainability lead), chairs Bedwyn’s LINK scheme and serves on the Parish Council. She is a keen walker, avid gardener and naturalist and is married to a jeweller.

Dr Tim Gilson is Chief Executive Officer of The Athelstan Trust, a Trust of five secondary schools and two primary schools in Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire, he was Headteacher of Malmesbury School for 12 years and previously taught in London and Kenya. He is a geography teacher with a love of the natural world. Tim is a Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching, he has an MA from the University of London and a doctorate from the University of Reading. Tim moved to Wiltshire in 2001 and lives in Chippenham.

Tim has been a member of the Care Farm Advisory Group for two years having seen the vital work they do supporting vulnerable students from Malmesbury School and many others. Tim is also on the Sustainability, Education and Wellbeing Committee.

Dagmar has recently retired after a long career at Natural England and has extensive experience of the Trust’s reserves.

Dagmar moved to Wiltshire nearly 30 years ago, and joined the Trust straight away. She has a lifelong passion for the natural world and has recently retired from a long career with Natural England, during which time she worked on the Salisbury Avon and the River Kennet, Salisbury Plain and many other Wiltshire Sites of Special Scientific Interest, often in partnership with the Trust. 

More recently, her work focussed on National Nature Reserves (Wiltshire’s NNRs include Pewsey Downs, North Meadow and Langley Wood). Dagmar led the development and implementation of the national NNR Strategy, including establishing the partnership Steering Group for NNRs across England and declaring the first “super” NNRs at Purbeck Heaths and the Somerset Wetlands. She brings many years' experience of Wiltshire’s wildlife and of conservation management and a heartfelt commitment to nature’s recovery for wildlife and people.

Her other interests include cycling, cross country skiing, wildlife gardening and botanical art.