Meet the team

Philip Atkins

Vice-President

Philip Atkins OBE has lived and farmed for over 50 years at Rocester. He currently farms 67 hectares (165 acres) of mainly arable land between the River Dove and Churnet with a small closed flock of Shropshire sheep. He has been involved in most types of farming over the years from livestock and dairy to arable, including growing vegetables, and his farm is now in Higher Level Stewardship. He is also the Uttoxeter NFU Branch Chairman and set up a farmers’ group who ran the Uttoxeter Farmers’ Market.

Philip has been active in local politics since the mid-1980s, and was Leader of Staffordshire County Council from 2009 until July 2020. Over the years, he has been an East Staffordshire Borough Councillor and a parish councillor, as well as a school governor and Fellow of Keele University. He has represented Staffordshire on many regional and national bodies and is Staffordshire’s representative on the Rural Services Network.

Mary Booth
Vice-Chair and Trustee (Finances)

Brought up in Cheshire, Mary obtained a degree in Modern Languages at the University of London and then spent three years working in Sydney, Australia with her husband Richard. She has three daughters and five grand-children, and has lived in Gnosall since 1974. She has a Certificate (HE) in Local Council Administration and an MSc in Local Economic Regeneration. Mary was chairman of CPRE Staffordshire from 2015 to 2018, having previously served for several years as vice-chairman. She is also a parish councillor in Gnosall.

Sarah Burgess
Office and Publicity Manager

Sarah first joined the CPRE Staffordshire office in September 2017, having previously been at home for several years looking after her two children and working part-time as an academic proofreader. She has a BSc in ecology from the University of East Anglia, and an MSc from Imperial College London. She previously worked as an editorial assistant and reporter for a specialist science policy newspaper, and as the coordinator of an academic research network into air pollution. In her spare time she enjoys reading, gardening, open water swimming at Chasewater and exploring the countryside on foot, by bike or by horse.

Anne Clendon
Vice-Chair and Trustee

A resident of Great Haywood, Anne received the British Empire Medal in 2013 for services to her community. Anne served on Colwich Parish Council for more than 20 years, including seven as chairwoman. She is also on the Best Kept Village committee.

 Ian Dudson

President

His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Staffordshire Mr Ian Dudson, CBE KStJ is the President of CPRE Staffordshire.

Ian’s family business, manufacturing ceramic tableware for the worldwide hospitality industry, has been based in Stoke on Trent since 1800. Ian was awarded the CBE for services to the ceramics industry in 2002. Ian was High Sheriff of Staffordshire in 2010-11. He was Pro-Chancellor of Keele University and Chair of Council from 2005-2012 and a founding member of the Local Enterprise Partnership.

Currently he is Chair of the Trustees of The Dudson Centre, a resource centre for voluntary groups, and chairs the Magistrates Advisory Committee for Staffordshire. He is also a Council member at Lichfield Cathedral. He is president of 11 Staffordshire-based organisations, including CPRE.

Dave Evans
Trustee and Stakeholder Liaision

David lives on the south of Stoke-on-Trent (Lightwood). He has held senior positions for many years within the UK and European steel industry. He has sat on a number of European trade committees in both Brussels and Dusseldorf and actively and successfully led trade action against non-compliant (unsafe) trade from China into the European market. He has also provided consultancy assistance on numerous projects around the world.

Away from his professional career, David has been Chair of The Lightwood Community Group since 2014. The group has been successful in campaigning against inappropriate planning applications in the Green Belt. Joining the CPRE as a Trustee is important to David as he wants to help other community groups across the county who may face similar challenges.

David has a daughter and two Labrador dogs and is passionate about helping to protect the countryside for future generations.

Claire Geoghegan

Hedgerow Heroes Project Manager

A resident of Penkridge, Claire has over 20 years’ experience working in environmental conservation, community development and habitat preservation. She has managed projects in terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments in nine different countries.

Steve Hopkins
Trustee and Planning Policy Lead

Born and brought up in South London, Steve read Geography at Cambridge and took an MA in Environmental Planning at Nottingham University. He then worked on a project at the then Oxford Polytechnic comparing local planning practice in England and the Netherlands, before starting a career in local government. He held corporate management posts at South Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council, the London Borough of Croydon and Norfolk County Council, before joining Staffordshire County Council in 1991, where he held a number of positions in the Chief Executive’s Office, culminating as Head of External Relations. Since retiring in 2010, Steve has been keen to maintain his interests in rural matters and the voluntary sector. He was the Chairman of the former Community Council of Staffordshire, Chair of the Newcastle-under-Lyme Voluntary Sector Forum and a Trustee of Beaudesert Trust, an outdoor activity centre on Cannock Chase.

Steve and his wife and have lived Gnosall for over 20 years. They have two grown-up children and three grandchildren. Steve is an Honorary Steward at Twickenham, and a Vice-President of Newport (Salop) Rugby Club.

Mohammed Khuram
Chairman

Mohammed has 20 years’ experience in the energy industry, with over half of his career in expatriate postings in the Netherlands, Kazakhstan, the UAE, Iraq, and Brunei. He is particularly experienced in the commercial execution of major infrastructure projects, including the setting up of new project teams, engagement with Government and regulatory bodies, and dialogue with local communities.

Mohammed graduated from Oriel College, Oxford with a degree in Law, during which time he interned as a Political Researcher in the House of Commons and for the Foreign Office in Chad and Cameroon.

He was elected as Chairman of CPRE Staffordshire in 2022 and is a Trustee of several other groups, including the Staffordshire Cadets, King George V Lands Trust at Beaudesert, and the Scouts.

He has previously volunteered as a Mentor for the Prince’s Trust in Scotland and as Director for Communications and Development at the Prince of Wales’ Turquoise Mountain Foundation in Afghanistan.

Click here for further details of our organisational structure.