Introduction

Clare specialises in strategic development, project and programme management and leadership in the countryside, culture and heritage sectors.

She is fascinated by the interaction between culture and heritage, the community, health and wellbeing, the environment, and the economy, and how culture and heritage underpin and support people and places.

She is a strong, innovative collaborator, who has developed a variety of strategic approaches in different roles within the cultural sector and funded and delivered many large scale, multiple partner projects.

Core competencies

Clare’s core competencies are:

  • Strategic thinking, planning and policy development- developing meaningful strategies, policies and action plans
  • Programme/ project development, funding and management- developing, managing and evaluating large and small scale externally funded projects
  • Stakeholder engagement- proactively working with a wide range of organisations and individuals to make things happen
  • Collaboration and partnership development- focused on heritage, countryside and culture

Career highlights

Before joining R4C in 2024, Clare was Head of Culture, Leisure and Tourism at Shropshire Council, overseeing the strategic development and management of country parks, rights of way, leisure, libraries, theatres, museums, archives and tourism. This included commissioning the Vibrant Shropshire Cultural Strategy, developing Shropshire’s Cultural Compact, overseeing development of new Shropshire Branding, Destination Management Plan 2023, and development of partnership working for the visitor economy, secured funding for tourism development, and creating the Shropshire’s Great Outdoors Strategy, Board, branding and website.

She has developed and delivered many large-scale projects and programmes. Major successes include two rounds of LEADER (£3.5m in total), initiating £1 million ’Walking with Offa’ co-operation project, delivering new circular routes, merchandising, marketing and business engagement along the Welsh-English border with a wide range of partners, and leading the development of the cross-border Stiperstones and Corndon Hill Country Landscape Partnership Scheme, securing £2.3 million from the Lottery Fund and helping deliver landscape scale habitat restoration.

Clare also has an interest in the therapeutic benefits of natural and cultural heritage. She managed the expansion and evaluation of the Walking for Health programme for Shropshire and initiated the Shropshire Wild Team project aimed at those with physical and mental health issues, developing an evaluation system in co-operation with the Public Health department.

Other stuff

Clare lives in Powys, very near the Shropshire border, south of Shrewsbury, where she is a Trustee of Grow, Cook, Learn, the charity that owns and manages the Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre.

Clare’s recent projects include: