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The Prime Minister has reappointed Dr Claire Feehily, David Stocker and Maria Adebowale-Schwarte as Trustees of the National Heritage Memorial Fund and The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Claire has been reappointed from 01 October 2021 until 28 February 2023 and David and Maria have been reappointed from 16 November 2021 until 15 May 2023.

Dr Claire Feehily

Claire is a qualified accountant specialising in governance and risk management with extensive Non-Executive experience in government, health and charitable settings, including with The National Archive. She has a keen interest in cultural heritage in its widest sense and particularly in encouraging engagement across all age groups. Her academic research and teaching have focused on education and cultural memory.

In her first three years as a Trustee she has chaired the Audit and Risk Committee and been closely involved across the Fund’s various funding streams. Claire lives in the south west where she experiences first hand how Heritage Lottery support impacts so positively within her rural community.

David Stocker

Since 1978, David - an archaeologist and architectural historian by training - has worked in the heritage sector throughout England, but especially in Yorkshire, the East Midlands, and Lincolnshire - moving to the latter county in 1980. Prior to 1986 he worked for heritage charities and as a self-employed consultant, before being appointed to English Heritage. Disabled in 1996, he undertook research and policy roles, before taking early retirement in 2012. In 2013 he was appointed to HLF’s East Midland Committee, and in 2018 he became an NHMF Trustee. Subsequently, he has served on four NLHF Committees in the North of England, and on sub-committees dealing with: NHMF cases; Towns; Cultural Recovery Fund; Green Recovery Cultural Fund; Heritage Horizons Award and the Welsh Nature Network.

David’s academic interests lie both in landscapes, buildings and churches, and in early sculpture and nineteenth-century art-history, on which topics he has published books and articles. In 2010 he was awarded an Hon. Visiting Professorship in Medieval Studies at the University of Leeds. He has held several previous Trusteeships with heritage-sector charities, currently chairing Trustees of the Lincoln Record Society, and sitting on the National Trust’s Council.

Maria Adebowale-Schwarte

Maria is the CEO of the Foundation for Future London, funding and fundraising for local communities, places and programme partnerships at the Stratford Waterfront and East Bank the new culture, education, innovation and good growth centre in East London. She joined the Foundation from Living Space Project, the urban placemaking and inclusive cities think tank consultancy she founded.

Maria is a placemaking and grants strategist with over 25 years’ cross-sector experience in heritage, human rights, improving urban places and green spaces. She is passionate about investing in local communities and the economy to create jobs and training in genuine community-inclusive and cross-sector development and co-designed public/private space partnerships. She has sat on several governance boards of organisations and advisory groups that hold a solid place-led, sustainable development, culture, and heritage focus. As well as being on the board of The National Lottery Heritage Fund, she also Chairs its Equality Diversity and Inclusion Task Force.

Maria is also on the board of the Environment Agency and the Mayor of London’s Sustainable Development Commission independent advisory group to the Mayor of London, where she co-chairs the social value regeneration committee. And is a member of the City of London’s Culture and Commerce Taskforce. In addition, she is an Inaugural Fellow at the Centre for Knowledge Equity, Skoll Centre, University of Oxford and recipient of the Place and Environment Clore Social Fellowship. Her book The Place Making Factor explores the role of philanthropy in unlocking siloed approaches to funding.

National Heritage Memorial Fund and The National Lottery Heritage Fund Trustees are remunerated at £10,500 per annum. Dr Claire Feehily is remunerated at £13,500 per annum as Audit and Risk Committee Chair. All three Trustees were initially reappointed to short six month terms and these reappointments are therefore to a third term. These reappointments have been made in accordance with the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments. The process is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. The Government’s Governance Code requires that any significant political activity undertaken by an appointee in the last five years is declared. This is defined as including holding office, public speaking, making a recordable donation or candidature for election. Claire, David and Maria have not declared any activity.