Geoff works as Project Facilitator for the Community of Practice. He began his career working in adult education for the WEA and later at Nottingham University. He has spent the last 25 years working in Cumbria where has been involved in hill farming as well as in rural develpment. He has been succesively a rural community development worker with Voluntary Action Cumbria; project development manager for West Cumbria Groundwork Trust and rural policy manager for Cumbria Training and Enterprise Council. More recently he has managed the LEADER II and LEADER + programmes in the Cumbria Fells and Dales area. The Fells and Dales LEADER + programme was one of the biggest in the UK. It concentrated on adding value to local products and taking forward the local food agenda especially in the hill farming sector.
In his role within the rural team he hopes to be working with communities taking action to reduce their carbon footprint and involving himself in network development across the UK.
01383 721445/ 07515 286300