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Management Board
Jeremy Cooper
Chair
Jeremy is a retired judge and Law Professor. Previously he was Director of the Judicial College London, and then worked as a training consultant to the UNODC and the European Commission. Jeremy’s family lived for many years in Winchelsea and moved to Iden with his wife Clare in 2022.
Jeremy is a retired judge and Law Professor. Previously he was Director of the Judicial College London, and then worked as a training consultant to the UNODC and the European Commission. Jeremy’s family lived for many years in Winchelsea and moved to Iden with his wife Clare in 2022.
Hugh Kermode
Vice Chair & Secretary
Hugh has lived in Iden since 2005 and has been involved in many local initiatives from the Iden fete to being one of the directors of the Community Interest Company that built The Kino, Rye. Along the way he has also run a pop-up restaurant and started The Rye Ukulele Experiment. Hugh trained as an actor, mainly in spoken word, producing and narrating audiobooks and educational content, as well as working in a local winery.
Hugh has lived in Iden since 2005 and has been involved in many local initiatives from the Iden fete to being one of the directors of the Community Interest Company that built The Kino, Rye. Along the way he has also run a pop-up restaurant and started The Rye Ukulele Experiment. Hugh trained as an actor, mainly in spoken word, producing and narrating audiobooks and educational content, as well as working in a local winery.
Andy Lane
Andy moved to Iden in 2022. He spent the majority of his career in the Scotch whisky industry working for multinational companies and latterly in a family owned business in international sales. This experience has given him strong commercial, strategic, and relationship management skills.
Gary Meek
Gary moved to Iden in 2021after working in a variety of roles in the Metropolitan Police. He has since retired and having been involved in music for most of his life, now works as a media composer from the studio in his back garden. You can find him most mornings out walking his dog, Neo around the village.
Chris Melchers
Treasurer
Born in Winchelsea, Chris left Rye Grammar School in 1953 for a job with the National Provincial Bank in London. Chris became Chief Accountant of Air Products Ltd in Belgium before returning to work in the UK for Trusthouse Forte and the Milk Marketing Board. Since retiring Chris has carried our voluntary work as a pension fund trustee and with a number of community organisations.
Born in Winchelsea, Chris left Rye Grammar School in 1953 for a job with the National Provincial Bank in London. Chris became Chief Accountant of Air Products Ltd in Belgium before returning to work in the UK for Trusthouse Forte and the Milk Marketing Board. Since retiring Chris has carried our voluntary work as a pension fund trustee and with a number of community organisations.
David Patten
David first moved to Elmsley in Main Street a little under 30 years ago, followed by Lambs Orchard, then Firs Orchard, before moving to Twin Sisters, where he now lives. David’s career has been in providing Engineering services to insurers in the motor insurance sector. He ran his own business before retiring in 2020.
Simon Phillips Jones
Simon lived in Iden as a teenager in the 1980s and has visited friends and family in the village regularly since that time. He worked in brewing and cider production for a number of years and more recently for small wineries in Kent and East Sussex. He is currently retraining as a bookkeeper.
Christopher Vane
Chris has lived in Iden since 2020. Prior to that he lived in Appledore where he led a project to remodel and extend the Village Hall, and develop additional affordable housing for the village. Before retiring Chris ran his own Design and Brand Development Consultancy working across the private and charitable sectors.
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