Take a look at the trustees who support our organisation

David Sharp speaks to members at CFY AGM

Our trustees have an important part to play in shaping and directing Community First Yorkshire. Find out more about them here.

Adrian Willis

Trustee

Adrian has been involved with the Young Farmers movement for over 50 years. In 1990 Adrian became chair of the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Development Committee, responsible for the central training requirement for over 650 clubs. Adrian has also been secretary of the Yorkshire Federation’s Staffing Committee for 25 years and in 2000 he was elected a life member of the Yorkshire Federation of Young Farmers. He was further honoured in 2015 when he was elected as the first person from Yorkshire to become a life vice president of the National Federation of Young Farmers.

Adrian currently works in the clothing industry, is a director of several companies and has a young son and daughter. Additionally, Adrian is a AAA qualified tug-of-war judge and officiates across England.

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David Jeffels
David Jeffels

Trustee

David is a long serving member on North Yorkshire County Council and Scarborough Borough Council. He is a former Chairman of NYCC and Mayor of Scarborough.

He is a former Chairman of Yorkshire Rural Community Council and Rural Action Yorkshire, the predecessors of Community First.

He holds a number of positions in public life and local government including being a member of North York Moors National Park Authority; Member of the Local Government Association’s Board for Culture, Tourism and Sport; Chairman of the York and North Yorkshire Flood Protection Committee, and a member of two village hall committees.

He is a semi-retired journalist working in North Yorkshire.

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David Sharp

Chairman

David Sharp has been chief executive of North Yorkshire Youth (NYY) since November 2011. His main responsibility is for the strategic direction of the organisation and the oversight of all major functions of the organisation.

He is also a trustee of the Regional Youth Work Unit as well as chair of Community, and finds time to fit being a councillor for Brompton on Swale Parish Council into the mix. Through his day job he sits on the Executive Board for Safeguarding, the Corporate Parenting Group and the Children and Young Peoples Overview and Scrutiny Committee as the voluntary sector representative for North Yorkshire County Council. This along with his volunteering roles means that he receives a vast amount of information which relates to young people, the voluntary sector, local government and on running an organisation.

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David Watson

Trustee

David Watson is the chief executive of North Yorkshire Sport Ltd, the Charity and Active Partnership for Sport and Physical Activity in North Yorkshire. Formerly an employee of Harrogate Borough Council, he has over 30 years of experience in the Sport and Physical Activity industry, the last 15 years of which have been with North Yorkshire Sport, including launching the organisation as an independent charity in 2014, and is a qualified youth worker.

David is an active member of a number of strategic groups within the county representing sport and physical activity.

As a volunteer, he is a member of the Swim England, chair of Swim England North East Ltd, a governor at Harrogate High School and is currently studying for a Doctorate of Professional Practise in Sport at Leeds Beckett University.

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Rebecca Buckley
Rebecca Buckley

Trustee

Rebecca is a scientist, with a PhD in geology, and worked as an executive for over 20 years in the international energy industry. She has extensive business experience, analytical skills, and a strategic perspective that comes from working in a business with long timelines, huge investments, significant uncertainty and ever-changing external factors. She is interested in the net zero transition, including within the voluntary, social enterprise and community sector and the sector’s role in the transition in communities.

She lives with her family within the National Park and enjoys the nature, landscapes and heritage on her doorstep. She volunteers with local community groups and is a Trustee of Community First Yorkshire.

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Richard Jones Trustee Community First Yorkshire
Richard Jones

Trustee

Richard has been a Finance Director for several large companies and is experienced in corporate restructuring, business acquisitions and sales. He has run a commercial finance brokering company since 2012, specialising in raising debt finance for SMEs and property developers. Alongside this, Richard has continued to be a part time Financial Director for clients and a Non Executive Director for a number of social enterprise support organisations, social enterprises and charities. With over 30 years of finance experience, Richard will help blend the commercial and charitable aims of Community First Yorkshire, ensuring a sustainable future.

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