Kingshill House Trustees

We would love to introduce you to our lovely trustees who help us run Kingshill House.

David Bush 
Trustee since 2015
​Following a successful career as an Air Traffic Control officer in the RAF, David moved into practice management and compliance in the UK legal sector, where he is currently the Compliance Director for a group of Gloucestershire law firms. During his varied career he has been responsible for managing a wide range of buildings and installations in the UK and abroad, while his extensive experience in managing staff and resources has been put to good use since becoming a Trustee at Kingshill House in 2015, where he provides advice and support to the General Manager in all aspects of HR and staff management, and is also a qualified Licence holder and (volunteer) barman. In his spare time David enjoys photography, gardening and stained glass, which is useful because his wife, Caroline, is a regular Kingshill House tutor on the subject!

Simon Carter 
Trustee since 2023
A relative newcomer to Dursley (moving here in 2021 from Worcestershire) he runs an antiques / homeware shop in Silver Street, and has joined local heritage and bell ringing groups since arriving.  Simon’s background is in museums, historic buildings and gardens and fine and decorative art collections.  After volunteering in local museums in his teens in Leicestershire, his first paid role was at (what is now) the Museum of the Home in Shoreditch, London, he then became the Deputy Curator of the fine art collection of the Palace of Westminster held by the two Houses of Parliament.  Between 2007 and 2020, Simon was Museum Director of Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings, and independent open-air museum of rescued buildings which have been dismantled, moved and re-erected to preserve them.  Simon is a former Trustee of the Castle Bromwich Hall Gardens Trust and the Bromsgrove Society.
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Chris Creswick
Trustee since 2022
Chris Creswick spent much of his career in Training, Organisation Development and HR, becoming HR Director of a major Food Company and sitting as a Member of the Employment Tribunals in Bristol. He later combined those roles with a long involvement in the NHS, becoming Chair of Gloucestershire Health Authority and later Chair of a Primary Care Trust and then of a Hospital Trust. His last NHS role was as Chair of Gloucestershire’s Integrated Care Services Board. He also Chaired local charities delivering domiciliary care and mental health support and was Chair of the Gloucestershire Strategic Partnership in its early days. In his spare time Chris has enjoyed rock climbing, fell-running and cycling but is now confined to walking his dog. He has lived in Dursley since 1976 and has a love of the place. He has followed the fortunes of Kingshill House since the inception of the charity and believes strongly in its value to the local community and the importance to people of the creative work it fosters and facilitates. Chris became a director of Kingshill House in 2022 and Chair in 2023. 

Dr Paul Winterbottom 
Trustee since 2022
Paul has enjoyed living in Dursley for 30 years whilst working in Gloucestershire. He is a Director at Dursley Rugby Club having played and coached there in the past and a trustee of Gloucestershire Young Carers. Professionally he is a practising psychiatrist having served as Medical Director for the Mental Health NHS Trust for 13 years prior to retirement.
He has enjoyed the facilities provided by Kingshill House over years with his family and believes that it can develop further in it’s role as a hub for culture, arts and education for Dursley, Cam and surrounding villages at a time when our community is growing rapidly.
"The house is a beautiful setting for arts, crafts and performance whilst providing a venue for social events. The health and wellbeing of individuals and communities benefits from opportunities to meet and participate in activities and crucial to this is having a variety of accessible accommodation to support those events such that the people using them feel a love and ownership of them. Kingshill House as a listed building surrounded by our community deserves to be part of the string of pearls that provide a focus for culture and society in Dursley, Cam and their surrounding communities."
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Rachael Tapping
​Trustee since 2022
Rachael started her career in live events, working in the creative department at a communications agency in London. Following on from the world of events she worked for small branding and design agencies, a local independent publisher and is now Head of Communications for a membership organisation for the UK's science and discovery centres. 
Her experience and expertise in communications and community engagement provides valuable support and guidance for the small team at Kingshill House. 
Rachael has two teenage daughters and loves travelling and walks with her black Labrador. 

Emily Somerville
Trustee since 2023
Emily’s career in finance has spanned various sectors starting in retail to financial services, private banking, NHS, manufacturing, FTSE 100 companies, and more recently construction working both in here and abroad involving both financial and management accounting, tender bids, systems design and implantation, and contract negotiations particularly useful on a one to one transfer of a banana to a large silver backed gorilla.
She has also worked as a volunteer treasurer for the Bristol branch of the Maritime Volunteer Service for over 20 years and was a volunteer coastguard in Sharpness station. She has lived in Dursley for 12 years.
Emily enjoys all boating activities both rib and sail as well as dog walking.

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Martyn Slater

Christine Darlaston 
Trustee since 1998
Chris has been a Director of Kingshill House since its inception and more recently a Trustee. She brings considerable experience and knowledge after many years of involvement in the local area. Her ambition is to see the activities of the House a prominent feature in the life of the community.