Despite growing up in the borderlands of Northumberland and Herefordshire in the UK, Lucy has always been drawn to cities – living in Paris and Sydney before settling in Birmingham over 20 years ago.   

Lucy began her career in arts management working for the world-renowned children’s choir Gondwana Voices – where highlights included performances at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and a sleepover at the Sydney Opera House as part of celebrations for the new millennium. She was General Manager of Ex Cathedra, managing choirs, baroque orchestras, ensembles and music education programmes in the UK.  She also had a 12-month stint as the editorial assistant to John Lichfield, the veteran French correspondent of the Independent. 

Before joining Democracy Next in May 2023, Lucy worked for the National Trust - Europe’s largest conservation charity - in a variety of operational roles for 16 years, initially as a General Manager, and then Assistant Director of Operations for the Midlands & East of England. She led a team of General Managers with responsibility for National Trust places in Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire and Birmingham – from the wonders of Wicken Fen, to art treasures at Anglesey Abbey and Upton House, and the last surviving court of back-to-back housing in Birmingham city centre. 

Lucy was regional co-lead for all things inclusion, as well as the region’s urban programme. She led the creation of the National Trust’s  first holistic city strategy in Birmingham, which included partnerships with community and arts organisations, local authorities, national and international heritage organisations, on a range of place-based and creative work all of which were about civic pride. 

 

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