Trustees

Paul Lunn - Chair of Trustees

Paul Lunn was appointed as Chair of the Board of Trustees in March 2022.

He is currently Dean of the School of Veterinary Science at the University of Liverpool, starting the role in January 2022. Previously, he served as Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at North Carolina State University since February 2012. Prior to moving to North Carolina, Paul was a Professor and the Head of the Department of Clinical Sciences at the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Colorado State University. Before moving to Colorado in 2003, Paul worked as a large animal medicine faculty member and as Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs and Director of the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital at the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Paul grew up in a farming community in North Wales, before studying veterinary medicine at Liverpool University. After a period in private practice in the UK, he pursued clinical training in Ontario and Wisconsin, and doctoral research training at the University of Cambridge. As a faculty member, outside of clinical work Paul’s interests have been in equine immunology and infectious disease. His research has focused on influenza virus and EHV-1 infection in horses, and more recently on infectious diseases of working equids in low-income countries.

Outside of work, Paul and his wife Kathy enjoy hiking and raising terriers. Paul also fly fishes and skis inexpertly but enthusiastically.

Andy Stringer

Andy Stringer graduated with a veterinary degree from the University of Liverpool and spent the initial years of his career volunteering for a veterinary non-profit organisation in Morocco, completing an equine veterinary internship and in equine primary care practice. He returned to the University of Liverpool in 2007 to study for a PhD focused on evaluating the efficacy of knowledge-transfer interventions for communicating animal health information to rural farmers in Ethiopia. In 2010, he joined a British non-profit organisation as Director of Veterinary Programmes where he was responsible for managing global veterinary programmes focused on improving the health and welfare of working animals. Between 2015 and 2022, he was an Assistant Professor - Veterinary Global and Public Health in the College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University. In September 2022, he returned to the UK to join the Institute of Infection, Veterinary & Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, as a Senior Lecturer in One Health and Foodborne Disease.

Elizabeth Sheldon

Elizabeth is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants with more than 15 years’ experience across many sectors. She graduated with a Geography degree from University College London before qualifying with an audit practice specialising in the ‘not for profit’ sector.

She worked for Ernst and Young and Man Group prior to joining CCLA Investment Management, a firm who specialise in managing investments for charities, religious organisations and the public sector.

Elizabeth is the Chief Operating Officer of CCLA and with a lifelong interest in animal welfare and international development, is delighted to be joining The Donkey Sanctuary as a Trustee.

Lucy Back

Lucy graduated from the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester in 2005 with a degree in Rural Land Management before qualifying as a Chartered Surveyor in 2007. Originally from Somerset, Lucy has worked in the South East and South West for private and PLC property consultancies at Partner and Director level, providing management and strategic advice on property portfolios for private and institutional clients across the country.

She now runs her own company and is delighted that this allows the flexibility to contribute to a charity that encompasses animal welfare, the environment and education, all being areas she is passionate about. Lucy became a Trustee in 2020.

Natalie Cook

Natalie completed her post-graduate degree in International Animal Welfare Ethics and Law from Edinburgh University, having first completed a degree in Applied Animal Behaviour and Training.

After completing her undergraduate degree, Natalie spent three years in Singapore, working at a wildlife charity, Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres). During this time, she conducted a number of large scale projects, including a country wide Zoo Animal Welfare Check in Malaysia; advocating for change with the Malaysian government officials resulting in nationwide change of welfare standards, training of zoo staff. Her work investigating the illegal trade in tiger parts in Singapore resulted in a significant decrease in the number of shops selling parts. 

For the past ten years, Natalie has worked as a Civil Servant, first as an animal behaviour and welfare scientist and then as a policy official in central government. In her current role, Natalie is the policy lead for working dogs, in this role she develops standards pertaining to the welfare, training and accreditation standards of working dogs, working closely with police and military colleagues. She is the author of the Working Dog Strategy used within government and oversees a large scientific programme. She is Chair and member of a number of cross-government working groups and governance boards.

Patrick Pollock

Patrick is a veterinary surgeon graduating from the University of Glasgow in 1998 and is Director of the Equine Hospital and Practice at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies in Edinburgh. With a lifelong interest in working equids, he has worked across the globe developing training programmes for local veterinary surgeons and animal owners, and was responsible for setting up some of the first internships and student rotations for veterinary students in low and middle-income countries. Patrick is interested in telemedicine and the provision of clinical care to donkeys and other equids wherever they may be.

He is a European and Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons recognised specialist in equine surgery and a fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.

A keen bagpiper, runner and kayaker, Patrick lives in Scotland with his partner Kristina and their three children.

Sue Griffin

Sue graduated from the University of Wales and went on to complete an MSc at The City University in Information Science. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. After graduating with an MBA from Cranfield School of Management she followed a career in various marketing roles, from Sales to product development and Marketing Director, at Cable & Wireless in the US and UK.

Following her return to the UK from California she ran online financial services at Charles Schwab Europe and Fidelity International Investments and spent six years at The Pensions Regulator working as Director of Communications. She is currently a Director of two large UK Pension Schemes.

Sue began her involvement with donkeys riding on the sands at Porthcawl beach and has been involved with equines ever since. She has been owned by Top Hat, a horse, for the last sixteen years. Sue has been a Trustee Director since 2014 and chairs the Resources Performance Committee.

Tom Mitchell

Tom Mitchell is a Chartered Accountant with more than 25 years’ experience across many sectors, including the charity sector. He has been a Trustee and the Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, was Chair at Dunedin Canmore Housing Association and Treasurer at the Royal Scottish Forestry Society.

Tom is a partner in CGPM Consulting LLP, a firm of Chartered Accountants which works almost exclusively with charities across the UK. He currently sits on the charities technical committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, and he has sat on two reference groups of the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator dealing with the redesign of Risk-based Regulation and the Incorporation process.