TRUSTEES

DEREC CRAIG

Trustee

Derec was born in West London and had his formative years in Kingston, Jamaica. He returned to London where he finished his education. He recently moved to North Hampshire, but still works in London at Age UK Hammersmith and Fulham and the University of the Arts London.  
He is a budding gardener and keen to help his local community. With experience in Local Government and community-based organisations, he hopes to use his knowledge and experience to benefit others.

CLAIRE DINGLEY

Trustee

Originally from Bolton, in the North-West, Claire moved to the South of England following her graduation from Lancaster University with a degree in Operational Research.  After some mobile years across several towns and counties, she settled in Farnham with her husband and then-teenage boys, and has remained there for most of the last 12 years.

Professionally, Claire’s career has spanned a range of industries from water to defence, motor racing to IT and telecoms, and currently payroll and HCM systems based out of Barcelona.  She loves to run in the countryside, is undertaking a long running house renovation project and loves a challenge. 

She joined COATS as a Trustee in March 2023.

ROGER FOX

Trustee

Roger Fox has a background in production engineering and planning & supply management within the electronics manufacturing industry.

He moved to Crowthorne in 1990 and his children went to local schools. He has been a member of the Crowthorne Carnival Committee since 2008, organising the procession with his wife, Bärbel. He is a keen tennis player.

He has been a Trustee of Coats since 2017, serving on the Social Events Committee, on the Shop Coordinating Team and supports on Health and Safety issues. He coordinated the recent temporary move of the Day Centre to Wellington College whilst the major building works were carried out.

MARTIN RICKARDS

Trustee

Martin and his wife have lived in the Crowthorne area for 46 years.
After graduating from Oxford with a degree in Engineering Science, he spent most of his career running the European divisions of first American and then Japanese companies supplying equipment to the printing industry. He served as Chairman of his industry’s national federation for 4 years. He worked for several years in Holland, and travelled extensively in Europe, America and the Far East.
He enjoys golf, walking and singing in a male voice choir. He is a trustee of the choir’s charity, governor of a local school and director of a sports centre.
He has been a Trustee of COATS since 2008 and has mainly been involved with the charity’s facilities. Over the last 3 years he has helped oversee the extensive re-building of the COATS Centre – from design, to planning consent and building.

CHRIS THRELFALL

Treasurer

Chris and his wife Sue have lived in Crowthorne for over 25 years having moved from Bristol with their two daughters in 1994. He graduated from Bristol University with a degree in Economics and Finance then qualified as a Chartered Accountant. Chris then worked in the Printing industry for 17 years before moving into Management Consulting with KPMG where he had clients in several countries in Europe, India and the USA. Chris retired in 2020 and now enjoys spending more time with his family, golf, gardening, fishing and travelling.

DAVID WILSON

Trustee

David was born in Manchester but raised in Yorkshire from the age of 1. After graduating from Sheffield University in 1975 he moved to Bracknell to work for Sperry, which became British Aerospace. He then moved into the IT industry working for IBM as a Programme manager undertaking projects at BA, HM Treasury, The Dept of Health and The Royal Household. He has two sons, one who lives in Brisbane, Australia and the other in Woking. He travels to Australia every year or so to see his 3 Australian grandchildren and more often to Woking to see his 2 English grandchildren.

David moved to Crowthorne in 2008 and began volunteering at COATS in 2011 on retiring. He still volunteers in the COATS kitchen each Tuesday and has previously managed the COATS entries in the Crowthorne Carnival and the COATS 50 th anniversary celebration. He is a keen road cyclist, a passionate England Rugby supporter and a tolerable ukulele player. He became a Trustee in 2019 with responsibility for press, publicity, marketing and IT.