Board of Directors and NLCE Team
Mary Allen
DIRECTOR
Mary Allen is is committed to improving the local environment and this led her to join the campaigning organisation, CPRE The Countryside Charity. As an active member for ten years, she is currently secretary for the Northern Lincolnshire Branch.
Mary has spent many years in education working as a teacher in several North Lincolnshire primary schools and is currently serving as a governor for a local primary school confederation.
She is delighted to join the North Lincolnshire Community Energy Group and looks forward to the exciting opportunity to contribute to its work.
David Rose
DIRECTOR
David has worked in education, with 30 years senior leadership experience in secondary and primary schools. Committed to environmental issues for many years, he has been Chair of Northern Lincolnshire CPRE, The Countryside Charity since 2010.
A resident of the Isle of Axholme for over 40 years, David was elected as a North Lincolnshire Councillor and joined the Cabinet Team in 2015. He is currently Cabinet Member for the Environment and Strategic Planning and in that role has developed a ‘Green Futures’ policy for North Lincolnshire, which commits the council to achieving ‘net zero’ by 2030.
He is delighted to have the opportunity of promoting a more sustainable future through the North Lincolnshire Community Energy scheme.
Stewart Smith
DIRECTOR
Stewart took the opportunity of becoming a member, then a director, after investigating what NLCE’s aims and objectives were.
While having little knowledge or experience of solar technology, he has over forty five years experience in both information technology and as Technical Director of a software development company specialising in Estate and Asset Management.
A proud Scunthonian who is now retired and living in Barton upon Humber, Stewart takes an interest in the local environment and developments and looks forward to supporting the development and success of North Lincolnshire Community Energy.
Mike Smyth MBE, Chair
DIRECTOR
Mike is a solicitor who lives in Milford, Surrey. He is a full-time volunteer on community energy and is the Chair of Energy4All, The Schools’ Energy Co-operative, Wey Valley Solar Schools Energy Co-operative and Springbok Sustainable Wood Heat Co-operative. He is also a director of M&S Energy Society, Energy Prospects and Energise South.
Previously he was a partner of Lawrence Graham, a major London based firm of Solicitors, for more than 20 years, specialising in corporate and commercial law. He chaired Friends of the Earth Trust until 2012. He has been leading Energy4All’s work first to develop and subsequently launch North Lincolnshire Community Energy.
Amie Watson
DIRECTOR
I am a singer-songwriter, councillor, and civic storyteller whose work explores the intersection of environmental justice, social dignity, and cultural change. My journey into activism began in the world of slow fashion, where I founded the non-profit Slow Circular Earth to challenge the disposable nature of our modern systems.
I try and use my voice through singing, speaking and writing as tools for "civic activation." By blending the strategic mind of a systems thinker with the emotional resonance of an artist, I try to help audiences process the "invisible burdens" of our society, from food injustice to environmental neglect. I hope to be a voice for those who want to act differently, proving that the most powerful social change begins when we stop accepting injustice as inevitable and start feeling the truth of our shared experience. I am thrilled to take on the role of Director at NLCE and eager to contribute to local innovative sustainability project
Zach Wishart
DIRECTOR
Zach has worked as a Project manager with Energy4All since 2020 and primarily works on solar roof projects. Previously he worked on wide ranging environmental projects on the West Coast of Scotland which focused on domestic energy and thermal imaging but included low carbon travel, waste reduction, local food growing and a Hydro scheme which became an Energy4All project in 2021.
Ruby Berridge
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT CO-ORDINATOR
Ruby works part-time for NLCE, building local engagement between the cooperative and the community that it serves. Ruby has a professional background in art and healthcare, but has also been an advocate for many environmental/sustainability projects, including their media relations, PR, and management over the past 20+ years. Based in Lincolnshire, she is employed by Energy4All but works exclusively for North Lincolnshire Community Energy (NLCE), helping to build a sustainable and local future through community-owned renewable energy.
Anna Yapp
PROJECT MANAGER
Since graduating from Loughborough University with a BSc in Geography, Anna has been working in the community energy sector as a Project Developer and Manager with RenewEV (now Empowered Projects). Predominantly working across the South-West of England she has helped to develop around 1.5MW of rooftop solar PV with involvement in early-stage wind and solar projects across several community groups. She has worked with groups including Bristol Energy Cooperative, Bath and West Community Energy and Avalon Community Energy. She joined Energy4All in 2025 and leads new developments for NLCE.