Trustees

The Trustees meet formally to discuss the maintenance, refurbishment and development of its property portfolio and to ensure that the aims of the Trust are being fulfilled.

  • Enid Sly is a native of Northleach, whose mother was also born in the town, her father coming from nearby Sherborne. Two brothers, Cyril and Llewellyn and a sister, Joyce, were also born in the town.

    Enid began teaching in the town in the infant and latterly in the junior school. Enid trained as a teacher at City of Birmingham College in Edgbaston and then went on to teach specialising in needlework at St Mary’s Training College in Cheltenham.

    Having no off-spring, Llewellyn, Joyce and Enid, along with the other founder trustees, David and Felicity Ebsworth, Christopher Hancock, Patrick Sanders, David Louisson and Peter Dawson, founded the trust for the benefit of Northleach and the surrounding villages.

    Llewellyn died in 2008 at the age of 94 and Joyce in 2018 having celebrated her 100th birthday. Enid celebrated her 100th birthday in 2022 and remains an active trustee.


  • Chris Hancock, a retired Solicitor, has been a resident of Northleach for over 25 years. During that time he has been heavily involved in community life. He was a Town Councillor for 13 years, a District Councillor for 8 years and Cabinet member for 7 as well as a school governor for 18.

    In addition, he is a Town Trustee and former High Bailiff (an honour also shared with Patrick Sanders and Richard Owen), and a trustee of the Friends of the Cotswolds, the charity which has as its principal asset the Old Prison in Northleach.

  • Patrick is a retired secondary school headteacher and a founder member of the Trust, dating back to 2007. He became the Trust Secretary in 2011.

    Patrick lived with his wife and two children in Northleach from 1988 until moving to Cheltenham in 2012. In addition to having very fond memories of living in the town, he remains interested in its residents and its continuing development. Working with the Trust and sharing in its success and achievements over the past sixteen years has been a source of great satisfaction and pride.

  • Richard has lived in Northleach for over forty years. He worked as a foreign affairs journalist, first for the BBC and then for The Times, where I became Foreign Editor as well as a correspondent in Moscow, Brussels, Jerusalem and Rome. Richard retired in 2010, and became a Sly Trustee in 2016.

    As a Northleach resident Richard is a keen supporter of the Sly Trust's commitment to affordable housing. He is also involved in the Trust's project to catalogue and preserve a local historical archive of Sly family artefacts and papers and also to encourage wider community commitment to a Town archive.

  • Born in Croydon, David moved to Gloucestershire in 1949, mainly in areas around Tewkesbury. His grandfather was farm Bailiff for Earl Falconer, at Calmsden. David boarded at Kingham Hill School, Kingham, and in 1961 met Felicity at the North Gloucestershire Technical College, Cheltenham. They married in 1965, and have two children, four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Until retiring to Malvern in 2010, most of their life has been spent in Gloucestershire.

    Over the years David has held a variety of company positions at senior level, covering a wide range of commercial and philanthropic interests.

    David and Felicity were delighted to assist Llewellyn, Joyce, and Enid with the idea and formulation of the Trust, and, as Founding Chair, I was pleased to be part of the team taking the idea from conception to the vibrant Charity it is today.

  • Felicity’s mother, Karen Vera Sly, was born in London 1914; she died in Cornwall 1958. Her Father, Alfred Victor Sly, was born in London 1877; he died in London, 1921. His Father, Edward Arthur Sly, was born at Windsor Castle in 1852; he died in Adelaide, Australia in 1889. His Father, John Sly, from Sherbourne was born in 1812; he died at Kew in 1860.

    John was the eldest son of William & Ann Sly. They lived in Sherbourne and produced seven children - three boys and four girls. One of those sons, William Sly, was born in 1824 and died in 1887. He was the great Grandfather of Cyril, Llewellyn, Joyce and Enid Sly of Northleach.

    Hence the family connection, established after a family research visit to St Mary Magdalene Church in Sherbourne in April 2004. Felicity admired the oak lid to the font made by Llew Sly and was able to contact the family – as they say - “The rest is History!”

Laura Blundell

  • Secondary school teacher - currently working at The Cotswold School, teaching PBE (Philosophy Beliefs and Ethics).

    I love the community nature of Northleach town. A member of St Peter and St Paul PCC, primary school governor, Open the Book member and regular in the Wine Bar!

  • Sian is a business leader and chartered engineer with a background in manufacturing and hi-tech companies. She has lived in Northleach for 24 years and has been actively involved with the community throughout, getting involved with organising events such as the Charter Fair and various charity fundraisers. She sits on the committee of Cotswolds Radio and co-presents The Culture Show; and is a school governor at Carterton Community College and school enterprise advisor for The Cotswold School.

  • Emily lives in Northleach and has a passion for the town and it’s environs having grown up on a farm in nearby Hampnett.

    Emily is a mother of two and spends some of her free time running the Brownie unit in Northleach.

    When not presiding over campfires, Emily is a rural chartered surveyor and works as a land agent, managing land and rural assets for charities, institutions and private landowners.

  • David was borne in London during blitz in 1940 and then evacuated to the Yorkshire dales. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1966. Between 1971 and 1986 he worked as Finance Director of a subsidiary of BET group in South Africa, returning to the UK in1986 as FD for another subsidiary and making his family home in Northleach. He retired from professional life in 2005.

    David was elected High Bailiff and Town Trustee in 2010 and joined the Sly Trust just prior to the construction of Slys Close. He was Hon Treasurer to the Cotswold Hall, and the Community Association running the local Minibus, until retiring in 2022.

Our Archive

Our archive contains the Sly family papers, collected over many years.  They have been professionally catalogued and preserved. A link to the catalogue is here……  You can also access the link via the National Archive at Kew…….  If there is something in it that you would like to see or have a copy of, let us know and we will do our best to make it available for you.