Who we are

Transition Town Totnes was formed in September 2006 as a company limited by guarantee registered with Companies’ House under company number 06287039, and is a registered charity, number 1138865.

This legal structure forms the centre of a dynamic umbrella organisation consisting of different theme groups, for example food, building and housing, business and the local economy, and with over 20 local projects, originating from these groups or who have become affiliated with TTT due to common aims and principles.

It is self-organising, mainly volunteer operated, and community-led. Projects are developed by interested members of the community coming together to make them happen, with support for communications, strategic representation and fund-raising from the TTT office.

Our Volunteers

We have many wonderful volunteers running projects - it would take up so much space to name them all! Nothing we do could happen without them.

The Core Group

In keeping with our democratic principles, at the heart of the organisation is the Core Group which meets monthly and comprises of a representative from each theme/project group and board of Trustees,  as well as TTT support staff. The role of the Core group is:

• To set the strategic direction for the organisation and agree the evolution of the organisation, as well as coordinating its activity
• To provide the capacity, resources and funding to implement the aims and objectives of the organisation
• To support all participants, including all volunteers and paid staff
• To agree communications to build coherence

Staff

Based at the office are three part-time core staff and several grant funded project posts. Administrator Nicola Lang and our communications coordinator Sophie Galleymore Bird support the projects and promote our work, and co-ordinator Thea Platt has a strategic and fundraising role. Sarah Curtis and Sally Croft are our fantastic volunteer finance & accounting gurus.

Also in the office are Mary Popham, involved in Building, Housing & Energy initiatives including Transition Homes, Transition Streets, the CARD project, Open Eco-Homes, and work on transport, energy efficiency and fuel poverty. Holly Tiffen and Emily Reed for Grown in Totnes, and Myrtle Cooper, Food Link manager, are developing ways to get Totnes growing more of its own food, and promoting and supporting local food producers.

We all work part-time and are in and out of the office - if you’d like to visit us please call first on the number at the bottom of the page. And if you’d like to know more about the range of projects, you can sign up for a Transition Tour - usually on a Friday - please check the Events calendar to find out when they are on.

The Board of Trustees

The current Trustees of the charity are: Carole Ann Crellin-Whitty, Charles Harrington, Sally Anne Croft, Julian Summerhayes, Julie Boultby, Tony Lopez, Stephen Titcombe, Phil Long.

The Charity Trustees are also the Company Directors. All participation is voluntary and all positions are elected annually at an AGM, although the Board of Trustees has the right to co-opt a new trustee during the year if it thereby gains a needed skill.

Their key roles are:

• To agree an annual budget and ensure that legal, financial, HR and other requirements are met, in particular to maintain accounting records, and to produce annual accounts and an annual report.
• To review the match between the charitable purposes and the organisation’s activities and to regularly review the governing document.
• To consider the future sustainability of the organisation – balancing what is needed now with what will be needed in the future, actively considering options relating to diversification and income generation, ensuring that funding strategies comply with good practice and ethical considerations.
• To ensure that the funding/financing strategy is implemented effectively.

Download our accounts and Trustees' report for the year end 31st August 2015