Meet the Trustees
Tilly Smith
I am a self confessed reindeer geek. I have a house full of reindeer photos, paintings, antlers, skins, chopping boards and other reindeer memorabilia I have collected. Many of my foreign holidays have been ‘busman’s holidays’ to reindeer herding regions and a day barely goes by when I am not doing something related to reindeer. I am also lucky enough to be co-owner of Britain’s only free-living herd of reindeer – the Cairngorm Reindeer Herd.
Over 40 years of living with this wonderful herd and writing 3 books about reindeer, I have always wanted to share my knowledge, the knowledge gained from our Scottish herd.
Sally Hempsell
I currently have a Conservation Grazing Company - Grazing Matters - based in NW England. I own and manage a number of small herds of hardy native breed Red Poll cattle, to restore damaged habitats such as semi improved grassland, moorlands, woodlands and wetlands with targeted low intensity grazing. The majority of sites are nature reserves and SSSI’s managed by Conservation bodies such as RSPB, Wildlife Trusts, Natural England and Forestry England.
My journey to arrive at this point has included many years of teaching Agriculture, in particular, Large Animal Husbandry, Ecology and Biology in F.E. and H.E. colleges. I also worked as a Farm Conservation Advisor for the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group in Cumbria.
I have always enjoyed getting my hands dirty and these jobs have been interspersed with some short and extended periods of shepherding, lambing and farming in the Yorkshire Dales, Scotland and Cornwall. I have also been involved with helping with wildcat and ecological surveys. Luckily for me, in the midst of all this, I discovered the Cairngorm Reindeer Centre and have been lucky to be able to spend time working amongst the reindeer and herders, getting involved in the calving seasons, winter months and with a special trip to Sweden for the World Reindeer Herders’ conference a few years ago.
Peter Moore
I was inducted into the world of reindeer in 2007 as part of my Master’s in Animal Disease. I came to the Highlands to study tick-borne diseases and have been interested since. I am a vet by trade and currently doing a PhD. I have been a trustee of several charities and am excited to be part of the new Reindeer Trust.
As secretary, it is my job to corral the other trustees and try and keep things on track, which inevitably never happens. I aim to bring my scientific knowledge into discussions on how the Trust works.
Alastair Preiss
I am the rookie when it comes to the Reindeer Trust trustees as I have little hands-on reindeer herding or charity experience. I almost compensate for this with inputs to the Trust accounts, wordsmithery aka editing and low-level biology/research ideas.
A frustrated would-be rural vet, I have channelled my lifetime’s efforts into surgery on humans. Therefore, I embrace the honour of Reindeer Trusteeship, which allows me to legitimately escape to the wild Scottish hills to contribute to the future of these wonderful animals.
Heather Hanshaw
I currently run my own business, Loch Ness Leather - making and selling leather goods in Carrbridge in the Cairngorm National Park, not all that far from the Cairngorm Reindeer Herd itself.
When Tilly first dropped me an email asking if I would like to be involved with the Reindeer Trust, I said yes straight away and was absolutely delighted! I was a Herder with the Cairngorm Reindeer for many years and they certainly left their mark on me. I’m looking forward to supporting the Trust, and seeing where it takes us.