WHO ARE WE?

Evergreen Africa is a Charity registered with the Charity Commission of England and Wales. You can view our registration details by following this link – CLICK HERE

The Charity is established as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation; it is governed by a Board of Trustees and managed on a day-to-day basis by an Executive Officer. The people filling these roles are:

TRUSTEES

Connie Smith

(Chair of the Board of Trustees)

Connie Smith was born in Khartoum, to a Southern Sudanese mother and a British father, who at the time, was a director of Action AID. This allowed her family to move to many countries around Africa during her childhood and they eventually settled in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. Here she attended an International School for 7 years, before completing her secondary Education in Scotland and her MA in Human Geography at the University of Edinburgh. Since then she has worked in Sales and Business Consulting and currently works in the Technology and Telecoms industry. She lives in St. Albans, Hertfordshire, and travels to Uganda annually to visit her mother who still lives there. She also takes this opportunity to visit Wanale and the Evergreen Projects.

Connie says: “I have been able to witness first hand the devastating effects of civil wars, genocides, HIV, Aids, poverty, and inequality in Africa and specifically in Uganda. However, I was raised also to see and appreciate the beauty, diversity, potential and hope that is abundant on this continent. I am proud and excited about being part of this small charity that I believe will make a huge change to a community with just a little help and support from those who can.”

Susie Barlow

Susie has a background in environmental sustainability and business development, and currently works for place-making organisation The Means as a project manager. Her work with Business Improvement Districts involves facilitating business collectives and encouraging business owners to take on a greater responsibility for their collective success rather than relying heavily on increasingly over-stretched local authority resources. Susie enjoys working creatively, her educational background is in marketing and communication.

Susie says: “I am honoured to be involved with this exciting charity. Evergreen Africa provides simple and realistic solutions to improve the quality of life for people in a hard to reach area of Uganda. I am a huge believer in the philosophy of giving people a ‘hand up rather than hand outs’ so I look forward to helping to increase people’s awareness of this worthy cause”.

Ellen Bunyard

Ellen graduated from the University of Bristol with a 1st class degree in Political Science, the content of which primarily focused on development studies and African politics. During her studies, she worked closely with a charity in Uganda and frequented the area a number of times. Having forged close links with the locals and initiated some small community development projects, Uganda has remained in her heart and she is passionate about continuing to develop the area and work with the wonderful people that live there. Professionally, Ellen is currently working as a content editor for a reputable conference organizer in London.

Ellen says “I’m really excited to be working as part of Evergreen Africa in a geographically difficult part of Uganda. The community there has significant obstacles to development and so I am honoured to be part of a charity that is delivering assistance to an area that badly needs it! Really excited to see the great work to come!”

Executive Officer

Paul Voltzenlogel

Paul served for 25 years as a logistician in the Royal Air Force before leaving in 2002 and starting his own businesses. He initially owned two High Street shops and now owns and manages Kirsam Ltd – a bookkeeping and payroll management practice. During his final years in the RAF he was a liaison officer between the UK military and the UK Government Department for International Development, and before that spent several months in northern Iraq helping with the effort to rebuild the Kurdish villages (houses, schools, clinics and wells) which had been destroyed by the Iraqi army. He has also worked for another African Development charity, fundraising and managing the delivery of water, health, education and income-generation projects, and has planned and delivered a complex health-related project in Kenya for a UK-based Charitable Trust.

Paul says “I couldn’t be more delighted to have been appointed as the Executive Officer for this fine young charity. It has a noble cause and a compassionate heart. It is my pleasure to be able to develop the charity and manage its activities, and I commit to doing so to the best of my abilities”.