Celebrating with our ‘Heart of ARRICA’ award winners and colleagues marking long service with the Land Trust   

Well done and congratulations to all our colleagues who were recognised at our festive-all staff meeting in Manchester last week. 

It was important to take some time out of our busy day to celebrate the remarkable ways our team members bring our values to life and those colleagues who have given their commitment to the Land Trust over the last 5 and 10 years.  

We introduced the ‘Heart of ARRICA Awards’ as we wanted to highlight those colleagues who champion our six Land Trust values of Agility, Respect, Responsibility, Inspiration, Collaboration and Ambition which drive our culture and inform behaviours.

Our ‘Heart of ARRICA’ winners for 2025: 

• Agility – Chris Valdus, Head of Business Development.  

• Respect – Julie Smith, HR Advisor.  

• Responsibility – Graham Kemp, Estate Officer & Contract Manager.  

• Inspiration – Rebecca Mooney, Green Angels Project Officer.  

• Collaboration – Ben Christie, Head of Ecology & Biodiversity Net Gain and Marie-Anne Phillips, Estates & Community Officer.  

• Ambition – Catherine Goncalves, Service Charge Assistant.  

• Values Champion – Mary Breeze, Estates & Community Officer. 

We also celebrated with our colleagues who have given 5- and 10-years’ service to the Land Trust. Congratulations to: 

10 years’ service 

• Vicky Williams – Fundraising Officer 

• Chris Lightfoot – IT Support & Infrastructure Manager 

• Julie Smith – HR Advisor 

5 years’ service 

• Gemma Barrow – Senior Administration Assistant 

• Emma Armstrong – Subsidiary & Service Charge Accountant 

• Anna Goodwin – Financial Accountant 

• Marie-Anne Phillips – Estates & Community Officer 

Alan Carter, Chief Executive of the Land Trust said: “I am extremely proud of every member of our team but it’s also important that we recognise our colleagues who go above and beyond and demonstrate our values as part of their role. Well done again to Chris, Julie, Graham, Becci, Ben, Marie-Anne, Catherine and Mary for their commitment to the Land Trust.  

I would also like to thank colleagues for nominating their team members. We received some great nominations and sadly there could only be eight winners, but I am sure you will agree, they are all very worthy winners.  

I would also like to congratulate Vicky, Chris, Julie, Gemma, Emma, Anna Armstrong and Marie-Anne for their long service and commitment to the Land Trust and look forward to a busy and exciting 2026 and more awards next year.” 

One talented team at the Land Trust