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Our people
Bill Dee
Director
Bill was appointed director of Listening Books in September 2001, having previously served as deputy director.
Bill is a voting member at national level of Depaul UK – one of the leading charities concerned with disadvantaged youth, crime and homelessness and also serves as a member of their London and South East Region Committee. He is a member of the Council of Management of the Federation of Irish Societies, the UK representative body for Irish groups and societies and is also a trustee of the UK's largest volunteer centre at Southwark. For seven years Bill was a member of the Independent Panel for Admissions and Exclusions Appeals for a prominent London college. He has broad consultancy experience, extending across several UK and international charities. He is a member of the non-traditional outlets working party at the Audio Publishers Association. Earlier in his career, Bill worked in the public and private sectors for ten years as a scientist and manager and his posts included senior microbiologist for London’s drinking water with Thames Water Plc. Bill is also managing director of a small publishing company he founded, which specialises in non-fiction books. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2005.
Sarah Hucklesby
Copyright & titles manager
Sarah joined Listening Books in March 2003 as a membership services assistant. She was appointed to the post of copyright & titles manager in May 2008. Sarah has a History degree from King's College, London and was previously employed as an assistant literary agent.
Louise Barling
Library & PR manager
Louise joined Listening Books in April 2004 on a six-month contract to cover maternity leave. Initially, she worked full time in the library and then moved on to divide her time equally between the library and our sponsored membership programme. In addition to sponsorship, Louise now runs our educational initiative, Sound Learning. Louise also volunteers during the summer months for Campaign Against Arms Trade.
Fiona Hutcheson
Office manager &
marketing coordinator
Fiona first joined Listening Books in April 2006 to work in the library as a membership services assistant. She was appointed to the post of office manager and marketing coordinator in August 2009.
Jeremy Stokes
Membership services assistant
Jeremy has worked full time in the library for six years and previously in an adventure playground and as a chef.
Claire Jones
Membership services assistant
After graduating from the University of Surrey, Roehampton in 2005, Claire worked as publicity officer and administrative assistant for Bexley Academy of Music and Performing Arts. She joined Listening Books in May 2008 as a membership services assistant.
Cherry Gardener
Bookkeeper
Cherry was appointed as bookkeeper to Listening Books in June 2006. Prior to this, for seven years she worked as bookkeeper cashier to senior executives for a company of career advisors in Piccadilly, only leaving when the business was taken over. Earlier she worked for eight years as a bookkeeper to an American private investor living in Knightsbridge; this involved dealing with the everyday running of his office and household accounts until he eventually returned to America.
Robert Marchant
Membership Administrator
Robert joined Listening Books in September 2009, having previously worked for King’s College London - as both administrative and research assistant - and as a volunteer in the education & student team at Amnesty International. Robert loves to read, especially books on history, politics and economics.
Jules Watkinson
Digitisation officer
Jules was appointed to the post of digitisation officer in May 2006.
Fabrice Pougnard
Digitisation officer
Fabrice is an audio engineer with previous music recording experience and has been working as a freelance sound designer on short films and documentaries. He joined Listening Books in March 2007 as a part-time digitisation officer.
Conrado Silva de Farias
Digitisation officer
Conrado graduated from The School of Fine Arts of Parana in Brazil in 1996 with a degree in Music. He has recently completed a Masters Degree in Sound Design at the University of Edinburgh and has been working as a freelancer on short films. He joined Listening Books in August 2008.
Will Parker
Audio producer
Will graduated from the London College of Communication, which is part of the University of the Arts, with a degree in Sound Art and Design in 2006, one month before he started at Listening Books. He has worked previously in recording studios and produced music for TV. He is an active electro-acoustic composer and is passionate about American literature.
Martin Hardie
Accountant
Martin has been accountant at Listening Books since 1998. A Chartered Accountant and Finance graduate from the University of Wales, Martin manages the accounts of a dozen companies, of which half are charities. He counts reading amongst his most enjoyable pursuits.
Volunteers
Alan Watling
Volunteer
Alan retired from BT in 1996 after 31 years during which he worked on the development of Data Transmission Systems. He joined Listening Books in March 1998, and helps in the library where he checks in returned audiobooks and makes repairs or new copies for our MP3 CD library.
Linda Crimmen
Volunteer
Linda is married with two grown up children. Before volunteering at Listening Books she worked as a secretary for a film company, which she loved. In her spare time she enjoys going to the cinema and theatre and is an avid reader. Linda says, 'I enjoy volunteering ... It is great that there is a way of enabling people to access books by other means.'
Brian Butler
Volunteer
Brian started volunteering at Listening Books at the beginning of 2006. Brian also runs a photography group at Connect, a charity helping people with aphasia, which means they have difficulty talking, reading and writing.
Jane Steel
Volunteer
Jane is a retired speech and language therapist, so has a particular interest in making audiobooks available to anyone who has difficulty in reading text. She enjoys volunteering with the great bunch of people at Listening Books, both on the admin. side and also as a volunteer reader.
Trustees
Gillie Howarth
Chairman
Gillie Howarth is Head of English at Westminster Under School where she is also responsible for the school’s Public Benefit and Outreach programme. She is a passionate believer in the capacity of books to open up new worlds for young and old alike. One of her first initiatives at Listening Books was to develop the children’s library and she is a keen advocate of the charity’s educational programme, Sound Learning, which gives young people who have difficulties accessing or decoding print the opportunity to excel alongside their peers. ‘Listening to stories goes far back into prehistory and is the original way knowledge passed down through generations. Far from being a second best option, listening captures the distinctive atmosphere of a book in a way reading may fail to do. After all, which of us would prefer to read a play rather than see it. Once you have listened to a great book, you feel the same way’.
Anne-Marie Williams
Treasurer
Anne-Marie Williams has been treasurer of Listening Books since 2006. It is her job to make sure the charity's money is properly looked after, something which is obviously vital for the charity's success. As treasurer she draws on her previous work experience in the City, firstly as an investment analyst for a stockbroker, and then as a fund manager for an insurance company. Anne-Marie says, 'I value my role in the charity since I believe passionately in what the charity does, and feel strongly that books should be available to be enjoyed by everyone, whatever their circumstances.'
Julia Eccleshare
Trustee
Julia Eccleshare is co-director of The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education. Julia is a writer, broadcaster and lecturer, and The Guardian’s children’s books editor. She is a judge of the Branford Boase first novel prize and was a judge for the Whitbread Children’s Book prize in 2001. She won the Eleanor Farjeon Award in 2000 in recognition of her outstanding contribution to children’s books. In addition to numerous anthologies, her books include 'Treasure Island: The Woman’s Hour Guide to Children’s Reading' (BBC Books, 1987), 'A Guide to the Harry Potter Novels' (Continuum, 2002), 'Beatrix Potter to Harry Potter: Portraits of Children’s Writers' (National Portrait Gallery, 2002) and, with Nicholas Tucker, 'The Rough Guide to Teenage Books' (Rough Guides, October 2003).
Eleanor Updale
Trustee
Dr. Eleanor Updale is an author of books for children and adults, most notably the award-winning 'Montmorency' series of historical novels. For many years she was a producer for BBC radio and television. She believes strongly in improving access to culture of all kinds, and is an ambassador for the Prince's Foundation for Children and the Arts.
Christopher Sinclair-Stevenson
Trustee
Christopher Sinclair-Stevenson has been connected with the world of books for nearly fifty years. First as a publisher and subsequently managing director of Hamish Hamilton, then as an agent after he left the company which he set up under his own name. He is also a writer, mainly in the area of history. He has been a trustee of Listening Books for over a decade, and has been able to make use of his experience and contacts built up over the years.
Zoe Richmond-Watson
Trustee
Zoe Richmond-Watson worked as an editor in book publishing and magazines before setting up and running the Talking Book Club, a mail-order audiobook service, from 1989-2005.
President
The Rt. Hon. Lady Warnock DBE
President
From 1949 to 1966, The Rt. Hon. Lady Warnock was a Fellow and tutor in philosophy at St Hugh's College Oxford. Then, from 1966 to 1972 she was headmistress at the Oxford High School for Girls. She was Talbot Research Fellow at Lady Margaret Hall (1972-1976) and from 1976-84, she was a Senior Research Fellow at St Hugh's College, becoming an Honorary Fellow of the College in 1985. She then became Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge (1986-89). In 2000 Lady Warnock was a visiting professor of rhetoric at Gresham College, London.
Lady Warnock was a member of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) from 1973 to 1981. She was chair of the UK Committee of Inquiry into Special Education (1974-78). From 1979 to 1985, she advised the UK committee on animal experiments and from 1982 to 1984 she chaired an inquiry into human fertilisation. She was created a life peer in 1985 as Baroness Warnock, of Weeke in the City of Winchester.
Our library
Click here to see our fantastic range of fiction and non-fiction audiobooks for adults and children.
Education
We support the National Curriculum from Key Stage 2 to
A-Level, providing set texts and study guides.
020 7407 9417 / info@listening-books.org.uk
020 7234 0522 / library@listening-books.org.uk
020 7403 1377
Registered charity number: 264221 Patron: Stephen Fry President: The Rt. Hon. Lady Warnock DBE
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© Listening Books unless otherwise stated.