MEET THE HYPATIA TRUST TEAM
Currently The Hypatia Trust is in the process of developing new beginnings. Shorn of the direct responsibility for the care of Hypatia’s major collections - our future is for remaking. A number of valuable and unique archival collections remain, and the digital future will ensure an expanding forum for The Hypatia Trust’s work.
Those who will help shape that future are our friends and supporters – some as far away from Cornwall as Japan, Washington, Germany, Australia and New Zealand & places in between. But those, who will ensure and sustain The Hypatia Trust, will be local to Penzance, West Cornwall. Our consulting team includes the following and will expand and contract as needed and as willing.
Jen McDerra - Director
contact: jen@hypatia-trust.org.uk
Cat Belshaw - Director of Operations
Cat is a photographer, writer, editor, arts organizer and not-for-profit profit leader based in Toronto, Canada and Cornwall, UK.
Cat uses her facilitation, community building, and storytelling skills to advocate for marginalized communities around the world, including Indigenous peoples in Canada, artists, women, and nature, and works to collaboratively develop her own and others’ artistic and community-building practices with a specific interest in social justice, photography, writing, paper, and textile arts.
As a not-for-profit sector leader, Cat has led the fund development, partnership building, and government relations activities for one of Canada’s largest Indigenous social services organizations. She was named as a Finalist in the Charity Village Fundraising Professional of the Year 2022 (Canada). She was also a founding member of the Festival of Literary Diversity (the FOLD, Canada).
As a creative, Cat’s writing and photography has been featured at The FOLD, Asymptote Magazine, PhotoEd Magazine, Women Street Photographers, Decode Gallery, and Gallery 44. She was also an Artist in Residence, with collaborator Dr. Jen McDerra, at the Casa Tagumerche Artist Residency in the Canary Islands in 2022 and has recently been accepted as an Artist In Residence at the Mayes Creative Residency for Artists and Makers, in Boscastle, Cornwall for February 2025.
Contact: catb@hypatia-trust.org.uk
Lally MacBeth - Events
and Communications Lead
Lally is an artist, writer and curator based in Cornwall. Her work takes in history, folklore, performance, ritual and artifice – and the links between high and low culture. She is the founder of The Folk Archive and co-founder of Stone Club. Her book The Lost Folk will be published by Faber in June.
In her role at The Hypatia Trust, Lally runs our events programme and heads up our social media.
Contact: lally@hypatia-trust.org.uk
Alice Mount - Engagement and Partnerships Lead
Alice is a researcher, writer and editor working across various art, performance, social-research and archival projects. With a background in literary studies, oral history and life-writing, her current areas of interest include hidden social histories and contemporary feminist writing practices.
Alice develops and maintains The Hypatia Trust's collaborative partnerships and facilitates engagement with our collections, resources and our spaces. Alice is also managing editor of our online archive, Women in Cornwall.
Contact: alice@hypatia-trust.org.uk
Marisela Chapman - Bookshop Manager
Marisela is a writer, editor, and content designer, as well as an Integral Master Coach™ a strategic business leader, and mentor. Since moving to Cornwall in 2023, Marisela has worked closely with the Hypatia Trust and manages our Women in Word bookshop.
contact: marisela@hypatia-trust.org.uk
Linda Cleary -
Director of Women in Word Literary Festival
Linda founded the Women in Word Literary Festival in 2023: a celebration of women in word, featuring in conversation / readings from established and emerging women writers, talks, events and workshops, poetry films by women and networking opportunities.
We have now had two fantastic and well attended festivals in June ‘23 and June ‘24.
From 2019 to 2022 Linda curated a Literary Fiction department for Hypatia Publications of which there were four releases.
Linda is a writer herself and runs the Free Writers Centre as a literary consultant, writing coach, editor and running writing courses - as well as project managing events such as the Women in Word festival!
Linda works on the festival between January to July.
Contact: linda@hypatia-trust.org.uk
Maggi Livingstone - Lead Archivist
Maggi is our lead archivist, archiving the correspondence, notebooks and original manuscripts in The Hypatia Trust collections so that they can be preserved for the long term and made accessible for future generations to enjoy.
Contact: maggi@hypatia-trust.org.uk
HYPATIA TRUSTEES
Katie Kirk - Chair of the Trustees
Katie developed an early interest in the visual and performing arts, nature, charities and campaigns; themes which have continued to drive her work. Katie applies herself to grassroots project development, helping groups to focus their ideas and to form project plans, which is how she first became involved with The Hypatia Trust. Her creative appetite has led to her to form a folk duo, lead creative writing workshops at The Writers’ Block, perform poetry, stories and songs with The Story Republic, Wildworks, Golden Tree, Perthi Kov and the Minack and more.
Read more about Katie here
Miki Ashton
Project Co-ordinator of The Gardeners’ House
Doreen Pinfold
Retired Head of Library & Information Services at Falmouth University, Cornwall
Philip Budden
Retired dental surgeon, Treasurer of the Trust
Andrew Bell, OBE
Retired Company Director, Cornwall
Dr Jane Royle
Retired Consultant in Public Health, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly
Dr Judith Davidson
Retired Principal Clinical Scientist, Manchester Royal Infirmary, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust
+ VIEW HYPATIA'S FRIENDS REMEMBERED:
John Ryton Andrews, 2008
Wilhelmina Barns Graham, 2004
Andrea Garrihy, 2016
Dr James (Jim) Gibson, 2005
Lady Mary Holborrow, 2017
Jessica Mann, 2018
Frances Partridge, 2004
Dr Elspeth Pope, 2013
Hilary Richings, 2015
Professor Charles Thomas, 2016
Hon David Treffry of Place, 2000
Eva Tucker, 2015
Marion Whybrow, 2015
Veronica Janas, 2016
Esme Stanford, 2017
Sarah Fermi, 2018
John Sansom, 2019
A BIG THANK YOU TO:
We are immensely grateful to the following people and organisations who have made significant donations to The Hypatia Trust since its foundation in 1996.
+ VIEW CURRENT & ONGOING SUPPORTERS:
Budden family (Cornwall)
The 20-40 Project (London and Cornwall)
Andrews-Westlake family (Exeter, Devon & Cornwall) 2009
Community Chest (Penwith Community Development Fund) 2006
Cornwall Council (Arthur Q Couch Fund)
Cornwall Counselling Service (C & J Leigh)
Eric and Deirdre Dare (Truro)
Exeter University Special Collections & Libraries
Healthy Living Initiative (Small Grants fund) 2006
The Heritage Lottery Fund (History 51) 2012-13
The Heritage Lottery Fund (Morrab Stables development) 2017
Home Front Recall (2006) Heritage Lottery Fund (The Land Girls of Cornwall)
Norna Jamieson (London & Shetland) and family
Daphne & James Laing of St Andrews Scotland
The Millennium Fellowship Programme (2000) National Lottery
Friends of the Morrab Gardens Penzance
Penwith District Council
Penzance Town Council
Dr Elspeth Pope and Professor James Holly and their family 2013
Tabb House Publishers (Padstow) 2012
The Tanner Trust (UK and Cornwall) 2007, 2013, 2016
Architectural Heritage Fund 2018
Langdale Trust 2018
The Hypatia Trust is one of very few organisations in the UK dedicated to promoting education and research in women's studies, and supporting the intellectual endeavours of women so that their contributions are maximised.