Meet The Team

Trustees

Sara Davey

Sara is Chair of the Board of Trustees and has been working in education for nearly forty years. Sara started teaching in the Midlands and moved to Cornwall twenty years ago to become a Headteacher of a Secondary school in Penzance. She has continued working in education in a voluntary capacity and is a Trustee of two different secondary schools and a Member of the Board for a West Cornwall Multi Academy Trust. Sara is strongly committed to social justice and equality issues and believes that the work undertaken by Treyla over the years has been a beacon of excellence in Cornwall.

Marc Farmer

Marc is a Chartered Accountant with over 30 years’ experience in various roles, both in industry and practice and is currently a partner in a Top 10 Accountancy Practice. Having spent 7 years as a Trustee of a children’s charity during his time in Kent, he is delighted to be able to bring his knowledge, experience and passion to Trelya.

Marc lives with his partner Jackie and their two border collies, who all love exploring the beautiful countryside and beaches of Cornwall.

Gilly Gallagher

Gilly is a former estate agent who currently divides her time between London and Penzance. Gilly brings event management skills to the board, as she is highly experienced at coordinating fundraising events for the Worshipful Company of Pewterers and other organisations she supports. Gilly joined the Trustees as she thinks Trelya was such a brilliant, well run, small charity, with committed people doing such a great job.

Cornelius Olivier

Cornelius has been a Trelya trustee since 2021 and is currently vice-chairman on the board of trustees.

He served as a Cornwall Councillor representing Penzance from 2013 to 2021, during which time he became an active supporter of Trelya. He lives in Pendeen and currently works both in a local library and for the West Cornwall Legal Advice Centre.

Cornelius says ‘my experience as a councillor, my previous employment in local job centres and my work with Citizens Advice and in the social care sector, have given me a good grasp of the realities of life for ordinary people in Penzance and West Cornwall’

I am proud to be involved with Trelya, an organisation that shares my values and does so much valuable work for local people.

Graham Smith

Graham Smith is a retired solicitor having spent over 35 years in private practice in the City. He now splits his time between London and his house in Rosudgeon. Graham has been a charity trustee for over 20 years and brings business, legal and governance skills to the Board.

He likes golf and cycling and is a passionate rugby fan.

Dr Barbara Vann

Barbara joined the Trelya Board in March 2025. Over a 23 year period she was a Headteacher of two Secondary Schools (one in Cornwall) and has Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. For almost 10 years she was a member of the Board and Chair of the National Council of the British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration Society and an Executive of the Commonwealth Council for Educational Management (CCEAM).

In 2018, Barbara was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Exeter for services to children’s mental health.

Joy Meaden

Joy is a former Architect, and also spent many years working in project management across different industries.

Now retired she splits her time between London and Penzance.
She was introduced to Trelya by other trustees and was impressed by the valuable changes it is making to people’s lives.

Her interests include the Visual Arts, and she is a keen tennis player.

Lynda James

Lynda was a Senior Educator & Specialist with over four decades of dedicated service in Primary Education, holding various leadership and specialist roles. She was a Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) for over 20 years, developing flexible thinking and adaptive problem-solving skills to support diverse learning styles. Lynda was also an Early Years Practitioner and spent years fostering creativity and sensory exploration in young learners. Maintaining a “beginner’s mind” and a passion for tactile experimentation while helping children develop an awareness of their own ability to organise themselves and their own learning. Managing teams and collaborated with families, honing communication skills and acting as an advocate for both parents and children.

She is now an independent artist and specialised in mixed media working in acrylics, collage and machine stitching.

She is a member of Marazion Gallery, regularly selling work locally and further afield. She also takes part in Cornwall Open Studios every year and in the past have offered workshops at the same time as opening her studio to the public.