OFFICERS

Mary Mead   —   Chair

Mary has been Chair of the Friends since October 2022 and serves on the Minster’s Destinations Project Board, leading on public engagement. Her connection with the Minster began in 2011 as a choir parent, and she has since worked closely with the Director of Music on a range of initiatives, including the introduction of regular choir tours in the UK and abroad. Her professional background spans the oil industry and management consultancy with PwC.

Fiona Goel   —   Honorary Secretary

Fiona is a retired Deputy Headteacher who has lived in Beverley for the past nine years. The Minster has become an important part of her life: she is a member of the choir, was married there, and returns regularly with family and friends. She feels privileged to contribute to the work of the Friends in preserving and enhancing this magnificent building.

James Moore   —   Honorary Treasurer

James’s connection with Beverley Minster stretches back to his earliest childhood, attending Minster Infants and Minster Boys’ School and worshipping at the Minster and its daughter churches in Woodmansey and Tickton. A qualified accountant, he was invited to serve as Treasurer of the Friends and has continued in that role for a number of years.

COUNCIL MEMBERS

Rodney Barton   —   Council member (Beverley Minster Old Fund representative)

Rodney began his career at PwC, where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant, before moving into local government. He worked at Merseyside County Council, Merseyside Pension Fund and East Riding Pension Fund, before serving as Director of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund for twelve years until his retirement in 2022. He chairs the York Diocesan Board of Finance and is the Beverley Minster Old Fund’s representative on the Friends Council.

Stephen Deas   —   Council member

Stephen lives in Beverley and has been a Friend of the Minster since his teens.

Martin Eldred   —   Council member (PCC representative)

Martin is a retired primary school headteacher with a lifelong involvement in church music and a keen interest in local history and genealogy. He serves as a welcomer and guide at the Minster and as Secretary to the Minster PCC, and brings considerable knowledge of both the building and its congregation to his role as a Trustee.

Pamela Martin   —   Council member

Pamela’s connection with Beverley began in 1981, when she was transferred from Hull to work as a librarian — with an office that looked directly out onto the Minster. She went on to serve as Reference and Local Studies Officer and, later, as part of the team that established the Treasure House’s joint Archives and Local Studies service, retiring in 2012 after nearly fifty years of public service. She is a former Programme Secretary of the Friends, a role she fulfilled with great dedication, and remains closely involved with the Council.

Dr Susan Neave   —   Council member

Susan was born in Beverley, attended Minster Girls’ School (now the parish hall), and is a hereditary freeman of the town. A former Research Fellow in History at the University of Hull, she continues to research and write on the local area, and her published work includes a study of the buildings of the pre-Reformation Minster precinct.

Mike Robson   —   Council member (Steeple Keeper)

Mike was born in Beverley and has been a bell ringer at the Minster for 56 years, now serving in his 50th year as Tower Captain and Steeple Keeper. He oversees the bells, the clock mechanism and the workings of the towers with remarkable expertise and dedication. Few people know the towers as well as he does.

CO-OPTED AND EX-OFFICIO

Rev. Canon Jonathan Baker   —   Vicar of Beverley Minster

Jonathan is the Vicar of Beverley Minster and its Associated Churches, a post he has held since 2017. He studied History at Cambridge and Law before working as a solicitor in London, then served in churches in Croydon and Scarborough, before becoming Canon Missioner and Acting Dean at Peterborough Cathedral. He has a particular interest in the communication of the Christian faith in a changing world, and in the unique opportunities offered by a building of such historic and spiritual significance.

Robert Poyser   —   Director of Music

Robert was appointed Director of Music in 2009 and enjoys the many opportunities that the Minster’s diverse liturgical styles offer. He combines his role at the Minster with a busy programme of teaching, accompanying and recitals. Outside music, his enthusiasms include cooking, most things railway-related, and following Gloucestershire’s cricket team.

PRESIDENT

Roger Lewis   —   President

Roger arrived in Beverley in 1994 and quickly became involved with the Friends, joining the Council and serving as joint social secretary before being elected Chair in the early 2000s, a position he held until 2023. He was elected President in 2025, bringing to that role three decades of dedication and an unbroken connection with the Minster’s musical and community life — his son sang in the choir in the 1990s, and his granddaughter Mabel has happily continued that tradition.

Could you join us on the Council?

The Friends are well-served by an experienced Council, but, like every charity, we welcome the prospect of fresh members and new perspectives. If you have ever wondered whether you might serve as a Trustee, we would be glad to hear from you.

Trustees attend four Council meetings each year, plus the Annual General Meeting, and contribute to the work of the Friends in ways that play to their interests and skills — whether that is finance, communications, events, fabric, music, or the Minster’s wider life. Skills in IT or marketing are particularly welcome at the moment, but more important than any specific skill set is a genuine love of the Minster and a willingness to commit a modest amount of time and care.

Selection follows the procedure set out in our Trustee Recruitment Policy, which can be downloaded below. To express an interest, or simply to ask a question, please write to the Chair at beverleyminsterfriendschair@gmail.com or to the general Friends address.