Our Trustees
John Ward
Chairman
John is a County Councillor representing Sprowston Ward in Norwich. John is the current Chairman of the Norfolk Museums Development Foundation and is also the Chairman of the Norfolk Museums Joint Committee. Before retirement John spent his career in retail management and is very active in the local community doing voluntary work for Oxfam and the Royal British Legion.
Alex Hemen
Alexandra is a passionate leader of commercial operations and strategy. Currently High Growth Business Advisor at Norfolk County Council, she is passionate about operational efficiency and digitisation. Alex has a true love for East Anglia, with a keen interest in poverty alleviation, levelling up agenda for the region and sustainable development. Areas of expertise include retail, operational productivity, marketing strategy and FMCG market.
Alan Waters
Raised and educated in Norwich, Alan is a history graduate and qualified teacher. He has worked at comprehensive schools in London, Australia and Norfolk, including as an Associate Tutor at the Department of Education and Life-long learning (UEA). In the latter part of his career Alan worked at the Local Government Information Unit as their Learning & Development Manager.
Alan was an elected member of Norwich City Council for over 30 years, serving in senior positions on council, including 13 years as council leader. Other roles, while serving on the council, included as a member of the SE Board of Arts Council England; a deputy leader of the Key Cities Group, where he held the Culture Portfolio; a board member of the New Anglia LEP and the Norwich BID. He has been closely involved with major projects in Norwich including the Forum. Alan was a visiting Fellow at South Bank University for three years.
Since leaving Norwich City Council in 2023, Alan is working with a number of cultural organisations in the city. He is currently Chair of the National Centre for Writing at Dragon Hall; a senior advisor at the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts & Cultures (SISJAC) and a Patron of the Norfolk Contemporary Arts Society and the Norwich Film Festival. As a way of addressing poverty & low pay in Norwich, he is a member of the ‘Norwich Real Living Wage Action Group’.
James Hordern
James is Special Counsel at Mills & Reeve. He has practised as a property disputes lawyer in Norwich for around 20 years and has a strong background in real estate, heritage property issues, and high‑level advisory work for major public, educational, and charitable institutions.
Before training as a lawyer, he completed a doctorate in Classics at Oxford and held research posts in Dublin and Berlin. He has published two academic monographs and a legal textbook dealing with agricultural tenancies and has wide-ranging interests in history, literature and cultural heritage. He is particularly interested in museums and art, public engagement with history, and safeguarding cultural assets for future generations.
Sarah Steed
Sarah is Director of Knowledge Exchange and Employability at Norwich University of the Arts and oversees the University’s external collaborations and employability services. Her role is concerned with building knowledge-based partnerships for the university both with business but also other research organisations, as well as ensuring the best possible employment outcomes for their graduate community.
She also works with early-stage creative businesses emerging from Norwich University of the Arts, helping them to establish themselves effectively on the national and international stage. Sarah’s career has been centred on Marketing and Innovation in international businesses based in Norfolk. Norwich University of the Arts is a strategic partner to Norfolk Museum Service with common and complementary aims and purpose. Sarah’s role on the board is to facilitate and strengthen this relationship, whilst lending her commercial skills to the development of revenue streams for the service.
Tim Sweeting
Tim became Diocesan Secretary (Chief Executive) for the Diocese of Norwich in September 2021, leading a team who support local parishes to impact their local communities for good.
Prior to this, Tim worked for youth charity YMCA for 22 years in various positions across the country, acting as Chief Executive of YMCA Norfolk for 12 years. He has been a Lay Canon of Norwich Cathedral since 2017 and is a Trustee of the Horstead Centre and Norwich Cathedral Trust.
Tim is passionate about giving young people opportunities to develop their full potential and is excited to be supporting young people to engage in heritage through NMDF.
Caroline Williams
Caroline is an entrepreneur with a portfolio of interests including operating as an Executive Coach, Hypnotherapist, NLP Practitioner and Yoga Teacher. Caroline held the position of Chief Executive of the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce for 17 years. Prior to running the Chamber she had a career as an International Buyer working for a New York based Buying Office and as the M&S Account manager for furniture manufacturer Jentique Furniture based in Dereham.
Nancy Saul
Nancy is Senior Programme Manager (Collections) at Art Fund, the national charity for art and museums. She oversees Art Fund’s Gifts and Bequests programme, facilitating the transfer of works of art from private collections to museums and galleries across the UK.
She wrote the national guidance on how to give or sell to public collections tax efficiently. Nancy sits on the Advisory Council on the Export of Works of Art and, in 2025, gave evidence to the All-Party Parliamentary Group inquiry into archaeology and metal detecting at the House of Lords. Nancy has also held roles at Arts Council England (ACE) and the Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS). Nancy grew up in Norfolk and has recently returned to live here.
David Missen
Treasurer and Company Secretary
David is a Chartered Accountant based in East Anglia, for many years a partner in a large regional firm specialising in agriculture and rural businesses and practising in North Norfolk. Since retiring from public practice in 2015 David has been Honorary Treasurer to the Norfolk Museums Development Foundation.
In his retirement David his is now able to pursue interests in the history of Norfolk, church architecture and industrial archaeology, and holds other charitable trusteeships in those areas. He also continues his involvement with agriculture, as a consultant, writer and speaker at training conferences. In his spare time he owns and runs a small farm in Norfolk where he is actively developing the ecological diversity and attempting to maximise the environmental benefit on a modest arable acreage, making full use of grass strips, bird feed crops, hedges and traditional ponds and meadows.
Donna Chessum
Donna has many years experience working in various fields of communications including public relations, brand management, sponsorship, advertising and corporate responsibility. She has worked in-house in publishing and financial services, and as a director of award-winning PR agency, Tribe, where her clients included Camelot, Greene King, the East of England Development Agency, Norfolk County Council and May Gurney. She is now a director of Chessum Communication.
She served on the East of England Heritage Lottery Committee for six years, making decisions on grant awards for hundreds of heritage projects across the region. She has a first class History degree from the University of East Anglia. Her love of history and heritage was fired at an early age by visits to Norwich Castle and she is delighted to now be playing her part in igniting interest and curiosity among others as a trustee of Norfolk Museums Development Foundation.
Helen Wilson
Helen has a background in broadcasting having been a producer and editor on the BBC’s Today programme, the World at One and PM. After a stint in New York and Washington for the BBC she became Managing Editor Radio 4 and then Controller Radio 4. After leaving the BBC she ran an independent production company and then became Chair of Southern Norfolk Primary Care Trust for the NHS.
Helen is a trustee of the National Centre for Writing and also Co-Chair of the UEA’s Impact Board.
Previous roles have also included Chair of the New Anglia Culture Board and Chair of the National Lottery Heritage Fund Committee for the East of England. Most recently Helen was part of the Bishop of Norwich’s Commission on the future of Church Buildings “Lifelines for Historic Churches and their Communities”.
NMDF accounts
Our accounts
As a registered charity, Norfolk Museums Development Foundation is committed to operating in a transparent manner. The Charity Commission website contains full details of our charity registration.
Account returns for NMDF can be found below: