 Elisa Miles Chair | Elisa came to the UK from the USA in 1986 to work, and made Reading her home. She has lived in Caversham since 1992 with a four year placement in France during that time. She has worked as a user experience designer and researcher, and in the last 20 years has worked at a number of consultancies developing and managing teams to deliver to a variety of clients. Most recently she was a director at Blue Latitude Health where she created and ran the customer experience part of the business. She and her husband have three children all raised in Caversham. Elisa has been an active member of the WADRA since 2010, most noticeably in organising community fundraising events and initiatives for the restoration of the MPF Pavilion: Summer Fairs, car boots, metal recycling, dinner dances, and Christmas Fayres. She has also been active in the campaigns to save MPF from inappropriate development. Elisa has been a WADRA committee member since 2011, has acted as Treasurer, and is now the Chair. |
 Sally Hart Secretary | Sally has had a family connection in Reading since 1933. Following a spell developing canals for recreation Sally joined the Sports Council in Reading – working with government agencies, local authorities and sports bodies to develop facilities and opportunities for sport and recreation. She provided the secretariat to the Southern Countryside Conference and to the Water Recreation Committee. In 1986 she moved to Blagrave Lane and joined Mapledurham LTC. She then commuted to London as Head of Policy at Sports Council/ Sport England responsible for: council secretariat, strategic and corporate planning, government relations and policy research. On retirement she continued with advisory work in Southern Africa and was a member of Environment Agency Regional Fisheries Ecology and Recreation Advisory Committee. She is a founder member of Mapledurham GC. Her year as Lady Captain was followed by four years as Berkshire Girls Golf Organiser. |
 Hayley Brommell Treasurer | Hayley has lived in Caversham Heights for 17 years and has been an active WADRA member since 2003. She has been proactive in supporting fund raising events, door-to-door canvassing as well as campaigning against local developments which threaten to destroy the character and environment of the wonderful area covered by WADRA. Hayley joined the WADRA committee in 2016 as Secretary until 2019, when she became the Treasurer. With nearly 40 years service at BT, working in a variety of demanding roles, her latest position involves managing suppliers, 5G infrastructure projects and network enhancement programmes. Hayley is married and is very proud of her daughter, son-in-law and young grandson, who’ll be two in 2021. In her spare time she is a keen gardener, excellent cook and enjoys the outdoors with her Shih Tzu dog, Marley. |
 Pam Reynolds | Pam has lived in Caversham for nearly forty years and has been a member of the WADRA committee for around twenty of them. Her particular interest over the years has been communicating WADRA members’ views to RBC and Festival Republic to promote active discussion and action to protect our community from the less attractive aspects of the Reading Festival. She has also been involved with fundraising and assisting with WADRA functions. Pam trained as a teacher, and later worked in higher education in an administrative and editing role. She is a member of St Peters choir and acted as librarian for many years. She enjoys working in the charity sector, and for many years was a member of the Commonwealth Housing Trust, a charity which organises fundraising and the building of housing and schools in Africa. She currently works with SSAFA – the Military Charity. She trained as a case worker, but around ten years ago, there was a large influx of retired Gurkha ex-servicemen and their families to Reading. Pam established an education project for Gurkha wives, which has now been running for nearly ten years. With the invaluable assistance of more than thirty volunteers, the project teaches over a hundred Gurkha wives each week. In the 2017 New Year Honours List Pam was awarded the BEM in recognition of this work. |
 Robert O’Neill | Bob has lived in the WADRA area since 1970 and was born not far outside. He has led scrutiny of Reading Borough Council matters and questioned RBC on its duty to provide sport and leisure for all, not just a selective few. Since the 1980’s Bob has lent on the Council and those responsible for the state of the Mapledurham Playing Fields’ Pavilion; sharing in the activities of the Society of Beneficiaries to lobby them to treat us more fairly. Living close to the Borough boundary, Bob takes an active interest in what happens in South Oxfordshire, especially subjects such as aggressive development on local countryside. |
 Alistair McLean | Alistair was born in a small village some 10 miles west of Edinburgh. He worked as a civil engineer with a firm of consulting engineers before joining the Surface Mining division of British Coal in Scotland. Following several promotions he moved around the country, with British Coal, ending up as Regional Manager in the North East of England. When the mining industry was privatised, he joined the successor company, UK Coal, firstly as Regional Manager and then as Regional Director in the North East. He qualified as a Chartered Engineer with qualifications in both Civil and Mining Engineering. Alistair has two daughters and two grandchildren who live in Reading and he moved to Caversham in 2014, following the birth of his first grandchild. Whilst living in the North East, Alistair was a member of a local Estate Committee, which assessed planning applications for extensions and new builds, submitted by local residents and organisations. With that experience and a keen interest in Planning matters, he joined the committee of WADRA in 2014 and monitors planning applications made to Reading Borough Council for the WADRA area. |
 John Heaps | John moved from Liverpool to Caversham with his wife and two children in 1988 to pursue his career in Management, latterly running an interim management business specialising in business strategy, marketing, restructuring and contract management within the NHS and Private sector companies. He retired in 2015 and is committed to maintaining the quality of life and strengthening the community in our area. John contributed to the work of MPFAG and thus became aware of WADRA and the need to maintain a strong local voice in informing and moderating the trajectory of local government. His main interests are politics, economics, science, travel, the environment and art. |
 Barbara Garden | Barbara moved to Caversham in 2000 with her family. Her career has been in financial services and most recently as an Independent Financial Adviser, specialising in investment and pension advice. She held roles on the management committee for Tilehurst Swim Club, including the position of chairman. Barbara still has close associations with Berks and South Bucks County Swimming Association, helping with finance and accounting for the county alongside organising and running of swim camps and meets. Having recently returned to the area, from an overseas posting with her family, Barbara is keen to play a more active role in supporting WADRA to help maintain and improve the community in which she lives. |
 Stephen Bale | Stephen grew up in Caversham Heights and his family has lived in Reading for three generations. As a former director of the family’s local property business he has a management background and experience assisting with planning matters. Before moving back to Caversham Heights he lived for 20 years in the area adjoining the Caversham Road where he was the Vice-Chair of the Bell Tower Community Association. Whilst there he was actively involved in all the community events as well as campaigning on behalf of the residents on matters of planning and nuisance. He brings to WADRA that experience and a connection to other neighbourhood volunteers. For a number of years Stephen has supported WADRA as a volunteer at the annual Festival salvaging. Stephen and his wife regularly play tennis and are active members at Mapledurham LTC. |