MEET THE TEAM

Our Trustees

The Trustees of the Farm Safety Foundation are in place to ensure that the organisation is doing what it is set up to do. Ultimately our Trustees are responsible for the Foundation meeting its objectives. The Farm Safety Foundation is fortunate to have experienced and well qualified trustees responsible for the successful delivery of our charitable objectives.

Martin Grantley-Smith, Chair of Trustees

Former strategic director for the cereals and oilseeds division of AHDB, Martin joined the board in August 2023. Prior to this, Martin worked for the Meat and Livestock Commission holding a range of roles from research, through marketing to strategic planning. He has a wealth of knowledge in promoting sales development and business skills improvement in the red meat supply chains as well as a degree in Animal Physiology and a PhD in ruminant nutrition. Having worked with farmers for 40 years, Martin has seen how practices have changed with both the increasing opportunity for accidents to occur but also the recognition that safety is paramount for both those working on the farm and those visiting it. Martin bring valuable governance and strategic planning skills to the board.

James Speers

RAU graduate, James has been a member of Young Farmers Clubs of Ulster since he was 12. He served as Deputy President 2015-2017 and subsequently President of YFCU 2017-2019 and is still very much involved with the YFC and UFU network.

James is a passionate supporter of rural affairs especially mental health, farm safety and rural crime and has been a big supporter of the charity from Day One and was instrumental in supporting us develop and launch the YFCU farm safety training during his year in office.

Jo Lumani, Vice-Chair

Jo is Head of Communications and Reputation for NFU Mutual. A passionate advocate for effective communication and community engagement, Jo is the strategic communications lead for the business and manages their media relations team, as well as social media, corporate affairs, internal communications and ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance)

She has a wealth of experience in senior management for PR and Communications with companies including; Marketing Birmingham, Loughborough University, Coventry University, Birmingham Children’s Hospital as well as several professional football clubs. This experience means that Jo is a valuable addition to the Foundation’s board of trustees. With a particular specialism in crisis communications and expertise in reputation management, Jo offers insight, guidance and support to ensure the integrity of the Foundation is maintained at all times. In the free time she has, Jo enjoys watching most sports (particularly athletics) and spending quality time with her family.

Craig Davidson

Raised in Scotland before moving to America as a teenager, Craig became involved in agriculture through a high school agriculture education programme. It was then he decided to spend the rest of his life teaching agriculture.

Craig studied at (formerly SAC and now) SRUC in Aberdeen and earned a Degree in Agriculture Education at Fresno State and Masters in Ag Education at Cal Poly, both in California. He taught and ran a high school agriculture programme for 14 years while earning multiple awards for recognition for teaching and was actively involved in leadership within the California Agriculture Teacher’s Association. Craig returned to Scotland in 2019 and now leads the agriculture programme at SRUC’s Edinburgh campus.

He is a non-executive board member for SRUC and is involved in the Peebleshire Agriculture Discussion Society, as well as being actively involved in other agricultural organisations informally. In his spare time, he enjoys mountain biking and playing tennis.

James Stevens

James is a partner at Saffery, a leading firm of Chartered Accountants and business advisors based in Peterborough and leads the firm’s Land & Rural Practice Group in the East of England.

James is passionate about promoting good mental health in the workplace: he has sponsored wellbeing programmes in each of his last two businesses and is a trained Mental Health First Aider.

James is an accountant and tax advisor, a member of the ICAEW and STEP, a trustee of a number of property, rural business, and charitable trusts, as well as being a season ticket holder at the Oval.