The Trust's aims & Trustees

• To secure a financially sustainable organisation to maximise delivery of the core mission activity of the heritage Botanic Collection in the walled gardens of the historic Croxteth Hall.
• Develop and maintain the horticultural, related and future collections to the highest curatorial and presentational standards.
• Support Liverpool City Council make a successful visitor destination of international standing that contributes to the economic, social, environmental, and cultural well-being of Liverpool.
• As an iconic Liverpool institution, contribute to promoting the status and recognition of Liverpool at an international Botanic level.
• Deliver inspirational informal and accredited education and training in horticulture, plant sciences, conservation, ecology, sustainability, and related STEM subjects, to all ages and abilities, to promote a greater understanding of the importance of the environment in our sustainable future.

Patron

Mark Blundell:  Appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Merseyside in September 2017.

He was educated at Downside School and was a scholar at Balliol College, Oxford, where he studied Physics and Philosophy.  Starting out as an articled solicitor with Weightmans in Liverpool, he then moved to London where he later became a partner at Boodle Hatfield in Mayfair. In 1986 Mark moved back to Little Crosby and in 1988 he founded the Crosby Hall Educational Trust (CHET), a residential centre for children, created out of redundant 17th Century stables. He remains chair of CHET today.

For many years he was a member of the Council of Liverpool University, holding the posts of President and Pro-Chancellor and serving on numerous committees. He was a member of the Heritage Lottery Fund Committee for the North West between 2001 and 2007. He has been a member of the Council of Tate Liverpool, a trustee of Liverpool Charity and Voluntary Services, a governor of Royal Northern College of Music, chair of Liverpool University Pension Fund, and a director of Merseyside Buildings Preservation Trust.  He is currently a director of Heritage Trust for the North West.  Since becoming Lord-Lieutenant he has been appointed Patron or President of a number of charities.

The Lord-Lieutenant resides in the village of Little Crosby which has been the home of the Blundell family for many centuries.  He is married to Suzanne, a child psychotherapist of Swiss origin. They have two children and five grandchildren, all of whom live in Little Crosby.

Trustees

• Stephen Lyus (Chair)

Stephen retired in 2009 from a lifetime working in the software industry and came to the Wirral to create a garden for the many ericaceous plants he had propagated over the previous several years. Since then, he spent 10 years as a volunteer at Ness Botanic Gardens, aiding the then botanist, Tim Baxter, manage their gardens and collections. He is  also an RHS Camellia Show Judge, on the Botanicals sub-committee of Sefton Park Palm House and a volunteer in the World Museum Herbarium. Latterly, he has masterminded the creation of the Liverpool Botanical Trust to safeguard the heritage of Liverpool Botanic Gardens. 

• Peter Elson

Peter is an award-winning writer and broadcaster who has spent much of his life in Merseyside. 

He was Senior Features Writer for nearly 20 years at the Liverpool Daily Post & Echo, where reporting on the Botanic Gardens’ desperate plight and his love of plants practically dictated becoming a trustee. 

Previously he wrote for the national press, including the Telegraph, Times and Mail. He is now a fundraiser, first at Liverpool Blue Coat and now in the care home sector. 

He was named British Maritime Writer of the Year 2009 and also received a Merseyside Civic Society Special Award.

• Stephen Guy

 Stephen Guy was a Press Association staff news reporter 1973 - 1996,  press officer for the Government-funded "Going for Green" environment  campaign  1996 /7 and National Museums Liverpool 1997 - 2012. Now a  freelance journalist and broadcaster, he is chairman  of both Liverpool's West Derby Community Association Ltd (Lowlands) and  West Derby Society.  

• Alan Smith

  Alan is an arts professional having worked in the arts and heritage sector for over 30 years. He started in the Tate Gallery in 1988 and worked there for 14 years, becoming Head of Visitor Services. In November 2001 he secured the post of Head of Operations at the Imperial War Museum North and became part of the initial operating team for the museum. In 2004 Alan moved to FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology) in Liverpool as Operations Director as well as managing FACT Trading Limited. In November 2007 he was appointed Operations Manager at St George’s Hall, going on to become General Manager in 2011. After 2020, Alan took up the newly created position of Head of Heritage Preservation and Development for Liverpool City council and is now focused on funding applications to develop and, where possible, preserve the city’s amazing heritage.

• Diahann Gallard

• Claire Bigley