Contributors

Chris Musgrave

Chris Musgrave is a trade union official, political activist and former Exeter city councillor.

He has a background in employment law, campaigning and election management, and has a passion for social and economic justice and protecting the environment.

Since deciding not to stand for re-election in 2019 he has focussed on democratic and financial scrutiny of local government, seeking to expose waste and inconsistency wherever he finds it.

Chris is also Chair of Trustees for Exeter-based Intercom Trust, an advocacy charity supporting LGBT+ communities across the South West.

@chris_musgrave

Leigh Curtis

Leigh Curtis is arts & culture editor of Exeter Observer and a director of its publisher Greater Exeter CIC.

She has a background in print design and production and project and account management with leading London media and design agencies.

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Art at Goldsmiths, University of London, where she has also managed exhibitions and degree shows.

@leighcurtis

Martin Redfern

Martin Redfern is managing editor of Exeter Observer and a director of its publisher Greater Exeter CIC.

He has 25 years’ experience working with public and private sector organisations in multi-stakeholder contexts to achieve social change goals.

He holds a Master’s degree with distinction in Journalism at Birkbeck, University of London and has a background in campaigning, project management and multimedia design and development.

@martinredfern

Moragh Mason

Moragh Mason is a researcher and contributing writer for Exeter Observer.

She has a background in the public sector in a variety of roles. The ones she enjoyed most involved investigation and report writing.

Since escaping the world of work she continues to put those skills to good use. She is concerned about the loss of green space in Exeter and is involved in the campaign to save the Clifton Hill sports centre site from development.

Peter Cleasby

Peter Cleasby is contributing editor of Exeter Observer and a director of its publisher Greater Exeter CIC.

A former senior civil servant, specialising in policy development and managing public business, he subsequently became a freelance policy, management and governance consultant, and a trustee of several national and local charities.

Today, he has escaped from the boardroom and works - unpaid, of course - as a watchkeeper at Exmouth Coastwatch, research officer for Exeter Green Party, lay member of a research ethics committee at Exeter University, occasional blogger, campaigner for openness in public life, and doing any other interesting odd jobs that crop up from time to time.

@Peter_Cleasby

Roz Harding

Roz Harding is a jazz saxophonist who teaches at Exeter College where she also leads the Jazz Project and Jambassadors.

She has performed in a wide variety of ensembles and recording projects. Her music has been played on Jazz FM and BBC Radio 6 Music and she has played live on air for BBC Radio 3 and at venues including Ronnie Scotts, The Vortex, London Jazz Festival, Kings Place, Cheltenham Jazz Festival, Women in Jazz and Birmingham Jazz.

She can be found playing in Mike Westbrook’s The Uncommon Orchestra, Kate Westbrook’s GRANITE, Dave Holdsworth’s New Brew, Emma Welton’s A Quiet Night In, Billie Bottle and the Multiple and leading her own project SUPERMOOD. She has also started working with Tom Glazebrook and his visual theory of music Meta-Harmony.

She has been involved in numerous youth projects in the UK and Europe, including Devon Youth Jazz Orchestra, and teaches at Exeter College, Plymouth University and South West Music School.

Sophie Sleeman

Sophie Sleeman is a seventeen-year-old climate activist, writer and student at Exeter College.

She works with the UK Student Climate Network to mobilise the Youth Strike 4 Climate movement and has recently been published in The Guardian, The Ecologist, The Big Issue and Open Democracy.

She also enjoys climbing on Dartmoor and writing poetry.

@sleemansophie

Vanessa Miles

Vanessa Miles is a portrait, editorial and events photographer and has been a photography tutor at Exeter Phoenix since 2013.

She has exhibited at Exeter Phoenix, Exeter Picture House, Plymouth Art Weekender and The Art Institute, Plymouth and her work has appeared in The Guardian, The Times, Country Life, The Ecologist and Resurgence.

She works with individuals, workshop groups, families and organisations and is a frequent collaborator on scientific and environmental projects.

More information is available on her website.