Forest Forge Board of Trustees Biographies

Cllr Stephanie Stokes

Stephanie is a bio-psychologist by education and training and has had a career as a teacher in Secondary and Further Education and as a lecturer with the Open University. After moving to live in the New Forest in 2007 she retired and became more involved with voluntary work.

Appointed to the Board of Forest Forge as the Ringwood Town Council representative - and now as Vice Chair - Stephanie is an experienced charity worker with an involvement spanning two continents and 35 years. Beginning her experience in the USA as the Co-President (Chair in UK language) of Parent and Child St Louis Inc., she has gained wide experience of leadership, change management and charity governance. She was for three years Chair deafPLUS a charity for the deaf and hard of hearing and is currently Chair of Community First New Forest.

Stephanie has a long association with Hampshire as she grew up locally and despite living some years abroad retained family connections. In her youth she was active in amateur dramatics and she currently sings with a local choir. Her experience of enjoying theatre ranges from Broadway to the West End and she has an eclectic taste. Since joining Forest Forge she has become enthusiastic in helping it achieve its mission to bring professional live theatre to local communities so they can experience it's delights.

Sophy Robinson

Sophy joined the Board in October 2005. She has been an independent coach, facilitator and consultant for twelve years and works with executives on individual team and organisational development issues. Her coaching work evolved from working with executives on communication and the translation of strategy into effective programmes of change.

Her approach is pragmatic, working with senior people on challenging business and personal issues, while remaining focused on results and outcomes. In her coaching work she helps successful people analyse what may seem to be complex and conflicting situations clarifying options and actions to deliver the best solution. In the last four years she has developed her work in the voluntary sector and is a trustee/governor of organisations including Forest Forge and Brockenhurst College in the New Forest. She is also a regular feature writer for Hampshire Life Magazine and is helping a new community radio become established in the New Forest.

Sophy made television programmes about technology and business before joining Mars Confectionary’s HR team. During the last 15 years she has focused on developing her consulting and coaching skills while also taking on business building and senior management roles – latterly for Aspen Communications plc.

Junior Jones

Junior trained at Ballet Rambert in London and performed with the London Festival Ballet (now English National) before working for the Ulmer Ballet Company (Germany). On his return to the UK he began work as a freelance dance artist and choreographer. He has performed and choreographed pop videos, has appeared on several TV shows and TV commercials both here in the UK and abroad, was a regular dance artist on The Clothes Show Live in the 1990s and regularly worked in fashion shows and trade shows across Europe and the UK.

In 1996 he founded Wise Moves Dance Ltd delivering educational dance workshops into schools and has since become one of the best known dance artists in education in Hampshire and Dorset ss well as having taught extensively in other counties in England.

Over the past 10 years Wise Moves Dance Ltd has extended its services nationally in England and Wales and is probably best known for its multicultural richness in delivering into schools arts-based workshops in the field of dance, music, drama and the visual arts.

In July 2006 he launched the Wise Moves Dance Performance Company which celebrates cultural diversity. The show is called Planet Steps and is touring schools across the UK from the spring with an exciting programme of dance and music from Africa, Asia, Europe, America and China.

Roger Finn

Roger Finn is a presenter and reporter for BBC South.

He was born and brought up in Hong Kong. He was sent to school in England, developed a love of theatre and became a member of the National Youth Theatre. After gaining a degree in psychology at Bristol University, early jobs included theatre-in-education actor, milkman, boatbuilder and kung fu film dubber. He then joined Radio Television Hong Kong where he specialised in making environmental documentaries.

In 1985 he returned to Britain and joined BBC TV’s Newsround as main reporter. Following John Craven’s departure, Roger took over aspresenter for five years.

In 1993 he started work with BBC South where he became Environment Correspondent and later co-presenter of South Today alongside Sally Taylor.

Roger has now moved onto general reporting and frequently presents South Today’s breakfast and lunchtime bulletins. He also presents ’Finn’s Country’ a regular feature on South Today which celebrates rural life in the south.

Roger is the father of three sons, two of whom are keen members of the Forest Forge Youth Theatre. He became a board member in 2007.

Peter Greenfield

Peter is a Barrister by profession and currently sits as a Deputy District Judge. He is a member of the Lord Chancellor’s committee which recommends local candidates in Hampshire who wish to serve as Magistrates. Outside the law, Peter is a District Councillor at New Forest District Council and served on The Council’s Cabinet for 6 years as lead member for housing. He was producer/presenter at British Forces Radio and Television in Germany, Cyprus and Gibraltar. He was also a producer with BBC North in the 1990s and worked in commercial radio as a freelance news editor at Metro Radio and Century Radio in Newcastle and TFM radio in Teesside. He lives in the New Forest with his wife and three children.

Cllr Barbara Woodifield

Cllr Steve Rippon-Swaine

Mike Tompsett