Our team

Kate Danielson (Co-Director)

As a co-Founder of GUST, Kate has worked in Gloucester since 2014 and was instrumental in establishing the Gloucester Culture Trust in 2015. Spotting the need for external allies for emerging organisations in the city, she set up and ran the Gloucester Roundhouse Exchange with the tremendous support of Marcus Davey and funding from Paul Hamlyn Foundation.

Having begun her career as a theatre producer, she went on to run the Cheltenham Jazz Festival and joined Coventry City of Culture as Senior Producer. In recent years, she has combined her producing work with her passion for philanthropy through her consultancy, Kate Danielson Associates.

In 2010, Kate initiated the Weston Jerwood Creative Bursaries for the Jerwood Foundation, fostering socio-economic diversity within the arts sector. She ran the programme for 13 years, creating opportunities for emerging talent to kickstart their careers. She now works with a range of Trusts and Foundations to get the very best out of their grant-giving. 

Clair Greenaway (Co-Director)

Clair Greenaway is a highly experienced strategic cultural manager and educator. She was Executive Director of Cheltenham Literature Festival from 2005-2011, overseeing the dramatic expansion of the Festival and relocation to a new site. Clair has been a Board member of the British Arts Festivals Association and a funding evaluator for the Wellcome Trust and Arts Council England. In 2011 she became a Senior Lecturer at the University of Gloucestershire, and in 2015 was appointed Academic Course Leader for Events, Tourism and Hospitality Management. Clair was the recipient of the University’s inaugural Staff Award for Excellence in Sustainability. Her pedagogic work in this area has been recognised by the United Nations University as an example of best practice in sustainability education.

 

Donna Renney (Chair of Trustees)

Donna Renney has considerable experience in the not-for-profit and cultural sectors.  Initially in education, as Director of Development at the University of Gloucestershire and with grass-roots educational organisations working with ethnic-minority women.  She spent ten years at Cheltenham Festivals becoming its first Chief Executive   She led the organisation to independence from the local Council, restructured the educational arm of the Festivals and was also one of the co-founders of Cheltenham Science Festival.  She founded GUST to take some of the knowledge she had acquired from her time in Cheltenham to support strengthening the cultural sector in Gloucester.  She was one of the founders of Gloucester Culture Trust.

 

Marianna Hay (Trustee)

Marianna’s career has focused on arts for social change, first as a music teacher with the Teach First programme and then as the Founder, CEO and Artistic Director of the award winning charity Orchestras for All (OFA). 

In 2011, Marianna founded Orchestras for All (OFA) in the belief that all young people should be able to access the life-changing experience of ensemble music-making whatever their circumstances. Now in its 14th year, OFA is widely recognized as a leading voice in inclusive, youth-led practice recently joining a portfolio of 15 National Youth Music Organisations in the UK and supporting thousands of young people each year to develop musical, social and creative skills. 

Marianna currently works as a consultant on initiatives across the arts, social change and education sectors, through Take Note which she founded with her colleague Emily Webb. Take Note's early projects  - in partnership with GUST and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation -  were delivered in Gloucester and involved connecting 'unlikely allies' across Gloucester's vibrant arts and social impact sectors to deliver partnership projects across the city.

Marianna is a Clore Fellow (2017-2018) and in 2020 she was awarded an MBE for services to music education. She sits as an Advisor on the Strategic Working Group for the National Centre for Music and is Chair of The Tinderbox Collective in Edinburgh. 

Jonathan Lund (Trustee)

Jonathan joined GUST after a long career in local government working on ethics and conduct, operations and strategy as a Director and Deputy Chief Executive. As Strategic Director at Gloucester City Council, Jonathan led the implementation of the City’s first 10-year Cultural Strategy, including the establishment of the Gloucester Culture Trust, securing £3m Arts Council England’s Great Places funding and broadening the City’s cultural partnerships.     

 

Simon Murray (Trustee)

Simon recently retired after 32 years with the National Trust.  He was both Chief Operating Officer and subsequently Senior Director with responsibility for Strategy, Curatorship and Visitor Experience.  Over the last few years he has also lectured and advised on cultural heritage.

Throughout his career, Simon has championed the importance of ‘everyday’ heritage and ‘everyday’ landscapes as cultural reference points, that is, places, objects and traditions that contribute to our sense of identity and rootedness.  Early in his career he advocated for acquisitions by the National Trust that portrayed heritage more broadly and he led on the acquisition of places such as Mr Straw’s House, a semi-detached urban house in an industrial town, as well as an art deco cinema, a 19th-century workhouse and John Lennon's childhood home in Liverpool.

Simon was the author of the National Trust's strategy from 2015 - 2025 "Playing our Part"  where he saw the unifying idea as “inspiring people to care”: giving people experiences that would inspire them to want to care for our heritage and for nature and the countryside.  He led the delivery of programmes to revolutionise interpretation at properties (e.g. Trust New Art; national programmes: Women and Power, Prejudice and Pride).   

Toby Smith (Trustee)

With over 16 years of experience in photography, environment, and public engagement, Toby Smith is the Director of Development at Belfast Photo Festival. Working in hybrid from his home in Gloucestershire, Toby is responsible for the activities, income, and growth of the festival, as well as supporting the strategy, business, and partnership development whilst building new strategic projects.

Toby is passionate about using photography and the arts as a tool for communication, education, and advocacy on environmental and social issues. Toby is excited by the heritage, identity and potential of Gloucester with rapidly growing creative and arts sector. Enjoying what the city has to offer - whilst looking forwards and helping catalyse and advice on new developments.