Clive Duncan
Clive left Douai in 1968 and went on to study Modern History at St John’s College, Oxford. The final 33 years of a teaching career were spent in Catholic comprehensives in Walsall and Wolverhampton. He stood for Parliament in the two General Elections in the 1980s (one deposit lost, one retained).
Tony Hill
Tony was educated at Douai. After leaving school in 1975, he entered the reinsurance business as a Lloyd’s broker specialising in the US market. He had extended spells during his career working in New York and Chicago. In retirement he is a company Pension Board Trustee and a volunteer with the Overcoming MS charity.
Mary Lesault
Mary studied at University College London and the Sorbonne in Paris. Following that, she moved to France and embarked on a career in marketing and communications with McDonald’s Europe. She took a pause from her career to raise her six children and returned to work in communications when she relocated to England eight years ago, working for a behavioural profiling company. Mary currently resides in Somerset, where her two youngest children attend Downside school. She passionately believes in the importance of Benedictine values in education.
Fr Oliver Holt OSB
Oliver is a member of the monastic community at Douai Abbey, where he serves on the Abbot’s Council, and is parish priest at St Gregory’s in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Richard Quarterman (Chair of Trustees)
Richard studied English and Philosophy at the University of Southampton, followed by a 30 year career with the John Lewis Partnership. More recently he has worked as a consultant and a lecturer in Retail Management, and spent a year on secondment to the Business in the Community charity. In 2018 he was elected to Hart District Council, where he currently holds the cabinet portfolio for Commercialisation. Richard lives in Yateley, Hampshire with his wife and two children.
Richard Sims (Honorary Secretary)
After Douai, and university at Aberdeen and Cambridge, Richard qualified as a lawyer and worked in private practice in London, before being appointed Secretary & General Counsel of St John Ambulance. He now lives in the Isle of Wight, works as the legal counsel to an international animal charity, and sits on the boards of several not-for-profit organisations, including as a Governor of an independent school.
Andrew Taylor
Andrew has enjoyed a life in education spanning 35 years: as Headmaster, Housemaster and Head of History. The last 22 years of his career were spent at the Benedictine Schools of Douai and Worth, where both of his sons were educated. In retirement, he sits on the committee of the Worth Society.
Christopher Vale (Honorary Treasurer)
Chris was educated at Douai and Exeter University and after a short service commission in the Army, spent 30 years in the fund management industry including 8 years in Hong Kong and 3 years in Seoul. He now has a portfolio of non executive roles and is a member of Esher Catenians and the local Save the Children Committee. He is married with one daughter and still enjoys squash and golf.
