The Constitution is an important document, which sets out how the organisation operates and clarifies its charitable aims and purpose. Most particularly, the Trustees would like to draw attention to the Forward to the Constitution, which describes the fundamental principles on which a religious Druidry can be established.
The Trustees are charged with ensuring the Constitution is upheld, reviewed and improved, and work without payment to make possible The Druid Network. In all other respects they are simply members of the Network. The current (June 2023ce) Trustees are:
Trustees
Phil Ryder
Chair
There’s a lot to say about Phil. Everybody says so. Except Phil, who is silent on the matter. Makes it difficult to write a biography here, so let’s just say he is everything you imagine him to be and more.
Mark Rosher
Secretary
“bish” lives in the west of England. His move from many years of generic paganism to Druidry occurred around the end of the last century and The Druid Network came along just at the right time. His preferences run to spontaneity rather than scripted ritual, and chaos (with a small c) is likely whenever group workings involve him.
Having retired as a Professional Engineer at National Grid in 2015, he has been a Local Councillor since 2007 and is Chairman of Charfield Parish Council. bish is also co-organiser of the Druid Camp Association. A keen cyclist and motorcyclist, nature photographer, bass guitar player and grandfather, he’s known to drink the occasional ale and beer, and the far more regular Islay single malt.
More and ever more wandering waffle at his home site https://www.rosher.net
Jon Grundy
New Boy 🙂
Both a former forester and property manager, I have advised on green solutions to many and various. I was born in Kent, grew up in Hampshire, lived and worked in hot and dusty, green and steamy places as well as freezing and muddy ones.
Dorset is my home now – as well as spending happy childhood holidays here, I have ancestral roots that go back hundreds of years. Domain of the Durotriges, it is ancient, enchanting and most magical. My first steps into Druidry happened here in 1998, whilst piecing together information from digs, about the pre-Christian faith of our forebears.
I busy myself being in the land, studying the local bionetworks, keeping myself attuned to the seasons and flows of the natural year, spending far too much time in my ever-swelling book mines and relishing the gifts of inspiration.
Neil Pitchford
Treasurer
Neil lives in Glasgow with his wife and fellow Druid Pauline, having lived the majority of his life in the East Midlands coalfield areas, where his rambles through the industrial and agricultural landscapes forged the early connections with the land. His first experience of Druidry was a handbook written by a certain Emma Restall-Orr which ultimately led him to discover all that is the Druid Network.
He has worked continuously in the domestic gas industry since 1979 and continues to do so. Upon moving to Scotland, he found the landscape reignited a long forgotten passion for photography and has been successful in gaining his professional photography qualification along with over 200 awards ( and counting ). This has worked well with his Druidry as he views his practice as a Land Druid and his photography has become part of his spiritual practice.
He has been TDN’s IFN representative since 2014 and was voted in to the senior role of vice moderator to the Faith Communities Forum of IFN in 2019, the first ever Druid to hold such a senior position at UK national level. He was also unanimously voted in as a statement making moderator at the same time by five other faith groups within IFN, also another first for Druidry. As of early 2023, he has been reappointed to the role of vice moderator for a second three year term.
Chris Funderburg
Webmaster
My name is Chris but I go by Bocan on the social networking site. I’m the Texan trustee and I’ve lived in the UK for over 20+ years now. I’ve been a pagan for something like 15+ years of that and a druid over a decade. That doesn’t make me an expert in anything mind. My druidry is decidedly anarchistic and this inclines me to have an inbuilt mistrust of self-proclaimed pagan “leaders”, professional druids, overpriced courses, and anyone else claiming to have answers that we should all find for ourselves.
Aside from the anarchy thing, my druidry is based in deep service to my community. With The Druid Network, I’m both a trustee and the webmaster. With The Pagan Federation, I was formerly both IT Officer and District Manager of South Central England.
Outside of my charity and non-profit work, I’m a cloud computing architect and spend my time building massive IT infrastructures with code. I balance this with allotment gardening, gaming, and travel.
Leonore Newson
Memberships
Originally I hail from Edinburgh where I learned to love the hills and the sea, but have lived south of the borders for more years than I can contemplate. I’m a graduate from the OBOD Druid grade, a witch, a nurse, a wife, mother and grandmother….. but not necessarily in that order! A traveller of the Old Ways and try to be a friend to our Earth.
I enjoy all music, except jazz, and love being able to go stravaiging across Dartmoor, and even better, being able to roam the hills of my Motherland. I look forward to going to Scotland once a year to watch the rugby at Murrayfield.
I believe that the life of a Druid is one of service, not servitude to the community and with this in mind, as a Trustee and Membership Coordinator of The Druid Network, I have the honour of being able to serve our community here which is an absolute delight. Late in my professional career as nurse, I became a steward with the Royal College of Nursing which has given me the opportunity to serve another of my communities
Aurora Stone
Newsletter Editor
Originally from the US, both coasts and the middle bit, I have lived in the UK for nearly 20 years in both the West Country and in Orkney.
Having begun studying the OBOD Bardic Grade before I immigrated I completed it here. Following that I began the Ovate course. It was when I was in the fairly early stages of that process that I discovered The Druid Network and found its gentle anarchy and less proscriptive way of approaching Druidry suited me. As a result, I did not complete the Ovate Grade, which is no reflection on the quality or aim of the course but more about my growth and changed perception of Druidry. I am a Druid because I am called to the path by the gods, ancestors and spirits of the land. Druidry offers me the most appropriate way to honour and serve them. I made my deep commitment to Druidry through my dedication statement for the Order of the Yew.
I am a poet, and blog as Gray Bear in the Middle. I am a not very accomplished calligrapher for I love working with initial letters more that acres of text – this is the Mediaevalist coming out, illuminated letters and so forth (I have a BA and MA in Mediaeval History and Literature). My textile work, on the other hand, is more accomplished because I love hand work and can do it in my lap. I enjoy photography and am a voracious reader. I share my life with my husband, three cats and our ever-growing personal library, in our home that sits the Michael line as it runs from Glastonbury Tor.
The Trustees meet monthly to discuss matters and make decisions, and all of these meetings are minuted and available to Members. Further, the Trustees facilitate the Annual General Meeting, where possible* at a venue where Members are invited to attend (remote attendance is also made available).
* the Covid years meant that all our meetings were remote meetings, and although they worked well to ensure the continuity of the Network they simply weren’t as much fun! We are, after all, a networking organisation.