The Team in the UK
Fred Branson
Trustee & Co-Director
Fred came across Amantani Peru in March 2007 when he worked as a volunteer in their orphanage project in Cusco. It was through this experience that he began to learn about the problems in Cusco and its surrounding areas. On the last full day of his trip, Fred visited Ccorca. As he saw these people's situation, something got under his skin and six months later he was back in Peru, determined to do something for the children in Ccorca. In May 2008, with the help of the parents, Fred, Pilar, the director of Amantani Peru and Rocio, a local teacher, founded the 1st boarding house for 22 girls.
When he got back to England, he registered Amantani UK as an official charity and has been leading us ever since. He went on to complete a course at the prestigious School for Social Entrepreneurs where he learnt a huge amount about social enterprise. He is now doing a course on the Waldorf-Steiner approach to education, where he hopes to learn alternative educational practices to take to Peru.
Chris Palfreyman
Co-Director
After
graduating from Oxford Brookes University with a degree in Sports
Coaching Studies, Chris followed his passion for fundraising challenges.
This led him to freelancing himself on a variety of charity challenges,
including London to Paris cycles, London to Geneva cycles and mass
participation triathlons, thus giving him experience in organising and
delivering various charity and sporting events. Chris initially
volunteered on several events for Amantani. As he has got more involved
with the charity his passion for Amantani has grown. Since then, Chris
has joined the team and now organises and delivers our fundraising
events.
In February 2011, Chris got the chance to visit the projects in Peru,
"Meeting the children for the first time truly stands out as one of the
best moments in my life! Seeing how full of life they all are really
puts into perspective my view on life. It motivates me a phenomenal
amount to make sure we succeed in the UK - now I realize what the
support from all our supporters really means in Peru."
Mike Branson
Trustee
An early ambition to be an interpreter led Mike to study modern
languages at Bradford University but this translated to a different
language of communication, advertising and brand design. In 1992 he
founded award winning design consultancy Pearlfisher and Mike now runs
their US studio in New York. Combining strategy, marketing and business
expertise, Mike brings his cool, calm sense, insight and knowledge to
the board.
Mike’s biggest passion is sport - following, attending and participating in it. However, his own physical activity has become more refined as the years have passed, with long-distance running giving way (before his knees did) to cycling and horse riding. But he also values the
importance of stillness - something that his regular yoga helps him
explore.
Mike first visited Cusco in 2007 to see first hand Amantani’s
inspiring work. Since becoming a trustee last year, he has sought to
translate the experience he has gained from building a creative design business to
supporting the creation of new educational opportunities for the children of Ccorca. He is excited about the possibilities that Amantani can achieve - and is
both delighted and humbled to be learning so much from his son Fred.
Martin Morales
Trustee
Martin was born in Lima, Peru. He was surrounded by poverty, terrorism
and felt a close affinity to the indigenous people. In 1984, Martin
moved to the UK with his British father. By the time he was 23
he had a radio show on the BBC. 6 years later, having followed his
passion for music, he was headhunted by EMI to start and run a record
label for new artists. Next up was iTunes – he was the fifth member to
join the launch team for iTunes Europe. And then two years later, he was
again headhunted, this time by Disney where he spent two years heading
up the Disney Music Group in Europe, Middle East and Africa.
In
June 2010, he decided to begin a new project; a Peruvian restaurant here in the UK. This is also Martin’s principal
method for helping to raise funds as he will invite diners to buy a meal
for the children in our projects. 'Ceviche' is now open, the food is delicious and we’re right behind him - every lime of the way! http://cevicheuk.com/
"I met Fred
at a Peruvian event some time ago and was very impressed by him and
Amantani. I was impressed by the fact that these guys are so committed
to Amantani. As a
Peruvian it is incredibly exciting for me to work with them, advise,
help and assist them in any way I can and grow our efforts in Peru
through Amantani."
Robert Lankester
Trustee
Robert became involved with Amantani via his son, Luke, and then adopted the charity for Maidwell Hall as their ‘Charity of the Year’ in 2010 with unbelievable results! He is passionate about education in its broadest sense and giving children and young adults the opportunity to make the most of their talents. He loves the outdoors and the thrill of taking on new challenges.
Sarah Leake
Trustee
Sarah’s passions in life are spending time with family and friends, especially around the table, having cooked up something yummy. She is also a trustee of her local village hall where she realised the importance of having enthusiastic volunteers with varying skills to
make things happen and take things forward.
“I got involved with Amantani having watched Fred, Luke, Chris and son Christian, all school friends, making their bike ride from Lands End to John o’ Groats. To be just a little part of that great journey made me very proud of their efforts and gave me a keenness to be involved in this project and their future work. You should see them, they are quite a team, and their passion for Amantani is infectious!”
Luke Lankester
Trustee
Luke studied philosophy and history at Exeter University. He is a born teacher with a real passion for education. His aptitude for philosophical reflection is a much-employed tool in the development of Amantani UK’s ideals and objectives.
Luke’s support of Amantani UK predates the charity’s very name! However it was upon experiencing first hand the profound connection between Fred and the beautiful children of Ccorca that his passion for the cause was truly ignited.
As another challenge enthusiast, Luke too has supported Amantani UK on a number of fund raising events. Land’s End to John O’Groats, The Three Peaks Challenge, swimming Windermere and cycling the Norfolk coast…
In his own words, ‘there will undoubtedly be more to come!’
Christian Leake
Trustee
Christian first got the chance to visit the Amantani Project with Fred and Luke over the Christmas of 2009. He is currently in the final stages of editing a documentary about the issues in Ccorca. The ability to see the project first hand and understand what was involved meant that he was delighted to accept the invitation to become a trustee 6 months later. Since that first visit he has been back to Cuzco to learn Spanish and follow the projects’ progress.
He has cycled with the Amantani Team from Lands end to John O Groats and is looking forward to many fun future events with all the wonderful people that support the charity.
Christian is currently working as a Production Designer for various film projects. Visit his site christianleake.com
Jonathan Palfreyman
Financial Advisor
Officially our Financial Advisor, but in reality much more! Jonathan qualified as an FCA in 1975, and subsequently worked as an Audit Manager for one of the ‘big 5’ in Paris. He has extensive experience of running companies in the retail and manufacturing sectors, and is currently FD of 2 start-up companies, and has just retired from being Chair of Governors of a local school. He enjoys skiing, cycling and hiking, and is an avid Leicester Tigers and England cricket supporter. He helps keep an eagle eye on the Amantani accounts.
