Simone Lowthe-Thomas appointed as Chair of the Welsh Funding Committee for the National Lottery Community Fund
The Secretary of State has appointed Simone Lowthe-Thomas as Chair of the Wales Funding Committee for the National Lottery Community Fund for a term of four years from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2025.
Simone is Chief Executive Officer of Severn Wye Energy Agency, a not-for-profit charity working in Wales and the Welsh Border counties on all aspects of sustainable energy including energy efficiency, renewable energy, climate change, affordable warmth and sustainable communities. Having lived most of her life in mid-Wales, Simone’s background is in ecology, environment and community energy, her passion is working in partnership with communities to tackle issues such as poverty, inequality and environmental degradation through community led-solutions and sustainable use of our natural resources.
During her 11 years at Severn Wye, Simone has led their work on Community Development, Community Energy and was Director for Wales. Before joining Severn Wye, Simone completed her PhD at Cardiff University on Biomass and Energy Crops followed by 10 years as a Research Associate working on upland land use and diversification in rural Wales. Simone is vice-president for Energy Efficiency & Fuel Poverty of the European Federation of Energy Agencies (Fedarene) and was a founding board member of Community Energy Wales. She has held several voluntary and trustee roles, including being chair of governors at a bilingual primary school and in her spare time Simone has been a STEM ambassador for over 25 years.
The role is remunerated at £24,000 per annum. This appointment has been made in accordance with the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments. The appointments process is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. Under the Code, any significant political activity undertaken by an appointee in the last five years must be declared. This is defined as including holding office, public speaking, making a recordable donation, or candidature for election. Simone has declared no such political activity.