NEW Deputy Lieutenants have been appointed in North Yorkshire – including the wife of the Archbishop of York.
The Lord Lieutenant of North Yorkshire, Jo Ropner, has announced four new appointments to act alongside her and help develop close links with the community.
Among the four new Deputy Lieutenants are Rebecca Cottrell, the wife of the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, and Shafquat “Tom” Ali, who served for more than 30 years as a detective with the Metropolitan Police and the National Crime Squad.
Jan Garrill, the chief executive of the Two Ridings Community Foundation, and Dr Bill Scott OBE, the chief executive of the Wilton Universal Group, which is a successful Middlesbrough-based engineering company, have also been appointed.
Mrs Ropner, who has been the monarch’s representative for North Yorkshire since 2018, said: “The new Deputy Lieutenants bring a great deal of experience and expertise and will play a vital role in helping build even closer links with the community.
“They provide a breadth of knowledge that will prove to be invaluable in aiding the work of the Lord Lieutenant’s office, and it is a privilege to announce their appointments.”
Mrs Cottrell, who was born in Harrogate and grew up in Leigh-on-Sea in Essex, trained as a potter more than 40 years ago and has been making and selling pots and teaching ceramics ever since.
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She has also worked in schools supporting children with learning difficulties, and is married to the Archbishop of York, and the couple have three adult children, a grandson and a dog.
Mrs Cottrell supports her husband’s ministry across the Diocese of York and has been a member of the organising group of two Lambeth Conferences, the worldwide gatherings of Anglican bishops and their spouses, which are held every decade.
Mr Ali, who lives near Ripon, led complex investigations into serious and organised crime, corruption and homicide as well as sensitive inquiries in both the UK and abroad.
His work has taken him from investigating major crime gangs on the streets of London to hostile locations in Libya.
Deputy Lieutenants are chosen from a wide variety of backgrounds and provide specialist local knowledge to the Lord Lieutenant, assisting her in performing her duties and advising her on issues in the community to build closer links.
The number of Deputy Lieutenants is in proportion to the population of North Yorkshire, and they are drawn from different walks of life and from different parts of the county.
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There are now 38 Deputy Lieutenants across the North Yorkshire Lieutenancy’s area, who have been appointed from a wide range of society including representatives involved in academia, the military, business, the judiciary, farming and the charity and voluntary sector.
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