eagles wings — the team

Bruce Oliver

For the last 30 years Bruce has been working in the chemicals and plastics industry travelling widely in this country and abroad. In 2004 he finished his 20 years service as Sales Director of Pan Polymers Ltd of Watford to found the Eagles Wings charity.

Together with his wife Sharon, Bruce has travelled widely in Africa, Asia, North and South America, Russia and Europe over the last 11 years and it was on these trips that he saw many children and families in desperate need.

Encouraged by some customers , suppliers and friends Bruce decided to turn the work that he was doing at a personal level and in his own time on holiday into a registered charity that would increase its effectiveness and the resources available.

Often he will travel with small teams to help children, families and the poor and needy in nations like Kenya, Uganda, Siberia and India and it is in these places that he has set up projects with friends and partners to initially focus the activities of the Eagles Wings charity.

Bruce displays an enthusiasm and passion to develop the work in other nations but insists that each project must be managed with proper controls and financial integrity both here in England and in the field.

Archie Gilmour

Archie Gilmour, Company Secretary of Eagles Wings was the technical and tax partner of a major Chartered Accountancy practice in Birmingham until he retired in 2002 after forty years service. He had responsibility for their charities and most of their larger property based clients. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1969 and became a partner in 1975. He is Fellow of the Institute of the Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

He is also a trustee of a Birmingham charity working with the homeless and disadvantaged, a committee member of a housing association and a trustee of three unconnected grant-making charities.

Archie and his wife, Janet, are the prime movers behind a residential development of five hundred new homes that includes a park, church and recreation centre and for many years have been actively involved in youth and church work in their home area of Sutton Coalfield.

Frank Ferrett

Frank is a Professional Electrical Engineer living in St Albans, and has for many years had an active interest in the provision of help and support for those in difficulty.

This showed itself initially in taking groups to Romania to work at a small hospital for 50 sick young children who were in great danger of being abandoned because of desperate poverty. Teams of up to 40 people were involved in various activities both directly for the children’s care and the care of the building. This was in a very poor state, and over the last 10 years these teams have transformed it so that infection and sickness has been dramatically reduced.

More recently he has taken responsibility for an orphanage project in Malawi where a village is being built to accommodate 120 or so children who are the real victims of the AIDS epidemic in Africa.

He has also very recently travelled to Sri Lankan to asses the situation after the Tsunami disaster for taking teams out.

He brings to Eagles Wings both practical and managerial experience of operating mercy projects in remote locations with local people and will be able to ensure that we wisely invest in situations and people.

He is married with 3 grown up children and his wife Suzanne is a part time lecturer in Mathematics at Hatfield University.

In addition Jude has spent the last 18 months setting up and developing a new charity in Watford known as the Watford Town Centre Chaplaincy. Watford Town Centre Chaplaincy is a charitable organisation based in the heart of Watford Town, cover the Business sector, Harlequin centre, Civic centre & the entertainment area of Watford. It’s aim is to serve the heart of our worker and community.

Jude is also a director of her own Life Coaching & training company & brings her expertise to the business world in the area of personal development and coaching.

‘My first visit to Kenya with Eagles Wings was in November 2004, the impact of this visit has changed my life. Taking food and supplies around the slumb villages in Elburgon made me realise how different our worlds are. Looking into the faces of both young & old told the same story, one of need for food, medical support, education and for a lot of the young ones a home & a family. It was an amazing feeling to meet the 39 girls who will be living in the first orphanage built by Eagles Wings, also knowing that we a impacting lives through our work at Eagles Wings.