23/07/2010

Dame Janet Trotter has been appointed to the position of Lord-Lieutenant of Gloucestershire, a position she will take up in October on the retirement of the current incumbent, Sir Henry Elwes.

The role of the Lord-Lieutenant is to be the representative of Her Majesty the Queen in Gloucestershire. This includes promoting a spirit of co-operation by encouraging voluntary service and taking an interest in the business, industrial and social life of the county and voluntary activity within it.

Dame Janet said: “I am thrilled and honoured by this appointment. I have served the people of Gloucestershire for some twenty years now and have come to love the county and to value both the businesses and the enormous variety of organisations which do so much to promote the common good.

“Sir Henry Elwes will be a hard act to follow, he has been both committed and dedicated in carrying out the duties of the Lord Lieutenant. I have an excellent role model to follow and will do my very best to serve Gloucestershire as together we face new and different challenges.”

Background Information

Dame Janet Trotter has a background in education.

On leaving college she taught for eight years in a variety of schools in Kent prior to taking up a lecturing post at King Alfred’s College in Winchester.

Following a period as Vice Principal of St Martins College Lancaster she became the Principal of St Paul and St Mary’s College in Cheltenham. Following merger and the granting of taught and research degree awarding powers she led the college to University status in 2001 and retired in 2006.

Dame Janet has also had a long interest in health which originated when she worked as a nursing orderly during a gap year.

In 1991 she became a Non-Executive Director of the Gloucestershire Health Authority and since 2002 has been chair of Gloucestershire Hospitals Trust which became a Foundation Trust in 2004.

Dame Janet lives in Cheltenham and is involved with a number of local organisations. She is Chair of Winston’s Wish, a charity for bereaved children and is a member of the Chapter and Council of Gloucester Cathedral. She also chairs the Foundation for Church Leadership.

Janet was awarded an OBE in 1991 and a DBE in 2001 for services to higher education.