Director
Bee Gilbert
Bee is a photographer, specializing in portraits, but she has also had many years experience in film stills, theatre front-of-house and reportage. She has worked as a script reader, film researcher and writer, and produced The Cement Garden, the award-winning film based on Ian McEwan's novel. After the death of her son Anno, Bee set up the charity in partnership with his father Andrew Birkin and has been running it since its inception in 2006. Bee is the director of ANNO'S AFRICA, responsible for policy, the practical running of the workshops in Kenya, and for fund-raising events in the UK.
Trustees
Andrew Birkin
Andrew is a feature film and television screenwriter and director. His many credits include The Final Conflict, The Name of the Rose, Joan of Arc, Perfume, and The Lost Boys television trilogy for the BBC about the author J M Barrie, which won him the Royal Television Society's Writer's Award. He wrote and directed the film adaptation of Ian McEwan's novel The Cement Garden, which won him Best Director at the 1993 Berlin Film Festival, and Sredni Vashtar, which won a BAFTA award and an Oscar nomination. He is also the author of J M Barrie & The Lost Boys. Andrew has five children, one of whom is Anno.
Allan Corduner
Allan Corduner is an accomplished actor, whose TV work include The Way We Live Now, Fat Friends and Whistleblowers. On film he is best remembered as Sir Arthur Sullivan in Mike Leigh's award-winning Topsy Turvy, and most recently appeared inDefiance with Daniel Craig. Another highly acclaimed collaboration with Mike Leigh was Two Thousand Years at the National Theatre. Before that, Allan had already enjoyed success with Caryl Churchill's Serious Money both in London's West End and on Broadway, and in the musical Titanic, again on Broadway. He has just finished playing Alfieri in a hit West End run of Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge. Allan is also a very skilful pianist, and, as his roles in Topsy Turvy and Titanic testify, music is very close to his heart; just as much as storytelling through plays and poetry, he believes music can be a great healer and a powerful tool with which to educate young people.
Sarah Hamilton
Sarah is a London based artist and designer whose passion for Africa flows from time spent living there during her childhood. This is evident across the diverse range of her artwork, from rich warm colours to nature inspired imagery. Her design for the Anno’s Africa logo combines this and the ambition is the colourful red acacia tree logo is instantly recognised as a symbol of optimism and creativity reflected in the Anno’s Africa ethos. Sarah’s journey into the wonderful world of social media began when, five years ago, the teenage daughters of friends set up a twitter account for her for fun at a New Year’s Eve party. She soon recognised its extraordinary potential and now delights in her unofficial title as ‘Head of Social Media’ at Anno’s Africa.
Hayley Mills
Hayley began her acting career at the age of 12 & became one of the world's biggest movie stars. She was awarded an honorary Academy Award for her performance in Pollyanna, before going on to make six movies for Walt Disney, including family classic The Parent Trap. There followed a career in theatre, starting with Peter Pan and going on to such classics as The Importance of Being Ernest &The Three Sisters. Hayley is the daughter of screen legend John Mills, with whom she acted in numerous films including her screen debut Tiger Bay. In 1963 she starred as Kathy in Whistle Down the Wind, based on the novel by her mother, Mary Hayley Bell. Hayley has a special connection to Kenya after filming the TV series Flame Trees of Thika there in 1980 and more recently the ITV family drama Wild at Heart.
Anna Nygh L.I.S.T.D.
Anna was born in Holland and grew up in Sydney, Australia. She began ballet at the age of five and subsequently became a ballet teacher when she received her Associate Teachers Qualification. In 1971, she came to London and worked for Vaccani School of Ballet, where she completed her final qualification, receiving a Licentiate of the Institute of Teachers of Dancing. In 1973, Anna became an actress, enjoying a thirty-eight year career in theatre, film and television. More recently, she completed a three-year course to become a Shiatsu practitioner and has studied the anatomy of movement intensively. In 2006 Anna joined the very first arts programme for Anno’s Africa, teaching RAD ballet in the slums of Nairobi and has headed the dance programme ever since
Owen Lewis
Owen is a freelance theatre and comedy director. His show Eric and Little Ern, about Morecambe & Wise, was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Entertainment in 2014. The show played at the Vaudeville and St James theatres in London’s West End and toured nationally. His Downton Abbey satire The Only Way Is Downton, starring the insanely talented Luke Kempner, played at the Trafalgar Studios and Ambassadors Theatre in the West End and toured extensively across Britain. It has recently finished a US tour under the name America’s Got Downton. Other recent work includes Grumpy Old Women – 50 Shades of Beige (national tour); Suggs: My Life In Words And Music (Garrick Theatre, London & national tour); This Is Ceilidh (Assembly Spiegeltent, Edinburgh); Joe Stilgoe: Songs On Film (Assembly, Edinburgh); and the musical comedy Harri Parris: The Big Day (Chapter, Cardiff & Welsh tour). Owen has also just finished recording the Harri Parris as a radio sitcom for BBC Wales.
Susy Chandler
Susy is a marketing, events and public relations specialist, working in the financial services. In her role in the city she organises major events, handles media relations and manages external communications. Susy has a degree in English Literature and French with a particular focus on women’s literature. Since her studies she has pursued her interest in women’s rights, both in her personal life and at work, where she helped to form the women’s network. Susy first became involved with Anno’s Africa in 2017 when working at a dance floor manufacturers in Kent, she arranged a donation from the company of a new floor for the Arts Centre being built in Kibera. She has continued to fundraise for the charity most notably with a stunt in 2018 that involved her listening to Toto’s Africa on repeat for 9.5 hours dressed as a giraffe which raised £3,000! She has subsequently visited the charity in Nairobi and joined the Trustee board on her return. Susy has recently completed a course in social enterprise with the University of Oxford and has a drive to find sustainable ways of eliminating poverty and improving gender equality in developing countries.
Lia Craig
Lia has a background in education administration and pre-school teaching. She is currently working as a fabric artist and in promotions. Apart from her role as a trustee she is participating in the Anno's Africa Art and design programme in Malawi.