Trustees
Fr Wulstan Peterburs OSB is Chair of the Ampleforth Abbey Trust. Fr Wulstan qualified as a Chartered Accountant and then taught Christian Theology in Ampleforth College before becoming a monk in 1998. He continued to work in the school and was then appointed Procurator in 2010, before becoming Headmaster of Ampleforth College 2016-2018. He was appointed Monastery Bursar in September 2019.
Fr Robert Igo OSB was born and educated in Manchester and worked at Manchester Royal Infirmary as a Student Nurse for three years in the 1970s. He was ordained priest in the Anglican Church in 1979 and served in parishes in Oldham, Sunderland and Hartlepool. He was received into the Catholic Church in 1987 and joined the monastic community at Ampleforth in August 1988. He was ordained a Catholic priest on 27 June 1993 and three years later was sent out as founding Prior of a new monastic foundation in Zimbabwe in 1996, the Monastery of Christ the Word in Macheke. He served initially as Prior from 1996-2000, then stepped aside to concentrate on retreat work and in 2005 he was appointed Prior again. On 5 January 2021 he was elected Abbot of Ampleforth. Over the years he has also worked in Systemic and Clinical Therapy.
Fr Bede Leach OSB was a quantity surveyor for a number of years before joining the monastic community in 1980. He taught briefly in the school and in 1989 became Assistant Procurator (Estate) and then Procurator from 1993-1997. Fr Bede has worked on a number of parishes and in the Hospitality team and continues to give a number of retreats each year.
Fr Cedd Mannion OSB studied at the University of York and University College London. He joined the monastic community at Ampleforth in 2007, and taught Chemistry in the school from 2009-2011. Fr Cedd studied theology at St Benet’s Hall in the University of Oxford and was ordained priest in June 2014. From 2013-2019 he again taught Chemistry in the school and has also been a House Chaplain. In recent years he has been a Safeguarding Lead for the Abbey Trust.
Fr Kieran Monahan OSB joined the monastic community in 1997 and is currently Master of Ceremonies and Co-ordinator of Hospitality. He is also a member of the Abbot's Council.
Fr Oswald McBride OSB has undertaken a number of roles since he joined the community at Ampleforth Abbey in 1991, including a teaching role in Ampleforth College, where he was also a Housemaster. From 2012 - 2022 he was Prior and Chaplain at St Benet's Hall, Oxford. Fr Oswald is the spiritual adviser to the Ampleforth Lourdes Pilgrimage.
Joanna Taylor-Smith is the London-based Partner and Chief Financial Officer for the independent business consultancy Malcolm Hollis. Prior to her appointment to that post in 2018, Joanna had over 20 years’ experience managing companies’ finances on an international scale. She has worked with a number of organisations including McCann Worldgroup, MHP Communications and Porter Novelli.
Nick Barran worked in the investment business for more than thirty years and has been a member of the Ampleforth Abbey Trust Investment Committee since September 2010 and Chair of that Committee since June 2019.
