Willie Hartley Russell Esq. MVO DL

Wille Hartley Russell is Patron of the Berkshire County Cricket Club and is Vice President of the Berkshire Community Foundation. He also serves on the Court of the University of Reading and is a Trustee of the Berkshire Historic Churches Trust.

He is Chairman of the National Almshouse Association which supports and represents 1700 independent almshouse charities throughout the United Kingdom.

Willie is a Director of CCLA, the UK’s largest charity investment manager based in the City of London, where he specialises in portfolio management for charities. He has previously served on the Boards of the M&G Charities Multi Asset Investment Fund and on the Board of Community First, the investment vehicle for UK Community Foundations.

Willie is also Chairman of the Catholic Church Insurance Association, the leading insurance provider for Catholic dioceses and orders in England, Wales and Scotland, insuring £20 billion of property assets.

He is Chairman of the Hartley Trust, a family charitable trust, providing over 70 almshouses for retired people in Berkshire and Oxfordshire. The Hartley Trust (formerly Donnington Hospital) was founded in 1393 and is Berkshire’s oldest charity. Willie is also Patron of the Thatcham Old Bluecoat Charity and a Vice Patron of Wycombe Youth Action.

He was appointed a Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO) in The Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2011. He is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Pattenmakers and a Freeman of the City of London. He has a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Oxford Brookes University and is an Associate of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (ACSI).

Willie has lived in Berkshire all his life and owns the Bucklebury Estate which has been in his family since 1540. He lives at Bucklebury and has three sons.

Willie served as High Sheriff of the Royal County of Berkshire 2021/2022.