Emma Riordan-Williams

Emma is a chartered accountant working as an Assistant Manager in the audit department at KPMG in Bristol. She loves her job but in her spare time puts in a lot of effort to proving the exception to the accountant stereotype (for reference she never has and hopefully never will own a grey suit!). Outside of work Emma loves to salsa, cycles, works out (begrudgingly) at the gym, goes to as many gigs as she can fit into her already hectic life and enjoys hanging out with her Bristol Bridge buddies! Emma has taken on the role of President, in a bid to cram even more things into her busy schedule. Her Mum thinks it’s a miracle she’s involved with Bristol Bridge at all, given how useless she is at getting up in the morning!

Neil Pearce

Neil is the Sporting and Social Secretary (and a quantity surveyor) in the Bristol office of international management and construction consultants Gleeds. He likes to take time out of counting bricks to attend every social event possible, well who doesn’t – especially with a free drink upon arrival! It was at one such event that Neil first heard about Bristol Bridge.

In winning the egg and spoon race at primary school Neil’s infatuation with sport began. An infatuation that shows no sign of abating - often to the annoyance of his girlfriend and to the detriment of their “quality time”! It was also at about this time that the man’s penchant for all types of eggs began too: boiled, scrambled, poached… and his beloved rugby.

In the coming year as Senior Vice President, Neil aims to support Emma in her role as President, and learn as much as possible from her in preparation for his year in charge. This is sure to involve how to survive a ‘ROCK!’ concert, learning to sew multi-award winning fancy dress costumes, and hopefully picking-up some Rotary management skills along the way too!

Jonathan Beck

Jonathan is the club's new Junior Vice President & Communications Officer. He is a commercial lawyer at a Bristol law firm, who bizarrely loves his job! When not working, Jonathan enjoys dressing in lycra and upsetting walkers on the Bath-Bristol cycle track. He is also a keen runner and is competing in the Bristol Half Marathon again this year. He likes a soft drink or two and can often be found in local establishments bothering the opposite sex. He definitely can’t dance.

Matt Ashley

Matt Ashley was a child prodigy who was a chess grand master at the age of 4. He composed his first symphony at the age of 8 and was nominated for, although not awarded, the Nobel Prize for economics at the age of 11 for his work on the predictions of price elasticity into a vacuum caused by a credit crunch. He now pursues a holistic lifestyle spreading peace and harmony across the galaxy. Matt aims to make Machiavellian politics the governing philosophy of Britain. He is renowned for his kind and considerate nature towards his fellow humans and hopes to use his election victory to the secretaryship of the club as a springboard to greater things. He is also known for his deadpan sense of humour.

Matt was brought up just north of Bristol. As a student he attended both Bristol universities. He is a property solicitor with Osborne Clarke advising on property management issues. He is a key member of the club's drinking committee. Matt likes hill walking and watching Bath rugby club, and has little use for hair gel. Matt still manages to find the time to attend the club's breakfast meetings and keep extremely efficient minutes.

Eszter Horvath-Papp

Having grown up in Hungary and lived in Austria and now the UK, Eszter is one of the more cosmopolitan members of Bristol Bridge! She has recently qualified as a solicitor, and now specilises in making money out of the credit crunch - well someone has to! Outside work, she tries to keep fit through activities like running and rock-climbing, and she lovingly helps to look after her partner's tarantulas (and that's not a euphemism!). Her biggest achievement in life so far has been conquering Mount Kilimanjaro – not that she takes every opportunity to brag about it. Eszter got talked into taking on the role of the Treasurer on the basis that "it would not be that much work". It shows her level of gullibility that she believed this.

Claire West

Born in Kent, Claire heeded the “Go West” siren call and now lives in Clevedon. Claire studied at the University of the West of England and hated the commute each day. She has now matured and commutes daily to Lindleys Solicitors in the city centre! Claire is that exciting animal - a residential conveyancing solicitor, but don’t let that put you off! She enjoys her job (most of the time) as her clients seem to like her when she helps them move house.

Outside work, Claire likes to see friends, go to the cinema and watch formula one (some have likened her driving to bad F1, but she no longer to speaks to these people!). She likes to eat healthily but does enjoy the odd chocolate bar (or three) and keeps fit by traipsing up and down Park Street each day and going for walks around Clevedon. You will never catch Claire in a gym! Claire also runs a Brownie unit in Nailsea as she gets the odd trip to a theme park out of it, and it allows her to make all the arts and crafts toot she could possibly want and have a valid excuse for doing so. So beware Rotary Craft Fairs!

Angela Williams

Angela has returned to her home town of Bristol after studying and working in Nottingham and qualifying as a Biomedical Scientist.

In her spare time Angela loves listening to music and can frequently be found at the Academy/ Thekla/ Cori Tap catching some live music. She is an avid F1 fan, cheering the Brits on (unlike Miss West!) and few things come between her and a Grand Prix! Angela has recently started running and completed the Bristol 10k earlier in the year. She is now well into her training regime for the Bristol half marathon in September!

Travelling is also one of Angela’s passions and she is very excited to be going to Kenya and Tanzania in September! She will be climbing Mt Kilimanjaro whilst she is there and will be sure to ask Eszter for any advice!

Angela is currently learning Spanish in the hope that when she eventually gets to travel around South America she will be able to communicate with the locals!

Chris "Foxy" Hunt

Chris is the newest member on the committee; what better person to welcome new members to our club and help out with all those teething-trouble questions than someone who has not long been through the process themselves. Born in Oxfordshire but having spent most of his life in the Bristol area, Chris studied Civil Engineering but decided a career in Finance was a far more prosperous proposition - clearly the crystal ball had cracked that day).

He is an Independent Finanicial Adviser with a local specialist practice by day and by night fulfils the role of club mascot and has, for reasons known only to Matt Ashley, has been dubbed Foxy, a nick-name which has stuck fast within the club.

Chris enjoys socialising, keeping fit, practicing Tae Kwon Do and using his chainsaw on unsuspecting trees to feed the log-burner. Foxy-Drinks and Foxy-Film-Night make a regular appearance on the BBRC social calendar and all members old & new are encouraged to join in the fray.

© Bristol Bridge Rotary Club 2008 - 2010