We are delighted to announce that Lucy will be taking over as group leader for Slow Food Wiltshire & Berkshire. The below article is from Slow Food UK and their January Newsletter welcoming Lucy to the team. 

"Please join us in a warm welcome to our new Group Leader, Lucy Handley.  Since Clare Marriage stepped down after a number of years in the role, we have been seeking a new volunteer who could bring a fresh enthusiasm to the group and here she is!

Already a busy lady, Lucy will be our representative going forward, working with the Slow Food UK HQ team.   “I am delighted to be taking up the helm at Slow Food Berkshire & Wiltshire and help in supporting the Slow Food movement and local small food businesses provide good, clean food for all” says Lucy.

Along with husband Jon, Lucy is the co-founder of Berkshire Trout, a small artisan food producer of fresh and smoked trout products based in Hungerford, Berkshire. The Handleys took over Berkshire Trout Farm in Hungerford, on 1st September 2020 which Jon runs with a small dedicated team. The farm is mainly a restocking farm, so most of its produce replenishes rivers and lakes with beautiful rainbow and brown trout, which are all grown in as close to a natural habitat as possible. 

Berkshire Trout was launched in December 2021 and has grown a bit since including an online shop offering free local delivery. Berkshire Trout also pop up regularly at local markets and sell trout to some of the best restaurants in the area.

All the trout are grown at the farm which is extensive, sustainable,  low stocked and fed by the clear flowing waters of the river Dun. The trout are given as much space as they need to develop and grow as they would do in the wild which provides the trout with an enhanced and delightful flavour. The farm was established over 100 years ago in 1907 and today it boasts over 60 ponds covering 19 acres. The topographical position of the Farm is unique because it is fed by a river whose chalk spring source is only seven miles away. Two pure spring brooks also feed the supply.

Before founding Berkshire Trout, Lucy spent 10 years at British Telecom where she led on a number of communication initiatives in central and mainland Europe including international marketing and PR for a member-based forum for global mobile operators, vendors, service providers and government agencies with the objective to share best practice throughout the wireless industry in preparation for third generation mobile services.

Lucy left BT in 2002 to devote her energies to developing her own marketing and research company, Department 83, which she still runs alongside Berkshire Trout.

From 2011 to 2017 The Handleys also ran a successful pop-up restaurant in and around Wiltshire (and once in France!) called Jackamole where they served only locally sourced produce."

Credit: Slow Food UK Newsletter, January 2023