About - Our History

Where did we come from?

The Lucca Leadership Trust was founded in January, 2002 in response to the growing need in the world for more effective leadership. The Trust's aim was to develop a new generation of young leaders, who could bring about lasting transformational change. The Trust was conceived by David Boddy, drawing on his unique experience of politics, philosophy and professional leadership training. He was joined by Tim Munden, now a Human Resources Director in Unilever’s Personal Care division and Philip Forrester who shared these ideals and became co-founding Trustees.

Right from the start, the Trustees believed that the organisation should be run by young people, for young people. Accordingly, Tim Boddy (David's son) and Naomi Wright were invited to become founding Trustees and build an 'Executive' team to run the Trust. The Trust was also very fortunate in the generosity of its founding Patrons, Alan and Valerie Marshall, who made the wonderful facilities of the Villa Boccella (near Lucca, Italy) available for the Trust's events at minimal cost. It is from the villa near Lucca that the Trust took its name.

By early 2003 the Trust was registered as a UK charity, and the Trust's first leadership courses took place. Since then, the Trust has trained over 250 young people from 17 different countries and from all walks of life in transformational leadership skills. Several participants from Australia, Ireland, South Africa and the USA were inspired by the programme to start up independent but affiliated Lucca Leadership charities in their own countries. And by the end of 2005, the Trust had run its first events in Ireland and Australia. Operations in South Africa and the USA are getting underway, with the first events expected in 2006/7.

The Trust is a voluntary organisation with no particular religious or political affiliation. None of the Trustees receive payment for their efforts, and the Trust only pays one employee, who administers the courses. In total, nearly 100 people around the world are now active volunteers for the Trust, many of whom joined the team as a result of their experience on our programmes.

To learn more about the Trust's operations to date, please click on this link to our Finance page and review our annual reports.