ABOUT US
The Tortoise Club is a non profit organisation with headquarters in Norfolk, UK. The clubs aim is to engage with the public to promote tortoise welfare and conservation. They do this by offering support and advice, as well as tortoise rehoming, with our friendly, dedicated & knowledgeable team. Many of our team have years of experience in tortoise care & welfare work. The group has been established for over 20 years, with a significant local and online following. We actively encourage tortoise welfare and conservation through a wide variety of projects, including talks, educational events & volunteering opportunities.
Our aims
Promote tortoise welfare in captivity.
Bring together tortoise keepers, enthusiasts and community members of all experience levels.
Present clear, accurate, consistent and up-to-date tortoise keeping information.
Engage with the community in a friendly, inclusive, constructive and non-judgmental way.
Provide opportunities for sharing knowledge and experience of tortoise keeping and conservation.
Provide education and support in the community linked to conservation and environmental responsibility.
Remain at the forefront of latest advances in tortoise care.
Utilise wider community and networks to keep abreast of current laws and advances, including CITES status’ relating to tortoise conservation and welfare.
It all started…
In June 2002 by Mr. Leonard Coe, a life-long keeper of tortoises.
Len had a particular interest in Mediterranean tortoises, especially Testudo ibera, the Turkish spur thighed tortoise, and Testudo hermanni boettgeri, the Eastern hermanns tortoise. Both species he maintained well, and bred from for many years until he passed away.
During his years keeping tortoises Len met and helped many people provide the best possible care for their animals. He was very concerned at the poor information regularly encountered by tortoise pet owners. He came to the conclusion that a Club which regularly met and shared information, would be an ideal way to help with accuracy & consistency around tortoise keeping in captivity, and promote tortoise welfare to its Members.
Months of planning saw the first meeting arranged with just five members, all of whom kept quite large collections of animals.
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Today, Norfolk Tortoise Club has grown into a large regional Club, with many active Members and over 3000 Facebook followers from across East Anglia and beyond. The Club has maintained a friendly, inclusive & open culture with an ever expanding following. Our events and volunteering opportunities are enjoyed by tortoise enthusiasts of all experience levels & are a great way to share knowledge, methods & modern husbandry techniques.
Our Members & followers are guardians of many species of tortoises in captivity, including the huge variety of mediterranean species’, along with desert & tropical species’, such as giant sulcatas, red footed, yellow footed, leopards, hingebacks, burmese browns and more...
Our Committee
Our 2023/24 AGM on 18th October 2023 saw the following elected as the Norfolk Tortoise Club management committee:
TREASURER: Jackie Foulger
Hi, I’m Jackie and I’d like to stand for the Norfolk tortoise club committee again this year as Treasurer. This would be my fourth year on the committee. this last year, I've filled out the role of secretary, lots of admin, and helping with the accounts side of the club. I’ve been an active member of the club from June 2019, first volunteering at the Norfolk show. I’m keen to continue to support the NTC, working with owners to provide the best husbandry for all tortoises and supporting tortoise welfare in the UK.
CHAIR: Sophie Denhan
I have worked for a number of animal charities over the years and I am very passionate about animal welfare, with most of my experience being in animal rescue with reptiles and birds. I have been involved with the charity since 2015, caring for the tortoises, helping with re-homing and with the charity’s events. I want to continue to support the organisation and join the committee as the Norfolk Tortoise Club is a very special charity to me and I am keen to continue helping others learn more about tortoise welfare.
SECRETARY: Eleanor Chubb
Eleanor has been volunteering with the club since it was formed in 2002. She has been instrumental in the management and development of the charity. Eleanor offers a huge amount of support behind the scenes co-ordinating HQ, running training workshops and running her YouTubes channel ‘Tortoise Matters’. She is very experienced with tortoises in all aspects and regularly lectures internationally on Chelonia welfare and conservation to veterinary, trade, zoo and enthusiast sector.
General Member: Koren Weyand
I have been volunteering at the tortoise headquarters since 2018 and now would like to apply to be a general member on the committee. Since I started volunteering for the Club, I have learnt so much and it has fuelled my love and passion for the chelonian species and their welfare. I am a trained veterinary nurse which has led to me developing many skills alongside my medical knowledge such as, communication, I currently oversee nurse clinics for the practice I work for, this means that spend a lot of time educating and giving professional advice to clients about their pets, teamwork, working well under pressure – I actually probably work better! I also completed a business NVQ as this a big aspect of veterinary medicine. I am hoping for my skills, innovative thinking and keen interest in chelonian welfare and education would be beneficial to the club.
General member: Lindsey
Hello, I’m Lindsey. I would like to stand as a General Member for the Norfolk Tortoise Club Committee. I have been volunteering at the club for a few years now, I think since about 2017. I started coming along as a volunteer at weekends with my daughter when we rehomed our first Tortoise, (I now have 4)! I have since then helped out at events and I now spend a lot of time at HQ alongside Eleanor, Sophie, AJ and Jackie. This year I have been helping out with rehoming as well which has been very rewarding, I may have met some of you if you are new rehomers :)
General member: AJ O’Connor (HQ Team Leader)
AJ has been working with the club for over 10 years and there is very little she doesn’t know about the charity. She has recently successfully completed her bachelor’s degree in animal science and welfare and the club is lucky to have AJ on staff as a senior keeper at HQ. She can often be found helping with the rehab patients and team leading the volunteer groups.
General member: Gary White
A committed & active volunteer, as well as a loyal committee member for several years now, Gary has a massive interest in animals of all kinds, with vast knowledge & experience across many species ranging from Primates to Fish. His main passion though is Chelonia, and he currently keeps mainly tropical species like Red and Yellow foot, but also hermanni and horsfield, plus various turtles & terrapins, along with some Asian species’.
General member: Bill Rhodes
Like many others I became aware of the Club through the stand at the Norfolk Show, and my wife Sue and I decided to rehome a tortoise there and then. We are now on our second rehomer, and have been giving the club practical support by weeding and landscaping the enclosures at the base. I still have a lot to learn about tortoises, but I would like to give more support by joining the committee. I have 30 years worth of experience in charity management, and have just stood down as Chairman of the Friends of Gressenhall, so I hope that some of this experience will be of benefit to the Norfolk Tortoise Club. It would be my second year on the committee.
General member: Ray Morter
Ray has been supporting the Club for five years now, regularly helping out at events, and regularly a great support at HQ, taking on manual labour, lifting & shifting - really invaluable work for us. Ray loves the friendly nature of the Club & meeting so many people & their tortoises. He’s a keen photographer & will often be seen at events with his camera poised for some great tortoise shots!
General member: Danielle Broom
I become involved with Norfolk tortoise club rehoming to Herman girls from the centre. After speaking to the team and seeing all the amazing work carried out at the club, I decided to volunteer with helping out at the centre to learn more and haven't looked back. This will be my second year standing for the committee and my knowledge and enthusiasm has grown so much whilst spending time caring for the tortoises and meeting all the great people involved. I have a passion for animals and love to see the tortoises go to their forever homes. I have spent this year focusing on husbandry, feeding the tortoises and spending time checking their general health. I have been a part of volunteering at the summer and hibernation event. I have also add to my group by adopting two more tortoises.
Staff (Non-voting member)
Administrator: Bridie Duchesne
I have been involved with the club since 2018 after attending an Open Day with my two Hermann’s tortoises that I’ve had for more than 10 years now. I am animal mad and also rescue guinea pigs. It has been a long journey learning about tortoise husbandry, but the club’s advice along the way has been invaluable and I hope that I can help more tortoise owners through my involvement. Now based in Scotland, I continue to help remotely with the behind the scenes IT stuff, including managing membership, digital records, creating newsletters and social media posts, and updating our website :)
Staff (Non-voting member)
Advisor: Kayleigh Maguire
Kayleigh has been involved with the club for nearly 10 years and has stood on committee as a Trustee and previous Chair. After moving to Cambridgeshire Kayleigh has run a number of partnership tortoise events in Ely, and continues to support and help the club remotely.
Staff (Non-voting member)
Advisor: Sarah Lutkin
Sarah became involved with the Club in 2017 and continues to be a committed volunteer after stepping down to allow room for more new committee members. Sarah’s tortoise family has grown considerably in a couple of years, now caring for multiple hermanni, and most recently taking on a much longed for sulcata. Sarah is passionate about promoting the welfare of tortoises in captivity, as well as raising awareness of the challenge’s tortoises are facing in their native countries.
Committee meetings shall be open to any paid Club member who wishes to attend, however they may not speak unless agreed by the Chair, or interfere, & will not take part in any vote undertaken at the meeting.
Should you wish to attend this, or any future meeting (dates yet to be confirmed), please contact the Club Chair.
Election of Committee Members
Club members are eligible to stand for election, to one of the designated officers or general committee member posts. They will serve for a period of one year, but may be re-elected at the following AGM. Any proposal must be supported by a current member of the Club management committee. Should you be interested in standing for committee in the future, please contact the Club Chair with your proposal.