Meet The KBS News Team
A dedicated team of volunteers working together to bring you the latest news and events from the KBS village.
Melanie Leggett
CHAIR
Melanie Leggett is often spotted around the village accompanied by her much-loved cocker spaniel, Sadie. As Chair of the KBS News team, she keeps meetings running smoothly, ensuring everyone has the opportunity to contribute, decisions are agreed, and meetings stay on track and finish on time. Alongside leading the meetings, In addition to her role as Chair, Melanie is also a member of the proofreading team, carefully reviewing every article submitted for publication to check spelling, punctuation and clarity, helping ensure each edition is easy and enjoyable for readers to follow.
Marie Traynor
SECRETARY
Marie has lived in the village for over 27 years and has called her current home for the past 17. A keen reader and regular recipient of the village newsletter, she volunteered to become Secretary after spotting a call for help, wanting to play a part in supporting something she has always enjoyed.
Outside of the newsletter, Marie works full-time for a publishing company and enjoys walking and spending time with family and friends. One of her more adventurous achievements was completing a wing walk a few years ago – an experience she absolutely loved!
Gill Farrington
TREASURER
Gill has lived in the village for 46 years, first moving to Cherry Tree Close before settling in Laurel Drive in 1988. She became Treasurer of KBS News after being approached by Caroline to help Roy Wolfe, the previous editor, who had taken on several roles in the running of the magazine.
Outside of KBS News, Gill enjoys walking, reading and trips to the theatre. She is also an avid Oxford United fan and season ticket holder.
Gill is a registered volunteer driver and has mainly been involved in helping villagers with transport when needed, giving her time to support others within the local community.
Georgia Rice
EDITORAL & WEBSITE
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Georgia helps with the editorial team’s submissions and emails, while primarily looking after the KBS News website and monthly Facebook posts. She joined the team after returning home from university, looking for a local voluntary role that would keep her publishing and editorial interests active. A year on, she continues to enjoy being part of the team and feels very much part of the community.
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Having lived in the village for just over a year, Georgia is one of the newer members of the news. Outside of KBS, she is a big pop culture fan, with a particular love of films, television, music and books, especially fantasy and science fiction. She also once ran a blog about women in motorsport.
Stephanie Cater
EDITOR
Steph is the editor of KBS News. She volunteered after seeing a call for help, seeing it as a lovely opportunity to support the community while getting to know more people in the village.
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Outside of KBS News, Steph enjoys reading, travelling and discovering new places. One of her favourite places to visit is Pesaro on Italy’s Adriatic coast.
She is really enjoying being part of the KBS News team and helping to share the stories, events and people that make the community such a great place to live
Ilona El Madi
EDITOR
Ilona is one of the co-editors of KBS News and has lived in the village for nearly five years. Since moving here, she has enjoyed getting to know the community and becoming part of village life.
Away from KBS News, Ilona enjoys football and plays tennis for the local club. She also has a creative side, spending her spare time designing and making jewellery. Her friends would describe her as friendly, creative and always up for a new challenge, with a good sense of humour and plenty of enthusiasm for getting involved in local events and activities.
Jo Brett
DISTRUBTION
Jo helps organise the distribution of 1,920 newsletters to households across the village, ensuring every home receives its copy. Having moved to the east end of the village in 2017, she was keen to learn more about the place she now calls home and become involved in the community, making the distribution role a perfect fit alongside her busy life.
An enthusiastic walker, Jo quickly discovered the network of footpaths surrounding the village and enjoys exploring routes ranging from a gentle 30-minute stroll to a three-hour hike. When the weather is warmer, Jo enjoys tending her garden and making the most of every available space to grow her own vegetables.
Lesley Sanderson
COMITTEE MEMBER
Once working with former Head of MI6 and having organised a dinner party for Sir David Attenborough our beloved Lesley works within different sectors of the KBS News Team. Lesley has lived in the village for 28 years, further joining the committee in late 2024 Lesley attends the monthly distribution meetings to collate copies for distributors, to then delivering copies to 7 distributors and more to the One Stop Shop. She also arranges for past copies of the News to be bound in the archives.
Caroline 'Hawkeye' Ashby
PROOFREADER
Caroline has been one of the KBS News proofreaders for over 10 years. She first got involved after becoming increasingly frustrated by the spelling mistakes she spotted in the magazine — deciding that, rather than simply noticing them, she would do something about it!Having lived in the village for more than 40 years, Caroline is well established in the local community. She also helps run the KBS Café at the village hall on Thursday mornings alongside several other volunteers. Away from KBS News, she is a member of the Kennington Trefoil Guild, a group for women who have been involved with Girlguiding.
Fatemeh Ebrat
ADVERTISING TEAM
Fatemeh joined the KBS News advertising team to support a magazine that brings the local community together and celebrates everything happening across the village. She works as an Events Coordinator at a college within the University of Oxford, where she helps organise a wide range of events, while also volunteering with KBS News to support the magazine's advertising team.
Outside of work, Fatemeh enjoys travelling, listening to music, and cooking. She is pleased to play a part in supporting KBS News and helping to showcase the people, local businesses, and community events that make the village such a special place.
Linda Merriman
ADVERTISING TEAM
Linda joined the advertising team to contribute to the village community and now takes responsibility for the annual advertisers. Since moving here, Linda has spent more time than she may have expected decorating, whilst also finding time for bridge, walking, cycling (especially if there is a coffee stop involved!) and yoga. Since retiring, she has developed a keen interest in gardening and enjoys being part of the gardening club. With her three-month-old grandson also living locally, Linda is happily getting to know the lovely village walks