Albert Beale

Albert is a militant pacifist, born-again atheist, Londoner, pedant, and Shostakovich junkie; he opposes nationalism without exception. An active member of the PPU and of War Resisters' International since the 1970s, he has frequently represented both in the media, and has held elected office in both. He became a pacifist at school, on a day when someone was hanged "to show that killing people is wrong". Once a computer programmer, then a physics teacher, peace movement jobs include co-ordinator of the Campaign Against Arms Trade, co-editor of Peace News, and editing an international database of peace organisations. Anti-militarist campaigning has included a focus on Northern Ireland and the Middle East; he also campaigns over public transport, nuclear power, censorship, sexual rights, over-consumption, and local democracy - amongst other things. He has a varied experience of (civil and criminal) legal issues in a political context (with a 100% acquittal record).

Ed Bridges 

Ed joined the Council in February 2020. He is a peace activist in South Wales, and is passionate about the PPU's work in challenging everyday militarism, particularly given Wales' proud history of resisting and opposing conflict. He is also a campaigner on civil liberties issues, having previously worked with Liberty to successfully challenge South Wales Police's use of facial recognition technology. Professionally, Ed has worked in various campaigns, policy and public affairs roles, engaging with government and policy-makers at all levels. He was also a Cardiff county councillor for 13 years, before stepping down in 2017 to spend more time with his two young sons. Ed is a season ticket holder at Newport County AFC, and a junior football coach. He hates writing about himself in the third person.

Peter Glasgow (Chair) 

Peter was the Peace Education Officer for the Peace Pledge Union from July 2014 to July 2016 and subsequently joined the PPU Council.  At the Annual General Meeting on 29 February 2020 he took up the role of Chairperson of the PPU. Prior to working with the PPU, Peter worked as the Vice Principal, Curriculum in a large, North London College of Further Education and was particularly interested and involved in innovative curriculum development.  He is also a keen cyclist.

Matthew Harbage

Matt has been a peace activist for over 15 years; taking part in protests, petitioning MPs, attending arms companies AGMs and promoting peace in schools and churches. He is an Anglican priest, currently serving as a vicar in north London. Matt has a passion for peace building, motivated by his Christian faith, and believes in strength through diversity of tactics, people and motivations. He joined the PPU Council in 2023 and hopes to support the PPU in building resilience against future wars through peace education and engagement in the public square.

Katie McLean

Katie joined the PPU as a Remembrance Intern in 2019. She studied History and Politics at university, focussing on war and conflict in the 20th century. She became interested in pacifism after researching the language and campaigning used both during wartime and in Remembrance, and finding that the horrific realities of war were often ignored. Katie is especially interested in the White Poppy campaign, and the PPU's work to commemorate conscientious objectors

Rachel Melly

Dan Woodhouse

Daniel has been involved in the peace movement for almost 20 years. Their experience is mostly related to anti-arms. They are a Methodist Minister currently serving in Brighton. As well as the normal duties of a clergy member, Daniel also lives in and supports a small community which focuses on mutual aid and refugee support. Through this community, both live-in and outside members are supported to engage in a wide array of activism. Daniel remarks that they have always highly valued the support received by the PPU whilst campaigning, particularly during the more difficult times of court trials. Now they are on Council, they look forward to being a part of supporting others in the same way.

Geoff Tibbs (Remembrance Project Manager)

Geoff runs the PPU's Remembrance and White Poppies campaign. When he isn't busy distributing white poppies to the thousands worldwide who wear them each year, his work focuses on building a peaceful and inclusive culture of remembrance. Prior to joining the PPU in 2019, Geoff worked on projects in the arts and voluntary sectors, including a hate crime reporting app for London and a magazine for new creative writing. Alongside working for the PPU, Geoff is a painter and a magician.

Amy Corcoran (Operations Manager)

Amy joined the PPU staff as Operations Manager in September 2023. Amy is an artist, writer and researcher who has been involved in the peace movement for the past decade, including through helping organise the first Art the Arms Fair. She's interested pacifism's intersections with freedom of movement, climate change and feminism. Amy has a background in supporting activists and analysing nonviolent resistance, as well as in psychology, human rights law, community projects and cooperative living. Her PhD - 'Protesting the Borders but on the Borders of Protest: Art Activism as Resistance to State Crime' - investigated the ways artists intervene in public space to challenge European border control policies. Amy loves overland travel, punk, animals and being out in nature (in all weathers).

Ellen Martin (Campaigns Intern)

Ellen joined the PPU in September 2023 on a three-month placement, assisting in the run up to Remembrance and beyond. She is a PhD candidate in the School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies at the University of Bristol. Her research critiques military power in Britain with a particular focus on the ways the British public diversely engage with militarism in their everyday lives. She is a passionate activist and campaigner for social change, particularly in the areas of equality, peace and climate justice. She is also a rock climber, avid traveller, and regular festival-goer. 

Esme Heny (Remembrance Project Intern)

Esme joined the PPU recently to work on our Remembrance campaign as it is such a busy but exciting time. Her passion for peace work comes from growing up as a Quaker. This is one of the reasons she chose to do Politics with Peace Studies for her degree, which she graduated from in 2022. Since graduating, she got the chance to travel to Peru to volunteer at a school and then took that opportunity to explore more of South America after this. Since then, she has been gaining more focus into what she wants to do in the future through volunteering and work. In her spare time, she loves travelling, reading and running, and going to delicious restaurants in London. She is only at the beginning of her journey into peace activism but the PPU is a great place to begin this.