A director of Newmarket Racecourses and head of an Ely school among new lieutenants for Cambridgeshire

A director of Newmarket Racecourses and the head of an Ely school are among six new deputy lieutenants appointed for Cambridgeshire.

The Hon Frances Stanley, who lives at New England Stud, where her husband is the manager, and Susan Freestone, the principal and chief executive of King’s Ely, were given the role by the county’s Lord Lieutenant Julie Spence, who acts as the Queen’s personal representative in Cambridgeshire.

Mrs Stanley has been involved in fund-raising and community projects raising hundreds of thousands of pounds for organisations including the Countryside Alliance, East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices, Breast Cancer, The Blood Bank and charity racedays in aid of Racing Welfare and Palace House, the home of the National Heritage Centre for Horseracing and Sporting Art, of which she is a trustee.

As the July Racecourse, the National Stud and other studs near the town are in Cambridgeshire, Mrs Stanley is eager to broaden the county’s interest in racing and the Horseracing Museum. She is also keen to hear of any community ‘heroes’ who might be considered for honours such as the British Empire Medal.

“I felt very honoured to be invited to be a deputy lieutenant and very lucky to be under Julie Spence who is such a pro-active Lord Lieutenant,” said Mrs Stanley.

Sue Freestone is set to retire as head of King’s Ely in August after 15 years.

In that time, at the invitation of the Secretary of State, she worked for 10 years on a steering group for the Independent State School Partnership and is currently involved in setting up a collaborative educational partnership in East Cambridgeshire. She is a Lay Canon and Sub-Deacon of Ely Cathedral and serves on the Diocesan Board of Finance. She has been involved with a number of national bodies and, further afield, is co-chairman of the Tsavo Conservation Trust in Kenya.

Mrs Spence said: “Each of my newly-appointed Deputy Lieutenants has played and continues to play an important part in the life of our local community and I know their considerable skills and experience will be extremely useful in supporting me in the execution of my duties.”