30/08/2026
🎉 Did you know an Old Cranbrookian is helping shape the future of food, farming and the arts? 🍎
Sarah Calcutt ARAgS (Class of 1990, Webster) has built a wide-ranging career across food, farming, public appointments, governance and the creative arts.
She is a Non-Executive Director of the Rural Payments Agency, the body responsible for distributing around £2 billion each year to English food and farming enterprises. Alongside this, Sarah is a panel member for Public Appointments at Defra and is leading a Defra policy research project to support surplus food redistribution and improve compliance with the food and drink waste hierarchy by examining international tax incentive policies designed to increase the redistribution of surplus food.
Her work also extends across a number of leadership and board roles. She is Board Chair of the Mole End Organics Employee Owned Trust, a Non-Executive Director of Outfield Technologies and a trustee and director of the VOCES8 Foundation.
Sarah’s connection to food and farming runs deep. She chaired the National Fruit Show for 15 years, helping champion one of the country’s most important showcases for apples, pears and the people who grow them.
Music and theatre have also remained an important part of her story. A music scholar at Cranbrook, Sarah credits House Shouts with helping embed a love of performance, and next spring she will be directing 2:22 A Ghost Story in the Queen’s Hall Theatre.
Sarah’s journey reflects Cranbrook’s values of curiosity, integrity and individuality, showing how a Cranbrook education can lead to a life shaped by public service, creativity and commitment to others.
If you’re an OC with a story or update to share, we’d love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected]
