A former editor of the Sun newspaper has resigned from his role as a trustee of Parkrun Global just a month after his appointment.
In January, the charity appointed David Dinsmore, now chief operating officer of News UK, alongside six others as trustees in a bid to strengthen its leadership, improve diversity and help deliver its new strategy.
The appointment of Dinsmore sparked controversy in the Parkrun community and prompted a petition calling for his removal.
Some people 1,115 signed the petition, which stated that the decision to have him on board was “a serious misjudgement and an affront to volunteers and ordinary runners across the UK”.
The charity has now accepted Dinsmore’s resignation, saying it has “listened” to the issues and concerns raised by the community.
Damage to the charity’s ‘good image’
In an open letter sent to Parkrun’s chair Gavin Megaw last month, Roger Wilson, former pro-bono director of Parkrun, said the nomination of Dinsmore as trustee could damage “the good image” of the charity.
Wilson highlighted a conviction Dinsmore received in 2016 after a Sun story inadvertently led to the identification of a sexual offence victim.
He wrote: “The nomination will put off some runners and volunteers from being involved in Parkrun, and make it harder for local volunteers to get the support of some local stakeholders and landowners.
“We should not be appointing anyone in Parkrun to a key position who has a conviction under the Sexual Offences Act without careful diligence.”
He added that as a former editor of the Sun and in his current position, Dinsmore has “demonstrated values and behaviour contrary to those of the Parkrun community of inclusion of all groups, including body shapes”.
In his initial response, Megaw said that Dinsmore’s values matched those of Parkrun and that he “was one of the most outstanding candidates during the interview process.”
Parkrun: ‘We’ve listened’
However, the charity has now announced that it has accepted Dinsmore’s resignation.
It said: “Trustees have accepted David Dinsmore’s resignation from the Parkrun Global Board with immediate effect. The board has listened to, and will reflect on, a number of issues and concerns raised by David and from parts of the Parkrun community.
“The board thanked David for the time and effort he has committed while in post, and hopes he will continue to be a regular at Parkrun.”
‘We need to tackle internal issues’
Last week, Parkrun published a global five-year strategy to ensure it is fit for purpose and can support the “every growing numbers of events and participants”.
It pledged to strengthen its governance “by identifying and onboarding new trustees to support our organisation in the areas of safeguarding, technology, equality, diversity, and inclusion, fundraising and finance.”
“The biggest challenge we face (and the central issue that this strategy seeks to address) is the need to tackle the internal issues that otherwise threaten to hold us back,” it wrote in the strategy.
Editor's note: This article has been updated at Parkrun's request to clarify that Roger Wilson is not a former trustee of the charity.
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