Parkrun has hired seven trustees including a former Sun editor and deputy chief medical officer after its founder resigned from a governance role in which he was also paid money by the charity.
The charity has appointed seven trustees, with the aim to strengthen its leadership, improve diversity and to help deliver its upcoming five-year strategy, due for release in February.
Civil Society News previously reported that the charity behind Parkrun has paid its founder Paul Sinton-Hewitt more than £200,000 since 2018, in return for promoting the flagship running event.
Sinton-Hewitt, who was a trustee at Parkrun Global, benefited from a deal with the charity which guaranteed him both a permanent position on the board and the exclusive right to be paid as an employee while sitting as a trustee.
The founder resigned as trustee on 28 June 2022 after being paid £77,654 in the previous financial year for "his daily work in promoting Parkrun within the UK and globally and performing ad hoc services to sponsors, grant providers, and the wider community as and when required".
He remains a director of the charity's subsidiary, PSH Retail Ltd.
Parkrun has told Civil Society News none of its trustee positions are now paid.
New trustees include Professor Jonathan Van-Tam
The new trustees include Sonya Byers, who is a long-standing Parkrun volunteer ambassador and chief executive of the non-profit Women in Transport, as well as Nat Poulter, who is joint chief executive of Jungle Creations.
Also joining the board are Sarah Powell, chief executive of British Gymnastics and Professor Sir Jonathan Stafford Nguyen-Van-Tam, who is former deputy chief medical officer for England.
They will be joined by David Dinsmore, chief operating officer of News UK and former Sun editor, and Gordon Seabright, previously chief executive of the Eden Project.
John Vickers, who is currently director of finance and corporate services at St. Christopher’s Hospice also joins the board this month.
The new trustees will join chair Gavin Megaw, Christine Gibbons,and Jeremy Townsend on the board. Six of the seven will become board members in January 2023, with one other joining in March 2023.
An external company managed the recruitment process for the trustees and 145 applications were received.
Existing trustees shortlisted 15 candidates and a three-person selection panel – consisting of Megaw, Gibbons and head of people and culture Helen Dickens – interviewed shortlisted candidates.
Megaw said the charity was focused on acquiring the skills it needed to become "world class" in terms of its operations and make more of an impact within communities across the world.
News
