Boris Johnson appoints former Evening Standard editor as volunteering adviser3

Governance | Vibeka Mair | 10 Sep 2012

Veronica Wadley, former editor of the London Evening Standard, starts her new £95,000-a-year role as a senior adviser on volunteering and charities & sponsorship to Mayor of London Boris Johnson today.

This will be Wadley’s second appointment by Boris Johnson in recent years. In 2010, Johnson appointed her as chair of the Arts Council London.

Johnson plans to build on the volunteering momentum fuelled by the London Olympics and Paralympics with the appointment of Wadley as his senior adviser for Team London, volunteering, charities & sponsorship.

Wadley, who will receive a salary of £95,000 but not in the first 12 months of the job, is also a trustee of the Mayor of London’s Fund for Young Musicians and the Northern Ballet.

Commenting on the appointment, Johnson said: "Our army of volunteers have a huge passion for London and are a fantastic advert for us during the Games. Visitors are saying how friendly and welcoming our city is and I applaud the ambassadors for helping create such a wonderful atmosphere.

"I want to build on this amazing energy by expanding our Team London volunteers and I’m confident that Veronica Wadley will be instrumental in delivering more opportunities to everyone interested in getting involved.”

Volunteers who supported the London Olympics and Paralympics will today get the best seats in the house for the athletes’ victory parade through London as a thank you for their support.

Team London is the Mayor’s ambitious programme to mobilise an army of volunteers across the capital to improve life in London through programmes that will reduce crime, increase opportunities for youth and improve quality of life by cleaning and greening London and building stronger neighbourhoods.

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Barry Gower
10 Sep 2012

There are many examples of successful business people being brought in to manage or advise on running charities, but not too many the other way round. It should be remembered that great organisations (including charities) are great not through great innovation, but by doing the ordinary things properly. Unlike charities, businesses face shareholders who demand returns and dividends, and cannot simply go cap in hand to the public to ask for more money as a result of bad decisions. As Veronica Wadley has experienced, if they don't like you, you are out.

What Veronica Wadley does bring to the table is considerable senior management in the commercial world, which I am sure she will be able to adequately adept to the requirements of volunteering.

[Reply]

Muriel Simmons
Chairman
Allergy UK
10 Sep 2012

I wonder what experience this person has in managing volunteers,
If Boris truly wanted to build on the wonderful volunteering of the Olympics Games Makers he needed to recognise that there is a whole set of different challenges in keeping people motivated to continue giving their time free over a long period. Being a manager of volunteers needs special skills, being a newspaper editor isn't one othat immediately springs to mind as a requirement for the job. .

[Reply]

Carl Allen
10 Sep 2012

So why did Boris not outsource the role perhaps to a consortium of NGO's?

Not such a free market after all.

Wisdom of the crowd ignored or wisdom of the crowd expected to donate their time by way of the nudge in the form of a free first year from the advisor?

[Reply]

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