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Tanni Grey-Thompson set to be next NCVO president

Governance | Kirsty Weakley | 16 Oct 2012

NCVO has announced that Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson is the board’s choice to succeed Lord Hodgson as president.

Members will be invited to appoint her at NCVO’s annual general meeting on 8 November.

The former Paralympian is a crossbench peer and the president of the Leadership 20:20 Commission. She is also patron of Sportsleaders UK and the Jane Tomlinson Foundation, trustee for v, the youth volunteering charity, board member of the Tony Blair Sports Foundation, vice president of the Women’s Sport Foundation and on the board of the London Marathon and Transport for London.

Grey-Thompson said she was “absolutely delighted” and that she is “hoping to expand my knowledge of the sector, and continue the work that NCVO has been so successful in by encouraging communities and people to engage fully in our society”.

Welcoming her, NCVO chair Martin Lewis CBE said: “As well as being a redoubtable campaigner, Tanni is already an old friend of NCVO who has inspired emerging leaders as president of the Leadership 20:20 Commission and hundreds of others as a speaker at our events.

“Lord Hodgson is a hard act to follow – he made a massive contribution to the law and regulation around charities. I am sure that with Tanni we have chosen a worthy successor who will spread her own gold dust on our 8,500 members and we are all looking forward to working with her.”

Grey-Thompson won 11 gold medals over five Paralympic Games and in 2005 was made a Dame for services to sport. She entered the House of Lords in 2010 as a crossbench peer, with special interest in sport, disability, health and youth development - her full title is Baroness Grey-Thompson of Eaglescliffe in the County of Durham.

Lord Hodgson was appointed as president of NCVO in 2007 and has come to the end of his five-year term. He is a Conservative peer and recently published a review of the Charities Act for the government. He is also the chair of the government’s Red Tape Task Force.

He said: “I have very much enjoyed my five years as president of NCVO. I saw first-hand what a fine organisation it is and I wish it continuing success in the future.”

Directory: National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO)
Who's Who: Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts | Tanni Grey-Thompson