The chair of the Terrence Higgins Trust, Robert Glick, has announced his departure from the charity, days after an employment tribunal ruled the charity unfairly dismissed its former chief executive.

In a statement, Glick said he “remained entirely committed to an organisation that he cherished”. But he said new board leadership would “help take the charity forward”.

"Today, THT and the wider HIV sector face a number of extraordinary challenges, as well as opportunities. I believe that new board leadership will help take the charity forward, in partnership with our new chief executive and with a bold new strategy in place,” he said.

Glick will remain at the sexual health charity until a replacement is found, following the annual general meeting in November.

The charity will also recruit for four additional board members, a spokeswoman for the charity told Civil Society News. Recruitment will take place within the “next few weeks”, via the charity’s membership and public advertising.

Glick’s resignation comes just days after the tribunal ruling in favour of former chief executive Rosemary Gillespie who was dismissed last July after she began investigating allegations of sexual misconduct and mismanagement of charity funds.

She was appointed to her role in 2014 with the purpose of making changes but said a small number of staff were resistant to those changes and leant on the trustees to have her dismissed.

In response to the tribunal decision last week, the charity said it was “disappointed” but admitted it had “lessons to learn”. A spokeswoman for the charity said it would “carefully review the findings and take appropriate action to respond to concerns that were raised”, including a review of the charity’s governance and decision-making processes.

The charity’s former vice-chair, Paul Jenkins, stood down from his position before the judgement was announced.

Yesterday, Ian Green, current chief executive of Terrence Higgins Trust, said Glick was a long-running trustee of the charity, having been involved with the HIV community since the 1980s and serving as chair for two years.

“Robert has provided inspired leadership to the Trust at board level over many years, and has led the Trust through challenging times, committing significant time, energy, passion and commitment to his various roles,” he said.