A Didcot charity which provides education, employability and wellbeing programmes to young people has appointed a new chair.
Joanna Dyson will take up the position at South Oxfordshire Food and Education Alliance (SOFEA) from March 1.
Following a national search last year in collaboration with Peridot Partners, Ms Dyson was selected to succeed the inaugural chair, Bernard Grenville-Jones, who served for a full term of nine years.
Ms Dyson has experience as a food sector leader, charity chair, consultant, and mentor, with direct experience of the charity's work.
She said: "I am delighted to be invited to take up the role of chair of SOFEA and I look forward to joining fellow trustees as we work alongside CEO Richard Kennell and the talented and dedicated teams at Didcot and Milton Keynes to continue the great work that is going on at both sites in this impressive and inspiring organisation."
Having been a volunteer at Didcot, Ms Dyson is familiar with SOFEA's "transformative impact" which creates "a supportive environment with strong values, which enables young people to grow in confidence and unlock their talents, and at the same time, supporting local communities, feeding families and rescuing surplus food."
She regarded it as a "huge privilege" to succeed Mr Grenville-Jones, praising his leadership and governance over the past nine years.
She added: "I look forward to working with him and the team to ensure a smooth transition and continued growth for the organisation."
Ben Threadgold, vice-chair of SOFEA, said: "Our recruitment campaign attracted a very high calibre of applicants.
"Jo’s passion, experience and commitment really shone through as the right person to take the baton from Bernard and lead us into an exciting new phase of SOFEA's development."
The trustee board, together with the executive team, staff, and volunteers aims to lead the execution of the strategy for the coming years.
As SOFEA celebrates its 10th anniversary, the organisation is focusing on not letting anyone fall behind in society and continuing to support them to reach their full potential.
Mr Threadgold added: "With Jo as our new chair, we now move into a new era, working with our partners at FareShare to continue using the convening power of food to ensure that no one is left behind.
"Our education, employability and wellbeing programmes will support many more people to achieve their full potential, especially as we look to expand our existing offering in Milton Keynes and add new projects and locations to our work.”
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