James Friend has been appointed as the new Chair of the Board. Friend succeeds the Very Revd Dianna Gwilliams, who stepped down from Chair and the Board with immediate effect after serving for the last eight years.

“I would like to thank Dianna and all my fellow Trustee Directors who have contributed thus far to the success of The Good Shepherd Trust. These are exciting times for The Good Shepherd Trust as we think through our strategic options around growth, sustainability, and economy of scale and as we and our teachers challenge ourselves to be certain that every child in our schools, and in those schools that we are supporting for improvement, receives an ambitious education every day. I am a firm believer that our role is to ensure we support the children in the communities that we serve to develop and use their talents so that they achieve things today that they could not do yesterday.” said James.

In addition to his role as Chair of the Board, James is Churchwarden at St John the Evangelist Wotton and was previously Chair of the Governing Body at Surrey Hills Church of England Primary School, Leader of Mole Valley District Council, and a member of Surrey Health & Wellbeing Board. He qualified as a member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in 1995, as a Corporate Treasurer in 1998 and is a 1993 graduate of Royal Holloway University of London in Physics with Management Studies.

“I look forward to working closely with James to continue to ensure The Good Shepherd Trust makes a positive impact for every child in our schools” said Paul Kennedy, The Good Shepherd Trust CEO.