National Trust boss in Easter storm resigns
THE controversial head of the National Trust announced yesterday that she is quitting after five years in charge.
Dame Helen Ghosh, 61, is standing down to become Master of Balliol College, Oxford, months after she was accused of ‘airbrushing faith’ in a row over Easter.
The former Home Office civil servant joined the trust in 2012. Her tenure has been marred by a string of controversies and she has been accused of taking the organisation ‘downmarket’.
Earlier this year she was criticised after the word ‘Easter’ was removed from egg hunts. Post- ers at National Trust houses asked children to ‘Join the Cadbury Egg Hunt’. In previous years the conservation charity called it the ‘Easter Egg Trail’.
Dame Helen was warned against politicising the charity in 2015 after she set out how it would campaign against global warming. Critics said the trust risked damaging its popularity by getting mired in a debate that bitterly divides politicians and the public.
But Dame Helen insisted its charitable status should not stop it taking a stance. That same year she was accused of ‘dumbing down’ the trust when it was announced there were to be fewer exhibits because they are too demanding on visitors.
Sir Roy Strong, ex-director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, said yesterday: ‘Under her leadership the shift downmarket has accelerated.’ Trust chairman Tim Parker said: ‘Helen has done an outstanding job.’