Charity Commission welcomes appointment of Mark Simms as interim Chair
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has appointed a serving Board member of the Commission as the organisation’s interim Chair.
Mark Simms OBE
Mark Simms, OBE, will lead the Commission from 25 April 2025 on an interim basis while DCMS continues its search for a permanent Chair. Mark joined the Charity Commission as a Board Member in March 2023 and was awarded an OBE in 2024 for services to social enterprise.
In response, Orlando Fraser KC, said:
I very much welcome the news of Mark Simms’s appointment as interim Chair to succeed me. I have known Mark a long time, both at the Rugby Portobello Trust and most recently from his role here as a Member of the Commission, and I could not think of a better person for the job.
Mark Simms, OBE said:
It will be an honour to step into this role at such a crucial time for the sector. Charities are at the heart of our communities, and I am committed to ensuring the Commission remains fair, balanced, and effective in its work.
As a charity leader myself, I understand the challenges charities face and the importance of regulation that strengthens, rather than stifles, their impact and continues to uphold the trust that charities need to thrive.
Charity Commission chair Orlando Fraser announced he would “hand on the baton” after almost seven and a half years at its APM in November.
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Lisa Nandy thanked him for his service to the Charity Commission as Chair and board member, and for “his work towards a fairer, balanced and independent Charity Commission.”
Interim Chair appointed to the Charity Commission for England and Wales - GOV.UK
ENDS
Notes to editors
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All appointments to the Commission’s board are made by DCMS on a fixed term basis, in accordance with the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments.
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The Charity Commission is the independent, non-ministerial government department that registers and regulates charities in England and Wales. Its ambition is to be an expert regulator that is fair, balanced, and independent so that charity can thrive. This ambition will help to create and sustain an environment where charities further build public trust and ultimately fulfil their essential role in enhancing lives and strengthening society.