Chief Executive of Urban Green Newcastle Announces Departure
Carol Pyrah, Chief Executive of Urban Green Newcastle, has announced she will be leaving the charity at the end of November to take up a new role as Chief Operating Officer at Ripon Cathedral in North Yorkshire.
Carol joined Urban Green Newcastle in July 2022 following the departure of founding Chief Executive, James Cross, to the lead the newly established charity forward following the coronavirus pandemic.
With a wealth of experience in the charity, heritage and conservation sectors, and having held senior positions at both English Heritage and Historic England, Carol has helped establish strong partnerships across the city to deliver a long-term future for Newcastle’s parks and allotments, and open up new revenue streams for the charity.
This includes the formation of Newcastle’s Nature Networks (NNN), a new public, private, academic and third sector partnership that has been awarded £701,417 from Defra and The National Lottery Heritage Fund to develop and improve pollinator pathways across Newcastle upon Tyne.
Earlier this year, seven park tennis venues in the city benefitted from £183,000 in funding from UK Government and the LTA Tennis Foundation to renovate 22 tennis courts and open up the sport to more people.
And Urban Green Newcastle’s long-running partnership with Newcastle Hospitals Charity has helped hundreds of people connect with nature through a series of creative art workshops and artist-led activities at Springbank Pavilion in Leazes Park.
Jim Beirne MBE, Chair of Trustees at Urban Green Newcastle said: “Carol has been an exceptionally creative and strategic Chief Executive, enabling a brilliant team of people at Urban Green Newcastle and cultivating great partnerships with stakeholders and trustees.
“Developing a startup charity from scratch, and creating an additional £2m of income annually, is a huge task in the context of a global pandemic and the cost of living crisis. Carol has done this with patience and humour. The trustees and staff are sorry to see her leave and we wish her the very best in her new role at Ripon Cathedral.
“I am pleased to confirm that David Theobald, former Assistant Director of Capital Investment at Newcastle City Council, has been appointed as interim Chief Executive and will work alongside Carol throughout November to ensure a seamless transition.”
Carol Pyrah, outgoing Chief Executive of Urban Green Newcastle, said: “When I first joined the charity I was immediately struck by the dedication and passion of the amazing team that care for Newcastle’s parks and allotments every day.
“This commitment to deliver the very best for the city’s green spaces and the people of Newcastle has inspired me throughout my time at Urban Green Newcastle. Against the backdrop of some challenging times in the charity’s short history, everyone at the Urban Green Newcastle has retained a positive, can-do attitude that has allowed us to deliver so many great things in the past two and half years. This includes bringing in over 50% of the income to look after the city’s parks and allotments half way through the charity’s 10-year journey to financial sustainability.
“We’ve seen a huge amount of investment in sport across the city’s parks, with improved football pitches at Walker Park and Paddy Freeman’s Park; as well as the complete transformation of Newcastle’s park tennis courts. Working in partnership with national walking and cycling charity Sustrans, Urban Green Newcastle also upgraded sections of the popular walking and cycling route at Tyne Riverside Country Park and Walker Riverside Park.
“I’m proud of the large number of events we’ve enabled in the city’s parks, from over 2,000 community events a year, to bringing Northern Lights Newcastle to Leazes Park which was enjoyed last year by over 100,000 people. This year also saw around 4,000 people celebrating growing and gardening at the successful Allotment and Garden Festival in Exhibition Park.
“That strong bond of working together for the benefit of the city’s green spaces is also at the heart of our community networks Urban Green Connect and the many fabulous Friends of Groups, and individual and corporate volunteers. Last year we recorded 5,500 volunteer hours. I’d like to personally thank everyone that continues to gift their time to make the city’s parks and allotments welcoming and clean spaces for everyone to enjoy long into the future.
“I’m also very proud of the work the charity has delivered to improve nature and wildlife habitats across Newcastle. Through our initiative Let it Grow, we’ve been relaxing grass cutting to encourage more wildflowers, and more bees and butterflies, which in turn has a positive effect on our environment. We’ve also planted more than 12,000 trees since the charity was established in 2019.”
Pam Smith, Newcastle City Council Chief Executive, said: “Our parks and green spaces are of great pride to the city and I know Carol has worked tirelessly to ensure that continues to be the case.
“Carol joined Urban Green Newcastle as Chief Executive following the pandemic and has led the organisation through a time when parks and green spaces have never been more important to the health and wellbeing of our residents.
“We are currently consulting on the management of our parks and green spaces with a report expected at Cabinet in November.
“I want to thank Carol for everything she has done for our city’s green spaces and wish her all the best for the future.”
Carol concluded: “I have thoroughly enjoyed being part of Urban Green Newcastle and I believe in Newcastle City Council’s original vision for the city’s parks and allotments.
“Green spaces are hugely important for the health and wellbeing of Newcastle’s residents. By protecting our natural habitats and providing people with a place to enjoy nature, we’re investing in a cleaner and greener future that will benefit everyone.”
Image: Carol Pyrah, Chief Executive of Urban Green Newcastle, has announced she will be leaving the charity at the end of November
