Acevo calls for Shaw Trust boss reinstatement

Jamie Carpenter, Regen.net, 12 August 2008

Ian Charlesworth, chief executive of the Shaw Trust, was placed on gardening leave at the end of last month and will soon officially be no longer in post, the charity confirmed this week.

Catherine A'Bear, the Shaw Trust's chief officer for corporate affairs, said: "Ian Charlesworth is on gardening leave and will shortly be leaving the trust."

A'Bear said she was unable to give any more information surrounding his departure.

Tim Pape, director general, to whom Charlesworth reported, is overseeing the organisation.

But Stephen Bubb, chief executive of the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations, said that the treatment of Charlesworth was "unacceptable" and called for his immediate reinstatement.

Bubb said: "I have known Ian Charlesworth for years and have seen how his leadership has grown that organisation to become one of the most professional and hard hitting third sector organisations."

Charlesworth was in post for over ten years. He joined the charity which is the largest voluntary sector provider of employment services for disabled people in the UK - in 1997 and oversaw a period of expansion.

In the last four years, the charity¹s annual income has increased from £45 million to £70 million and staff numbers have more than doubled to 1,300.