Urban Green Newcastle CEO steps down to join Environment Bank

The CEO of charity Urban Green Newcastle, James Cross, is stepping down to become Chief Executive of Environment Bank.

James joined Urban Green Newcastle from Natural England shortly after the charitable trust was formed three years ago to take over the management of Newcastle upon Tyne’s 33 parks and 61 allotment sites.

James Cross, outgoing CEO of Urban Green Newcastle, said: “I feel privileged to have been a part of something so ground-breaking, so visionary and so important. I remain of the view that the model we have brought to life in Newcastle will serve as the standard for urban greenspace management for future generations.

“The immediate challenges that faced Urban Green Newcastle at our creation are behind us, and as promised we now have the community at the heart of everything we do through setting up and empowering a range of groups and forums, which includes our community representation group, our park action groups and our volunteering programmes.

“Being part of the Urban Green Newcastle team and the wider family of those who care so passionately about our green spaces has been one the most rewarding experiences of my professional career. It has simply been a joy to be part of a group of people who all want the very best for these wonderful spaces.”

Jim Beirne, Chair of Urban Green Newcastle said: “We are sorry to see James leave us, but he has been offered a fantastic role as CEO of the Environment Bank, another great organisation committed to improving biodiversity.

“It has been a pleasure working with James who has created a new organisation and team, established a new base for the organisation, developed the strategic plan, managed the parks through the pandemic year, and recently opened the first of several Urban Green Newcastle projects with the new Urban Green Cafe in Exhibition Park.

“We would like to thank James for the skill, commitment and strategic expertise he has brought to Urban Green Newcastle. He will leave the organisation in the autumn and the Trustees are now working on a recruitment process to find a new CEO for the charity that has achieved so much under James’ leadership.”

James is already on the board of Environment Bank having joined as a director in 2019.

For more information about Urban Green Newcastle, visit www.urbangreennewcastle.org.