A £200m foundation has appointed a former Baptist minister as its first chief executive.
Liam Eaglestone took up the top role at the Steve Morgan Foundation last week.
The foundation worked with the government in 2020 and 2021 to match-fund and distribute charity grants during the Covid-19 crisis.
It was previously led by Jane Harris, its director of regional grants.
Eaglestone joins from the Church of England, where he was deputy director of education for the Diocese of Manchester. He previously worked as a diocesan schools’ adviser and as a minister at a church in Gloucestershire.
The Steve Morgan Foundation made grants worth £25.8m in the year to March 2021, a 150 per cent increase on 2019/20, according to accounts filed with the Charity Commission.
This was in response to the Covid-19 crisis and included distribution of £10m in government funding as part of the Community Match Challenge.
In 2017, the foundation received more than £200m as a donation-in-kind from the firm managed by the businessman and philanthropist it is named after.
Eaglestone said: “I have seen first-hand the impact the Steve Morgan Foundation has on supporting entire communities and it’s a genuine honour to be appointed as chief executive.
“The relationship the foundation has with the charities it works with goes far beyond the grants it provides, and has been forged over many years.”
Eaglestone praised the foundation for being “first out the blocks” in supporting charities impacted by the pandemic.
Morgan said: “We are increasingly initiating and supporting larger-scale initiatives, both regionally and nationally.
“Liam has the ideal skill set to realise our ambition. We are all incredibly excited for the future and the foundation achieving ever-greater things.”