Oxfam GB has appointed the chair of Channel 4 to lead its board of trustees.
The charity said Charles Gurassa, who has been chair of Channel 4 since 2016, would succeed Caroline Thomson, who announced last year she would be stepping down because she had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
In addition to chairing Channel 4, Gurassa is chair of the touring company Great Rail Journeys and a trustee of both English Heritage and the Migration Museum. He is due to step down as deputy chair of the budget airline EasyJet at the end of the year.
Gurassa had a four-year stint on the council of the National Trust until 2014 and was chair of Genesis Housing Group between 2010 and 2017.
Gurassa was also senior independent director at the theme park operator Merlin Entertainments between 2013 and 2019.
An Oxfam spokeswoman said Gurassa had been appointed for an initial three-year term from October, with a “strong possibility” of a further three years.
Danny Sriskandarajah, chief executive of Oxfam GB, said Gurassa would bring a “wealth of experience from the commercial and charity sectors that will be invaluable to Oxfam and to me personally”.
He said Thomson had made a “profound contribution” to the charity during her time as chair.
Gurassa said: “As someone who is passionate about Oxfam’s values and its work tackling poverty and saving lives in humanitarian emergencies, I am delighted to have the chance to contribute.
“Oxfam’s mix of work with local communities to give people in some of the world’s toughest environments a route out of poverty, combined with global action to break down the barriers that trap people in poverty make it uniquely well placed to make a real difference.”