NEWS: Welch takes on role at London First

Sharon Welch, former director of public affairs at Save the Children, is

to take a leading role in developing plans for the London Millennium

Festival.

Welch, 44, who resigned from the children’s charity in December, joins

private sector campaigning body London First on 1 October to take charge

of its plans to mark the year 2000 in the capital.

London First is just one of several bodies working on plans for the

festival which will involve a series of events complementary to the huge

Millennium Exhibition at Greenwich. Plans for the Millenium Exhibition

itself are being developed by a separate organisation headed by BA

chairman Robert Ayling.

Commenting on Welch’s appointment, London First, public affairs manager

Patrick Kerr said: ‘This is a bigger job than communications alone. She

will orchestrate the events in the capital which will complement the

exhibition at Greenwich and to underline London’s reputation as the

world’s most multi-cultural and socially cohesive city.’

Jamaican-born Welch, started her career as a secretary at IPC magazines

before moving to Scholl, where she stayed for seven years. She was

appointed as director of public affairs at Save the Children in 1985 and

headed its communications during a period of rapid growth in the late

1980s.

By 1994 its income was pounds 100 million and Welch’s team numbered 32

with an annual budget of pounds 1.5 million.