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.
