Trustee
Chris is a freelance communications and PR consultant. He built up more than 30 years’ experience in the public, private and third sectors before setting out on his own.
As Director of Communications at Public Health Wales he built an award-winning team from scratch to save lives by reducing smoking and increasing vaccination and screening uptake.
At the Office for National Statistics, reporting to the National Statistician, Chris led work which increased public trust, improved organisational reputation and raised employee engagement.
Chris is as passionate now about the power of communication to build reputation and to change attitudes and behaviours as he was when he started out at a Cardiff PR consultancy in the 1980s. Whereas the data and channels may have moved on, the essence of good communications is unchanged. It lies in audience insight and the imagination to develop stories which touch people’s emotions. Charities, voluntary groups and volunteers are the stuff of such stories!
Chris has presented nationally and internationally to conferences on corporate communications, stakeholder engagement, internal communications and crisis communications. A long-standing member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, he is also the founder vice-chair of CommsCymru, the network for public and third sector communications professionals.
In the football season Chris can be heard on the terraces at the Liberty Stadium as a member of the Jack Army whereas, in summer, he’s more likely to be found clapping politely at a cricket match, walking (slowly) in the Brecon Beacons or exploring Europe in his VW camper van.
Chris is a member of WCVA’s People and Remuneration Committee and the Social Investment Cymru Committee.