The Board of London’s Air Ambulance Charity has today, 10^th February 2022, announced the appointment of Bob Forsyth as the new Chair of its Board of Trustees. The appointment comes after a far reaching and competitive process, involving external and internal candidates facilitated and guided by Inclusive Boards.

Bob has been a trustee of the Charity since 2017, leading the establishment of the Board’s Audit and Risk Committee and chairing it for over four years. Bob is a Senior Assurance Partner at Ernst & Young LLP, having held a number of senior management roles, including leading transformational change programmes, and was Co-Leader of the EY Centre for Board Matters. He has led two cultural change programmes in a large UK operation and is a proven D&I leader over 15 years.

As the Charity continues its implementation of an ambitious programme of transformational change, including the replacement of its two helicopters, the replacement and expansion of its rapid response car fleet, supporting the service’s frontline medical teams and enhancing the Charity’s culture, diversity and inclusion outreach, Bob will bring strong leadership, experience and organisational empathy to these fundamental priorities.

At the same time the Board has embarked on a process to recruit up to four new trustees to expand and refresh the skill sets of the Board. Mindful of the diversity in the city that the Charity serves, culture diversity and inclusion are at the core of its recruitment requirements. Of the four vacancies, two arise following the retirements by rotation of two trustees, but two opportunities specifically arise because of the commitment of the trustees to enhance the Board’s D&I by purposefully not standing to be re-appointed.

Bob’s appointment will take effect when Mark Vickers, the current Chair of Trustees, retires by rotation on 31 March, after seven years in the role.