Journalist and writer Simon Jenkins was appointed to the board of trustees of the Churches Conservation Trust in 2016. The CCT is the UK’s third largest heritage estate in charitable ownership including irreplaceable examples of architecture, archaeology and art from 1,000 years of history. The Trust focuses on conservation, restoration and regeneration, often working with local communities and encouraging use of churches for a range of activities other than just worship. Jenkins sees England’s parish churches as “the nation’s finest adornment” but that “communities everywhere need as much help as possible” to preserve them. Jenkins has an academic interest in historic churches, having written the popular Penguin books England’s Thousand Best Churches, Country Churches and England’s Cathedrals. He has previously served as chair of the National Trust and on the boards of British Rail, London Transport and the Museum of London and was deputy chairman of English Heritage.
