Port Sunlight Village Trust welcomes new Chair as charity marks 25 years

The charity responsible for preserving and promoting the historic village of Port Sunlight is not only celebrating its 25th birthday in 2024, but it has also announced experienced housing sector leader Andrew Bowden as its new Chair of the Board.

Port Sunlight Village Trust preserves and promotes the Wirral village, known for being built by William Lever from 1888 to provide housing for ‘Sunlight Soap’ factory workers. PSVT is private landlord to under a third of the village’s houses, public and commercial buildings, and cares for its significant monuments and over 130 acres of parkland and gardens.

To achieve its mission of promoting the village, PSVT also operates Port Sunlight Museum and other visitor attractions, runs an expanding learning programme for schools and education groups, and delivers a year-round programme of events and activities for the public and local community. This work is guided by PSVT’s voluntary Board of Trustees.

Andrew Bowden, the Board’s new Chair, was born and raised in Liverpool and maintains close connections to the area, and has spent over twenty years working within Local Government and the Third Sector prior to becoming the first Chief Executive Officer of a newly formed Housing Association in North Wales. He also recently joined Theatre Clwyd in Mold as a Trustee.

The arrival of Andrew Bowden comes at an exciting time for PSVT as the independent charity marks 25 years since it was set up by Unilever in 1999. Since then, the charity has continued to make Port Sunlight a popular place to live for over 2,000 people, as well welcome hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.

In 2024, some of the highlights of PSVT’s calendar will be the first phase of an important programme of work in January to upgrade the EPC ratings of some of its Grade II listed houses; a new resident engagement model will be realised and put into action following community consultations in 2023; and there will be an exciting programme of events and exhibitions with details to be announced soon.

Paul Harris, Chief Executive at Port Sunlight Village Trust, said: “We’re delighted to be welcoming Andrew to PSVT, whose relevant senior management experience will have a positive impact on our work. Andrew joins PSVT at a crucial time as we will be developing a new five-year strategic plan and I am confident Andrew will play a major role in our future success”.

Andrew Bowden, new Chair of the Board at Port Sunlight Village Trust, said: “It is an honour and a privilege to be appointed the new Chair at PSVT and I am really looking forward to getting started. I am particularly keen to hear from our residents and other key stakeholders to ensure they have a meaningful input into our future plans for the village”.