FORMER Sunday Times political editor David Cracknell has joined Woodland Heritage’s board of trustees as vice-chair. 

David, who left the newspaper in 2008, will be tasked with improving the charity’s PR and communications and aiding its £250,000 fundraising drive.

After leaving the paper, David set up his own public relations firm, Big Tent Communications, and has advised presidents, prime ministers and CEOs around the globe, as well as other charities.

Describing himself as passionate about woodlands, British hardwoods and furniture making, he also owns a small ancient woodland in Kent and recently completed an MSc in Forestry at Bangor, passing with distinction.

The subject of David’s MSc dissertation was to assess the extent of ash dieback in Lady Park Wood in Monmouthshire. This woodland was set aside as a nature reserve in the 1940s, and has been curated in recent decades by renowned ecologist and author Dr George Peterken, with whom Cracknell has been working for the last three years.

He has also written a number of articles for Woodland Heritage’s Journal in recent years, including several in the newly published 2022 issue. The breadth of those pieces reflects his wider interest in growing and using wood and timber, all of which will be of great value to how Woodland Heritage communicates its aims and objectives to the outside world in the future.

As part of his induction to the charity, Cracknell attended Woodland Heritage’s 26th running of its Woodland to Workshop course at its Whitney Sawmills in Herefordshire in May.