Mike Worthington

Biographical Information
"Mike chaired the Board of Northern Stage theatre from 2002 - 2006, the Cyrenians from 2007 - 2010 and VONNE from 2008-2011. He is currently a member of the Group of 7 at the Webb Memorial Trust and chairs the annual series of Hexham Debates." 

"After eleven years in post, Mike Worthington took early retirement as Northumbria’s Chief Probation Officer in 1999. Since then, he has undertaken a range of roles and responsibilities, regionally and nationally. As Deputy Chair of the Community Foundation serving Tyne & Wear and Northumberland, he chaired the Invest 2006 campaign, drawing attention to the loss of statutory sector funding to the voluntary sector, and is Deputy Chair of the Regional Social Capital Forum. He worked for four years as an Associate Programme Director with Common Purpose, running leadership training programmes in different cities in the UK. He currently chairs a VONNE Steering Group, funded by ONE and charged with the task of developing a leadership strategy for the voluntary and community sector in the North East.

"From 2002 – 2006, he was Chair of the Board of Directors at Northern Stage Theatre Company, steering them through a period of unprecedented change, which included an enlargement, rebuild and refurbishment of the theatre, a review of the role of the Board and its membership, a restructuring of the staff and company (including the appointment of a new Chief Executive) and the development of new relationships with key stakeholders. He is currently Chair of both the Board of Directors of Tyneside Cyrenians, the region’s largest voluntary sector provider of accommodation and services for the homeless, and SOVA, a national organisation working with offenders and those at risk of offending, mainly through the use of volunteers. He is a Board member of Helix Arts. In 2003, he was awarded the OBE for services to the criminal justice sector."

"Mike stood down as Chair of The Cyrenians in 2010, after serving his term of office, but is proud to remain involved with The Cyrenians as Patron."


 * Vice President, Community Foundation serving Tyne & Wear and Northumberland (2006 – Present)