The Grierson Trust has appointed Dawn Airey (Chairman and Chief Executive of Channel Five) to chair the Grierson Board of Trustees, it was announced today, replacing outgoing chairman, Murray Weston, who is stepping down at the end of his term of office at the end of the month.

Murray Weston said, “We are delighted that Dawn has agreed to take on this key role to help steer the Grierson Trust in its next stage of development. During the last ten years the Grierson Trust’s activities have grown substantially and become an important part of the British documentary scene. Dawn’s skills and experience will help to take the Trust’s work even further in the coming years.”

The Grierson Trust, which was first established in 1972 as the Grierson Memorial Trust upon the death of Scottish film-maker John Grierson, promotes and celebrates documentary film and television production through supporting screenings, workshops and mentoring schemes, and recognises the best of documentary-making through its annual Grierson British Documentary Awards.

Dawn Airey said: “It’s testament to the work of the Grierson Trust that Britain produces documentaries that not only inform us about the state of the world but are capable of inspiring and empowering us to do something about it. I’m therefore thrilled to be part of an organisation that does so much to champion such a vital art form. Certainly its mission to foster new talent takes on even greater importance as changes are wrought by technology to funding and distribution channels.”

Dawn Airey is currently Chairman and Chief Executive of UK broadcasting company Five. Dawn has had a career in broadcasting for more than twenty years after starting as a management trainee at Central TV. She has held senior posts at ITV, Channel 4 and BSkyB and was Five’s director of programmes at launch. Dawn sits on the management board of the pan-European media group RTL (Five’s parent company) and is a member of the board of the British Library and a Trustee of The Media Trust.

The Grierson Trust’s Board of Trustees is: Terry Back, John Battsek, Mandy Chang, Peter Dale, Ellen Fleming, Emma Hindley, Christopher Hird, Charlotte Moore, Rick Senat, Peter Symes and Murray Weston.

The Trust’s patrons are: Michael Apted, Sir David Attenborough, Nick Broomfield, John Chittock OBE, Roger Graef OBE, Sir Jeremy Isaacs, Anthony Smith CBE and Will Wyatt CBE.

Media enquiries to: Fiona Williams - +44 (0)20 8746 7778

Published: 28-Jan-2010