Salary – unremunerated
Location – Cyfarthfa, Merthyr Tydfil

The Cyfarthfa Foundation is a new company established to realise a bold 20-year vision for Cyfarthfa Castle and Park at Merthyr Tydfil – a site that has been described as the ‘crucible of the industrial revolution’. The vision – The Cyfarthfa Plan – has been set out in an extensive masterplan produced by a team of internationally-renowned consultants led by Ian Ritchie Architects and landscape architects, Gustafson, Porter and Bowman. The process has also benefitted from the expert input of the Design Commission for Wales. The plan envisages the transformation of the castle and park into a museum and art gallery of national significance set in an enlarged 100-hectare park. The land also encompasses the 260-year-old Cyfarthfa furnaces, once part of the largest ironmaking complex in the world.

The plan is built around the three themes of history and heritage, the natural environment and fostering creativity, and aspires to international quality in all things including an exemplary approach to community engagement. The historic assets and park are currently owned by Merthyr Tydfil Council and operated by the Merthyr Tydfil Leisure Trust, but it has been agreed that the ownership and operation of these assets will be transferred to the Foundation, a company limited by guarantee that is currently seeking charitable status. The Welsh Government has already agreed to fund the development phase of the project since it is seen as the pivotal project in the proposed Valleys Regional Park.

The Cyfartha Foundation is currently being steered by five Founding Directors and is now seeking to appoint up to seven fellow Trustees to join this inaugural Board. The Foundation will establish an organisation whose sole focus will be the development of Cyfarthfa and other heritage assets in Merthyr to maximise the benefits for the community and the nation – economic, educational, social, environmental and cultural. Alongside the general skills required to be an effective non-executive trustee there are specific areas of high-level professional expertise from which the Board would welcome applicants. These are: urban planning and architecture, landscape planning, heritage, museums, tourism, sustainability and financial management. In addition to a diversity of skills the board’s membership will be expected to demonstrate diversity in gender and ethnicity and as such candidates from a range of backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

Saxton Bampfylde Ltd is acting as an employment agency advisor to the Cyfartha Foundation on this appointment. For further information about the role, including details about how to apply, please visit www.saxbam.com/appointments using reference EAPAHA. Alternatively telephone +44 (0)20 7227 0880 (during office hours). Applications should be received by noon on Friday 25th June 2021.