Church Urban Fund welcomes new Chair and trustee to its board.
Date Posted: Jul 22, 2026.
Church Urban Fund is delighted to announce the appointment of Chris Cummings as the new chair of trustees.
Chris is a non-executive director of Vanguard Investments UK, Limited. He was formerly the Chief Executive of the Investment Association, a position he held for a decade, and was the founding CEO of TheCityUK, the overarching body representing financial and professional services.
He has chaired government reviews of regulatory practices, was a member of HM Treasury’s Asset Management Taskforce, served on the board member of the European investment association and is past-President of the global association.
He is chair of the Just Finance Foundation (JFF), the charity which works to improve the financial wellbeing for all. JFF delivers financial education that helps set children up for life. Its goal is to ensure all children can make informed financial decisions as they grow up.
He brings a business career spanning over 30 years to the role of chair. He has held senior leadership roles in major firms and consultancies, worked with regulators in the UK and globally, and helped governments address some of the most pressing social problems. He has written two books on regulatory policy and practices.
Chris replaces Sue Chalkley OBE FCIH who is standing down after seven years as a CUF trustee and 18 months as chair. CUF thanks Sue for her years of dedicated service.
Alongside Chris, Jessica Foster also joins the board.
The Revd Jessica Foster is an Anglican Deacon who works as Head of Church Engagement at Trussell - an anti-poverty charity and a community of food banks. Her role includes developing messaging, strategies and activations that engage the church, church-leaders and Christian parliamentarians in the struggle against poverty, working with people with lived experience of that struggle to shape engagement and communicating with as wide a swathe of Christian traditions as possible and collaborating with other faith-based organisations in the sector to create a coherent movement for justice and compassion.
She was a Near Neighbours co-ordinator in Birmingham from 2011 to 2016 and helped to found Places of Welcome. She was awarded a Lambeth award in 2019 for her work with Near Neighbours and her engagement with Israel Palestine.
CUF’s CEO, Bishop Rob Wickham said: “I am delighted that the CUF board has appointed Chris as Chair. Chris is a leader of principled integrity and bold imagination. Building on strong foundations, he brings an ambition for CUF that will shape the next strategic season for the greatest impact. Fuelled by his own personal faith, Chris will support, challenge and develop CUF’s reach in shaping a nation as God intends it to be. It is my privilege to be working closely Chris in this vocation.”
New Chair Chris Cummings said: “"I am honoured to be taking over the role of chair of the CUF board from Sue who is inspirational leader. CUF is going through a period of renewal where it is right we set bold objectives for the charity given the times we are facing and the needs of our beneficiaries. With God's grace CUF can be a powerful agent for change, stepping up to meet the challenges that face us. Next year, CUF will be celebrating 40 years since its inception, firm foundations on which to build an ambitions and impactful future. I am delighted to be working with Rob, his outstanding team, and my fellow trustees in the years ahead."