Amanda Tincknell is to retire as chief executive of the Cranfield Trust after 25 years in the role. 

The charity, which provides pro bono management support and mentoring to the voluntary sector, said Tincknell would remain in post while it carried out the recruitment process for her successor, which will begin next month. 

Tincknell said that after 25 years in the role, it was the right time for her to step down. 

The trust was founded in 1988 when HRH The Princess Royal challenged staff, students and alumni of Cranfield University, a specialist postgraduate institution, to use their skills to benefit the voluntary sector. 

It became a registered charity a year later and Tincknell was appointed as its first chief executive in 2000.

The charity said that since then it had supported almost 3,000 social welfare charities with 6,000 projects. 

It said it “conservatively” valued its pro bono services to the third sector at £3.1m over the past year.

Charmaine Griffiths, chair of the Cranfield Trust, said, “We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Amanda for her extraordinary leadership and dedication to her role and to Cranfield Trust for the last 25 years. 

“Amanda leaves Cranfield Trust with incredibly strong foundations and a successful model of delivering vital services to welfare charities across the sector. 

“We are committed to finding a leader that matches the ethos and values of the trust, and I am deeply grateful that Amanda will stay as chief executive through the journey and to support any transition.”

Tincknell, who was appointed CBE in the 2015 New Year Honours, said, “It’s been an absolute privilege to have been chief executive at Cranfield Trust for such a significant amount of time. 

“As the trust comes to the end of its 35th anniversary year, I feel the time is right for me to pass the baton to a new leader to take the trust forward.

“I’m enormously proud of how the trust has developed over the years and that its ethos and vision has always remained the same: to support and empower charities with confidence and capabilities they need, whatever challenges they face.

“I will forever remain a huge supporter of the trust and will watch with excitement and great interest as the trust continues to evolve under new leadership.”