Rosie Millard OBE

Chair of BBC Children in Need

Rosie Millard OBE is a journalist and writer. Since 2018 she has been Chair of BBC Children in Need, the BBC’s charity which every year helps bring happiness and transform outcomes for over 600,000 children and young people across the UK.

Rosie is also the Chair of Firstsite’s Board of Trustees. Firstsite is a contemporary art space in Colchester, Essex which embraces the transformative power of art to empower more people from all backgrounds to be creative together and lead healthier and happier lives. Firstsite forms part of The Arts Council England (ACE) National Portfolio.

From 2014-2018 Rosie Millard was the Chair of Hull City of Culture 2017, a £32.5 million programme. Darren Henley, CEO of  the Arts Council of England called Hull’s year an “unmitigated, rip-roaring, awe-inspiring, life-enhancing success.” City of Culture had a transformative effect on the Yorkshire city, achieving 90% engagement amongst its citizens, involving every single one of its 55,000 children and bringing in millions of tourists. Rosie still champions the North of England; she is a patron of Hull Truck theatre and Deputy Chair of Opera North, which brings opera to communities and audiences largely (but not exclusively) across the North of England.

Her position as Chair of Hull City of Culture has involved extensive lobbying in the highest Government circles in order to raise the City of Culture’s profile and guarantee its success. She has argued for the social importance of inclusive and transformative culture at a senior level alongside politicians and peers. She has worked with a huge array of stakeholders both private and public, including the Arts Council of England, Hull City Council, BP and Yorkshire Water.

She has overseen not only the fundraising and good governance of Hull City of Culture but also its overarching programme and vision, founded in a belief of public service, and of high calibre culture accessible to all. Her aspiration is for a City of Culture  which is distinctive to Hull, which will embrace diversity, and which will profoundly change lives and outcomes.

Hull’s Learning programme engaged all the 55,000 young people and children in the city. This is no mean feat for a city with historically very low levels of cultural uptake and investment. So far Hull has achieved astonishing press coverage and support in every single area of the media. It has even gained a permanent position on the UK weather map.

Rosie was the BBC’s Arts Correspondent for a decade, following which she was Arts Editor of the New Statesman and profile writer at The Sunday Times. She has been an executive at the Creative Industries Federation, a columnist for the Independent, a feature writer across the broadsheets and a documentary maker on radio and television.

Rosie lives in London with her partner Alex Graham. She has four children. She runs a marathon every year and has ran all the Marathon Majors. Her PB is 3.48.