Sparkes made permanent chief of Scope

Jon Sparkes has been appointed chief executive of disability charity Scope, having acted up in the role since last June.

Sparkes took on the running of Scope following the abrupt departure of previous chief executive Tony Manwaring, with the charity heavily in debt.

In an interview with Community Care last August, he said financial recovery was his number one priority to eliminate a £9m deficit by 2009.

Following his appointment, Sparkes said progress had been made both on financial sustainability and improving services but “there is still some way to go”.

He added: “I am looking forward to developing Scope further – both as a leading service provider and strong campaigner.”