Ludicrously talented

Will Wilkin is one of 26 candidates chasing seven vacancies on the Council of the National Trust this year.  Here's his pitch. 

"I love heritage; it’s the stories of often ordinary people in extraordinary settings that enchant me. I love the range of the National Trust; Castle Drogo is my favourite property, I drink at The Fleece Inn – but nothing beats fly fishing on the Broadwater at Sherborne Brook. I hold a 1st class degree in Archaeology with notable digs with the University of the South Pacific and Bristol University. Professionally I’m the BBC’s Commissioning Executive for Pop, transforming our audio for a new generation. Working on high-level strategy in a major organisation together with my love of heritage would make me a valuable member of the Council."

Will came to the media via Burst Radio at Bristol, where he also played 1st XI cricket (He still turns out for Withyham CC). Thence to Radio Oxford as a Broadcast Assistant, and eventually to 'creative lead', perhaps counter-intuitively, for a relaunch of The Asian Network in 2015; the sages of the Radio Academy selected him as one of their "30 under 30". Radio 2 beckoned, where Will, temporarily abandoning the 'yoot' audience, sustained Tom Ravenscroft and Simon Mayo, and is one of many who have launched Amol Rajan. Amol's endorsement is on Will's self-effacing Linkedin profile: "In my brief stint at the BBC I have come across some ludicrously talented people. But none so ludicrously talented as Will Wilkin."

From Radio 2 to Scott Mills on Radio 1, and now, as Commissioning Executive Pop ('the' ?), he listens to new sounds through the twinkling valves of his Nobsound NS-01P tube preamp.