Aviation charity The de Havilland Educational Trust (DHET) has appointed leading aviation marketing and communications adviser Ben Griffiths to its Board of Trustees.

Stuart Beaty, Chairman of The de Havilland Educational Trust, said:

“Ben has a deep passion for aviation as well as for supporting aspiring pilots and engineers to take their first steps into the historic aircraft scene. It is vital to attract the next generation if we are to sustain the industry in the years ahead. He has the experience and expertise to boost DHET’s profile and reputation among the public and media as well as the wider aviation and aerospace industries. We’re pleased he has agreed to join the Board of Trustees.”

DHET’s remit is to educate the public in the work of renowned British aircraft designer Sir Geoffrey de Havilland and his eponymous de Havilland Aircraft Company, which was absorbed into what became British Aerospace in 1977. The Charity was founded in 2006 and pursues its goals chiefly by awarding bursaries and scholarships to promote vintage aviation among young people keen to become engineers and pilots.

Each year the Charity supports a number of youngsters on their first steps towards flying or looking after historic aircraft types, particularly those de Havilland machines still flying some 100 years after Sir Geoffrey’s then-revolutionary DH.60 Moth first took to the skies. Other popular de Havilland types include the legendary DH.82 Tiger Moth, on which thousands of military pilots learned to fly during the Second World War, and the DHC-1 Chipmunk; a more recent trainer, which first flew in 1946 and the type on which His Majesty the King learned to fly in 1968.

DHET owns and operates its own Tiger Moth, G-TIGA, on which many scholarships and bursaries are delivered, including via partner organisation the Thomas Castle Aviation Heritage.

Elected to the DHET Board of Trustees in April 2025, Ben Griffiths is the Group Communications Director of British aviation and aerospace company 2Excel, which he joined in 2019 to oversees all communications from media and government relations, to internal communications, branding and marketing. He previously led the aerospace and defence practice at a City of London communications agency, advising and representing some of the biggest international brands in those industries, including Airbus.

Prior to that, Ben was the City News Editor and a columnist at the Daily Mail newspaper, notching up a 20-year career in journalism. Ben is a passionate private pilot, flying a 1950 de Havilland Chipmunk, and is an active member of numerous organisations, a Liveryman of the Honourable Company of Air Pilots and a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. He has also advised many UK and overseas warbird operators on their marketing, strategic communications and media relations.

Ben Griffiths joins DHET's Board of Trustees

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