PROFESSOR Medwin Hughes last month stood down from the post that he has held since 2011: Vice-Chancellor of the University of Wales, Trinity St David. His successor, Professor Elwen Evans KC, is the first female leader of the University. Her career as a barrister has included leading the case, in 2012, of April Jones, the five-year-old child abducted and murdered by Mark Bridger.

She told the Governing Body: “My mother and father were Chapel through and through. They would regard my standing here as probably my greatest achievement.” She commended the annual report, which, she said, “illustrates the University’s absolute commitment to its Christian tradition and its relationship with the Church in Wales.

“It’s not just words on paper. It is very important you feel we are open in conversation and engagement. So much of what you have been discussing today plays out in reality in every day-to-day engagement with the communities you represent.”

She reiterated the “enormous debt” that the University owed to Professor Hughes, and how committed he had been to ensure the relationship between the University and the Church continued, and was powerful and meaningful — “a lived reality”.