A CLERIC who has served as an assistant curate at All Saints Penarth for the past two-and-a-half years is set to start a new role as Chaplain for the Archbishop of Wales.

The Revd Dr Mark Dimond, 46, has been appointed as Chaplain by the Archbishop, Dr Barry Morgan, and will be based at the Archbishop’s office in Llandaff.

Ordained in 2011 after training at St Michael’s College, Cardiff, Mark has served as assistant curate in the benefice of All Saints Penarth for the past two-and-a-half years. Prior to that, he taught history at Cardiff, Swansea and Glamorgan universities and was also an examiner for the International Baccalaureate.

The son of a diplomat, Mark was born in Japan and lived abroad for much of the first 30 years of his life, latterly working as a marketing manager for an international company. The countries he lived in included Sweden, Czechoslovakia, France, Russia and Hungary and he can speak French, Czech and Russian.

Mark Dimond is married to Samantha, a marketing executive, and the couple have three school age children. His hobbies include walking and tennis.

Archbishop Barry said: “I am delighted to have Mark as my new Chaplain. He brings many gifts and much experience and I am sure will be a huge help to me.”

Mark said: “I have always had a thirst for doing different things and getting new experiences – I find it very enriching. So I am greatly looking forward to my new role as Archbishop’s chaplain and the varied and exciting work it will entail.”