Sir Tom Shebbeare

Sir Tom Shebbeare DL has been a Deputy Lieutenant of Oxfordshire since 2018. He is part of the Lieutenancy team focused on Oxford West. He is a member of the Lieutenancy’s Honours and Awards Committee and holds the Lieutenancy’s philanthropy brief for the County. 

Following Exeter University, Tom worked to resettle Chilean refugees across the UK before became General Secretary of the British Youth Council in 1975. He joined the permanent staff of the Council of Europe in 1980 and subsequently became Executive Director of its European Youth Foundation. In 1988 he returned to the UK on his appointment, by the former Prince of Wales (now His Majesty The King), as the first Director of The Prince’s Trust, which he led until its incorporation by Royal Charter in 2002. He then took on the new role of Director of The Prince’s Charities.

In 2012, Tom left the Royal Household to become Chairman of Virgin Money Giving which, as the not-for-profit competitor to Just Giving, enabled UK charities to raise more than £1bn over a decade. In parallel to this, Tom helped establish and chaired Virgin StartUp, which supports aspiring entrepreneurs across the UK.

Alongside this work, Tom has served as Chair of the Royal Parks Foundation and a Trustee of the Turquoise Mountain Foundation, which fosters urban regeneration and the revival of artisan industries in Afghanistan, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia, and the Levant. He is a Trustee of the Oxfordshire based Orchestra of St John’s and Chair of Spring Films, a documentary Filmmaker.

Tom was knighted in 2003 for services to charity.

Tom lives in Oxford with his wife, Cynthia, who has taught French at secondary schools in the County for over 35 years.