Six new deputies appointed by Lord-Lieutenant of Oxfordshire

The new Deputy Lieutenants are Brian Buchan, from Fyfield, Jane Cranston, from Besselsleigh, John May, from Weston on the Green, Sir Tom Shebbeare, who lives in North Oxford, Lady Cynthia Hall, from Henley-on-Thames and Martin Fiennes, who lives at Broughton Castle near Banbury.

Along with a number of formal tasks, the deputies will help to encourage and support all positive contributions to community life in Oxfordshire, particularly from volunteering activity.

Deputy Lieutenants are appointed for the contribution they have already made to the life of the county, and for their potential for contributing even more in their new role. The current Deputy Lieutenants are drawn from all walks of life, displaying a wide range of different skills and experience.

Mr Stevenson said: “I am delighted to announce these new appointments to the existing group of dedicated Deputy Lieutenants. I know that they will each bring skill, commitment and enthusiasm to their new role. Oxfordshire will benefit greatly.”

Brian Buchan studied Chemistry at Jesus College, Oxford and went on to an international management career with Procter & Gamble becoming Group Vice-President and a Company Officer. Upon his return to the UK, he held a number of CEO, Chairman and non-executive roles with consumer goods companies. Brian currently serves as the Chair of the Finance Committee at the Story Museum in Oxford, is Treasurer of OXSRAD a disability centre in east Oxford and is a member of the Jesus College Development Committee.

Miss Jane Cranston has retired from the wine trade where she ran a wine merchant’s business she co-owned in Oxford. She is now a Trustee of Vale House Care Home for Dementia, chairman of her local village shop, chairman of the Charity Youth Challenge Oxfordshire (YoCO) and a Governor of the School of St Helen & St Katharine in Abingdon. In April she finishes her year as High Sheriff of Oxfordshire.

Mr John May is the Secretary General of the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award; A teacher and youth worker, he has spent his career working with and for young people in the United Kingdom and around the world. John has been a teacher, headteacher, the national Education Director of Business in the Community, Chief Executive for Career Academies UK and Chief Executive for Young Enterprise.

He is a national trustee of The Marine Society and Sea Cadets and chairs the trustees of Oxfordshire Scouts. He volunteers with Charity Mentors, Oxfordshire and is a visiting lecturer in education at Oxford Brookes University. In 2008, he received The Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion in recognition of his long-standing dedication to enterprise education.

Sir Tom Shebbeare was an international Civil Servant with the Council of Europe (Strasbourg) and Director of the European Youth Foundation before becoming the first Chief Executive of The Prince’s Trust in 1988. He subsequently served as Director of The Prince’s Charities (2004 - 2011). He is currently Chairman of Spring Films, Virgin StartUp, Virgin Money Giving and until 2018 The Royal Parks Foundation. He is a Fellow of Green-Templeton College and a Trustee of ‘China Exchange’. For the past five years Tom has helped to create and deliver the Drayton (Vale of the White Horse) Parish’s Neighbourhood Plan.

Lady Cynthia Hall has been Head of The School of St Helen and St Katharine Abingdon; Head of Wycombe Abbey School High Wycombe. She is currently working as a consultant with Saxton Bampfylde. She is a former member of the Oxfordshire Independent and State Schools Partnership Forum, was President of the Girls’ Schools Association and was Team Inspector with the Independent Schools Inspectorate.

She is a trustee of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and has previously held governorships for Cressex Community School, Portsmouth Grammar School, Magdalen College School and St Paul’s School.

Mr Martin Fiennes works with Oxford Sciences Innovation plc, an investment company supporting spinouts from the Mathematical, Physical & Life Sciences Division and Medical Sciences Division of the University of Oxford. He has spent over 20 years working in early stage technology venture capital in the UK. He lives at Broughton Castle, near Banbury, a house which has been in the family since 1377 and which welcomes over 15,000 visitors each year. Martin is responsible for managing the house upkeep and farming operations on the Broughton estate. In addition he is a Trustee of the grant-giving charitable trust, the HDH Wills 1965 Charitable Trust, and a Non-Executive Director of Kings Arms Yard VCT plc.