Sir Tom Shebbeare, Chairman

For over twenty years Tom was The Prince of Wales's principal adviser on charitable affairs. Having joined His Royal Highness as the first Director of The Prince's Trust in 1988, he became the Director of The Prince's Charities (the largest multi-cause charitable enterprise in the UK) in 2004.  The annual income of the group rose from £1m to £130m over this period. Between 1980 and 1987 Tom was on the permanent staff of The Council of Europe (Strasbourg).

Tom is currently Chairman of Virgin Money Giving, Virgin StartUp and Spring Films Ltd.  He is a Director of CIM Investment Management Ltd. and Delphis Eco Ltd., a Trustee of The Prince's Charities Foundation (China), Turquoise Mountain (Afghanistan), and the Royal Parks Foundation.  Tom is a Fellow of Green Templeton College, Oxford.

 He was knighted in 2003.

We asked Sir Tom...

• Which is your favourite Royal Park? It's a close call between Kensington Gardens, where I sailed my boat with my grandmother when I was four, and the 'Parade Ground' in Hyde Park where in 1996 I promoted the first Prince's Trust concert -  150,000 attended.

•  What do the Royal Parks mean to you? Our Parks are what make London different from any other great city.  Every other city envies them and we have the duty to keep them special, vibrant and everlasting.

•   If you were a tree, what would you be? Holly

•   What are your hobbies? Cooking, Drinking, Gardening, Laughing

•  What keeps you inspired as a charity Trustee? Success!