Council

The Council comprises up to fifty members, who are usually elected for a three year period, but are eligible to stand for re-election. As the body which formally elects the Board of Trustees, the Council is the ultimate ruling body of VSO. In practice, however, the Council will normally accept the recommendations of the Board of Trustees. The main formal function of the Council therefore is to act as a constitutional check on the Board of Trustees.

The Council also serves an important role in involving influential supporters of VSO who can be of great assistance to the organisation.

All Trustees are council members. In addition the following are council members:

Non Board of Trustees members

Jonathan Dimbleby
VSO Ambassador, Journalist, TV Presenter (President)
Mr Frank Almond
Consultant (former-trustee)
Dame Judy Dench DBE, CH
Actress
Dr David Bryer
former Director, Oxfam
Mr David Essex OBE
Musician (former Ambassador)
Sir David Green KCMG
Dir. Gen. British Council
Mr Geoffrey Barnett OBE
(former-trustee)
Mr Hugh Richardson
Eton College, Windsor
Mr James Boyle
Media
Mr John Fowler
Formerly The Prince's Trust
Mr Jon Snow
Journalist
Mr Mike Gapes MP
MP, Ilford South, Labour Party
Mr Nick Selbie
retired Managing Partner, Actis
Mr Tony Cunningham MP
MP, Workington, Labour
Mrs Glenys Kinnock
Member of the European Parliament
Ms Brenda King
Chair - African & Caribbean Finance Forum
Ms Sarah Gilbert
HR Consultant
Professor Peter Mortimore
(former-trustee)
Professor Richard Feachem CBE
Executive Director, the Global Fund
Sir Tim Lankester
President Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Professor Bhupinder Sandhu
Consultant, Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Bristol (former-trustee)
Mr Charles Sinclair
Group Chief Executive of Daily Mail and General Trust plc
Alderman John Stuttard
former Lord Mayor of City of London & Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Ms Justine Greening MP
MP Putney, Roehampton & Southfields, Conservative