Chaired by former Prime Minister David Cameron, we've chosen twenty one NCS Patrons to work with us to ensure as many Year 11 teenagers as possible get to experience NCS; helping to create a more engaged, more cohesive and more socially mobile society.
NCS Patrons span the political and social spectrum and are highly accomplished individuals who have excelled in their respective fields. With expertise in education, the cultural industries, media, charity and business the Patrons will bring their knowledge, passion and energy to NCS.
CHAIR
David Cameron served as Prime Minister from 2010-2016, leading Britain's first coalition government in nearly 70 years and, at the 2015 General Election, forming the first majority Conservative government in over two decades.
Today, he continues to focus on issues he advanced while in office. He is Chairman of Patrons at National Citizen Service; President of Alzheimer's Research UK; and he is chairing the LSE-Oxford Commission on State Fragility, Growth and Development, under the auspices of the International Growth Centre.
As CEO and co-founder of RockCorps, Stephen delivered social engagement platforms in ten countries around the world, across six continents. He is also a trustee of The Fowler Center, GoodGym and The Young Camden Foundation. Following his adviser role to the UK Office for Civil Society from 2010, Stephen was appointed Chairman of NCS Trust's CIC Board of Directors from 2012 - 2018.
Andrew Adonis is a Labour peer. He was Tony Blair’s domestic policy architect, heading the No. 10 Policy Unit before being appointed Minister for Schools (2005-2008), and Transport Secretary (2009-2010). Teach First, academy schools, HS2 and Crossrail are his proudest achievements.
Tim founded Portland in 2001 after a career spanning business and political communications.
He spent 6 years working for Tony Blair in Opposition and then in 10 Downing Street. He was a key media adviser during the 1997 election campaign and then served as Deputy Press Secretary in Number 10 during the early period of the Blair government.
Waheed Alli is a British media entrepreneur and Labour life peer. He was the founding chairman of ASOS until 2012, as well as being the the co-founder and Managing Director of Planet 24, a TV production company, and Managing Director at Carlton Television Productions. He is currently the Chief Executive of Silvergate Media, and the Chairman of Koovs Plc.
Karren Brady is Vice Chairman of West Ham F.C and a peer in the House of Lords. At the age of 27, she became the youngest Managing Director of a UK plc and since then she has been voted Business Woman of the Year, Ultimate Entrepreneur and rated among the 50 most inspirational people in the world. She has also been a government Business Advisor and has featured on the BBC's The Apprentice. She is passionate about business and the promotion of women in business in the UK.
General Carter joined the Army as an 18 year-old and joined the Royal Green Jackets. He has seen active service in Germany, Northern Ireland, Cyprus, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. He is now the Chief of Defense Staff, the professional head of the armed forces.
Dame Louise is currently a Strategic Advisor to Crest Advisory and an Advisory Committee Chair at the Institute of Global Homelessness. Formerly Director General of the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), she has been instrumental in developing a number of bespoke Government social policy programmes. In 1992, she became the Deputy Director of homeless charity Shelter, and in 2010 was appointed as the UK’s first Victim's Commissioner.
Dame Sally Coates is an acclaimed secondary school ‘super-head’, author, and currently the Director of Secondary Academies at United Learning. Dame Sally was headteacher at Burlington Danes Academy, leading it from special measures to outstanding in all areas, and carried out a teaching review on Teachers Skills for the Department for Education and an independent review into Prison Education for the Ministry of Justice. Dame Sally also sits on the NCS Board of Directors.
In September 2017, Nicola Dandridge became the first Chief Executive of the Office for Students. OfS is a new public body, established to be the regulator for the Higher Education sector, with student interest at its heart. Most recently, Nicola was Chief Executive of Universities UK, the representative body for universities.
One of the UK’s most exciting young entrepreneurs, Jamal Edwards has helped launch the careers of stars like Ed Sheeran and many more. The founder of SB.TV, Jamal has been named one of the Forbes ‘top 30 under 30’ and was awarded an MBE in 2014.
Carolyn joined the CBI as Director General in November 2015. She spent her early career at McKinsey, and later served as BBC’s Director of Strategy. Carolyn created and launched Freeview and later became an executive board member at ITV. From 1995-97, Carolyn was a member of the Number 10 Policy Unit.
Adventure TV host Bear Grylls is an ex 21 SAS soldier and best selling author who became one of the youngest-ever climbers of Mount Everest.
He has hosted extreme adventure TV shows, including the award-winning The Island with Bear Grylls, Man vs. Wild, Running Wild for NBC and Absolute Wild for Chinese TV. He is an honorary Colonel to the Royal Marine Commandos and the youngest-ever Chief Scout, an inspiration to forty million Scouts worldwide.
James is co-founder and Editor of Tortoise, a new form of newsroom which delivers high quality 'slow news' to members. Before that he was Director of BBC News from 2013-2018 and Editor of The Times newspaper for five years. In 1994 James joined the Financial Times and his roles included Shanghai Correspondent, Media Editor and Washington Bureau Chief.
Tom is Chief Executive Officer at the England and Wales Cricket Board. During his time there he has taken the game of cricket through a period of unprecedented growth, doubling the game’s revenues and negotiating the return of cricket to free to air television from 2020. A former professional cricketer, Tom is passionate about the power and influence that sport can play in empowering people’s lives, particularly young people.
David is CEO and Chairman of Universal Music UK and Ireland. He oversees labels including Capitol, Decca, Island, Polydor and Virgin EMI, alongside the world’s most famous recording studios, Abbey Road. David was the executive producer of the 2015 Oscar-winning documentary ‘Amy’, and in the 2016 New Year Honours was appointed a CBE for services to the music industry. He has been at Universal Music since 1998.
Jude Kelly is the founder of the Women of the World Festival and the Women of the World Foundation which she set up in 2011. She was previously the Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre for 12 years and founded the Solent People's Theatre, Battersea Arts Centre, and was the founding director of West Yorkshire Playhouse.
Javed is Chief Executive of Barnardo's. He leads the UK's oldest and largest children’s charity, having previously been CEO at Victim Support which he joined from the Government Office for London. Originally trained as a Maths teacher, he has also served as a Director of Education in local government.
Robert Peston is ITV’s political editor, presenter of the politics show Peston on Sunday and founder of the education charity, Speakers for Schools. He has written three books,“How Do We Fix This Mess”, “Who Runs Britain?”, and “Brown’s Britain”. For a decade until the end of 2015, he was at the BBC, as economics editor and business editor.
Justine is Founder and CEO of Mumsnet and Gransnet. With over 11 million unique users per month, Mumsnet hosts around 170 local sites, a network of around 10,000 bloggers, and campaigns on issues such as miscarriage care and postnatal care.
Sarah is currently the Editor of the Today Programme. Previously, she was Deputy Editor at the Daily Telegraph and the first female Editor to be appointed at the Sunday Telegraph. Sarah has also worked as Consultant Editor on the Daily Mail, Editor-in-Chief of Reader's Digest UK and Editor of the London Evening Standard.
David is the founding Chairman of St George's Park National Football Centre. He was formerly Chairman of Ipswich Town FC and The Football League. He is also Chairman of philanthropic advice organisation UK Community Foundations (UKCF) and Vistage, a company that helps business people become better leaders.
