Peter Thomas MBE (Chairman)
Peter is the Visiting Professor of Sport at Buckinghamshire New University.
He retired in 1996 from his position of Senior Education Officer (Family & Community Services) and Head of the Arts, Sport & Recreation Service at Buckinghamshire County Council. His 28 year career with the County Council also embraced major responsibilities in the fields of Youth & Community and Adult Continuing Education. During this time he served as Senior County Youth & Community Officer, Director of Staff Development & Training and the Director of Green Park Centre.
Since his retirement he has continued to work both professionally and as a volunteer in the world of sport. He has been engaged by Sport England as a consultant on the corporate governance and financial management of sport and has undertaken key roles for many sports bodies including as Interim Chief Executive of the British Wheelchair Sports Foundation and England Netball.
He continues to have an involvement in a number of national sports organisations, and these reponsibilities include serving as a Vice President of the CCPR; Sports Leaders UK and as a Patron of the Youth Sport Trust. Appointed by Sport England, he is the Chairman of The Velodrome Trust - the National Cycling Centre in Manchester, and has previously served as the Sport England appointee, as a Director of the Manchester Sport & Leisure Trust, and as Executive Director of World Class Hockey.
He is a former Member of the GB Sports Council and has represented the UK on a number of pan European Working Groups on Youth Sport. In addition to his many international working group meetings across Europe, his sport and recreation speaking engagements have taken him from Melbourne to Moscow and from Prague to Tokyo. Peter has also been a Consultant on Sport & Recreation Management to the Sultanate of Oman, the University of Oman and the State of Bahrain.
He also serves as a Buckinghamshire Ambassador and in 2004 he was awarded an MBE for Services to sport.
He lives in Milton Keynes, with his wife Dorothy and has two children and five grandchildren.