About me

I’m John May. I lead Cats Protection, volunteer with a number of charities and write about things that interest me. I live near Bicester in Oxfordshire with my husband, Mark, and our cat, Blenheim, who regards most of my responsibilities as less pressing than his supper.

I began my working life as a teacher and became a headteacher before moving into charity leadership. Since then, I’ve led Career Academies UK, now Career Ready, Young Enterprise and The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award. Moving from young people to cats has involved rather more continuity than you might imagine; patience helps, and neither group is particularly impressed by a job title.

Volunteering has been part of my life for over forty years, much of it through Scouting. It has brought friendships, adventures and opportunities to work with people around the world. It has also involved wet tents, committee meetings and washing up. I’ve enjoyed considerably more of it than I haven’t.

Closer to home, I chair Oxfordshire Youth and serve as a Deputy Lieutenant of Oxfordshire. In 2025–26, I had the privilege of being the county’s High Sheriff. The best part was meeting people whose work rarely makes the headlines, but whose absence would be felt very quickly.

Over the years, I’ve learned a few things about leading organisations, often by getting them wrong first. I try to listen, be clear about what matters and give people room to get on with their work.

Lead, follow, and then get out of the way.

That’s the advice at the top of this website, complete with an Oxford comma. I’m rather fond of the comma; putting the advice into practice takes a little more effort. Sometimes people need you to take the lead; sometimes someone else knows better. And sometimes the most useful thing you can do is stop interfering. I’m still working on that last bit.

About this website

This is where I write about leadership, volunteering, charities, Oxfordshire, travel, books and whatever else catches my attention. Some pieces grow out of my work; others begin with a conversation, something I’ve read or a walk with time to think.

I’m also putting together some memoirs of my life in Scouting. They start in 1975, when Mum decided my brother and I should join Cubs and Scouts. She can hardly have anticipated quite how much of the family diary would subsequently be taken up with it.

Away from work, Mark and I enjoy travelling, going to the theatre and browsing bookshops. I tend to come home with more books than I have space for, then write about something I’ve found in one of them. That probably explains a fair proportion of this site.

You’ll find links below to my biographies, Scouting memoirs and an archive of public engagements. Otherwise, have a browse. I hope you find something worth reading.