Vice Lord-Lieutenant and Deputy Lieutenants of Bedfordshire

Mr Christopher Sharwood-Smith MBE DL my personal profile

VLL Chris Sharwood-Smith CWO

Chris Sharwood-Smith was educated at University College School, London and Hertfordshire University.

Chris has spent over forty years in Law Enforcement, having served in the UK Police Service at senior level both domestically and abroad. He is Managing Director of CSS Global Consulting Ltd which specialises in training and resilience issues, working closely with International partners such as the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations, and European Union. His work has meant regular overseas travel. Currently he is a Senior Lecturer with Anglia Ruskin University delivering the Police Education Qualifications Framework

Chris was a long-term volunteer in the Army Cadet Force (ACF). He was commissioned in London in 1987 and worked at local, Regional and National levels, attaining one of the three top volunteer roles with the Army’s Cadet Forces prior to retiring his commission in August 2020. He is a long serving member the East Anglian Reserve Forces & Cadet Association as a military member.

Chris has had an association with St John Ambulance since 1976, during the COVID 19 crisis he returned to operational roles assisting with Communications at a National level, he is currently the Chair of the St John Priory Group for Bedfordshire.

He was the main driver in the formation of Bedfordshire Youth United in 2014, he is a Vice Patron of Families United Network (FUN), and Autism Bedfordshire, a life Governor of The Royal Humane Society and a member of the Bedfordshire Committee of the ABF (The Soldiers’ Charity).

He was appointed to the Most Venerable Order of St John of Jerusalem for services to mankind through First Aid in 1993, Deputy Lieutenant for the County of Bedfordshire in 2014 and Member of Order of the British Empire in the New Year’s Hours list for 2017. He was appointed Vice Lord-Lieutenant in 2018.

Chris holds a master’s degree in Emergency Planning & Disaster Management from the University of Hertfordshire, a Certificate in Education, and a Graduateship in Management & Training from the City & Guilds Institute. He is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute, and a Fellow of the Institute of Civil Protection and Emergency Management.

Married to Karen with one daughter, his passion is voluntary service, any spare time left is spent working on restoring his 17th Century farmhouse back to its former glory.