Stewart Sharman
Operation Christmas Box Director and Trustee
Stewart was commissioned into the Royal Signals in 1985 and completed nearly thirty years in the Army across a range of roles in a variety of theatres. Stewart thoroughly enjoyed every moment of his time in the Army, but whilst working for Information Services and Systems he was approached to establish and head up an Ex-Forces programme for FDM Group. As this was such a unique opportunity Stewart left the Army and joined FDM in January 2014 helping ex-service personnel make the transition into the commercial world.
Stewart completed the bicycle Race Across America (3004 miles) for BLESMA and the Wounded Warrior project in the US and so was delighted to be approached by Operation Christmas Box to be Trustee and to be able to continue to give something back to the forces.
Stewart now lives in Lincolnshire with his wife Judith and their two children. His free time is spent renovating three old barns, supporting Judith's horse habit and continuing his burgeoning cycling obsession.
Ciaran Scanlon
Operation Christmas Box Director and Trustee
Ciaran is an independent financial adviser who has experience in cashflow modelling and market analysis and has a passion for helping people manage their finances efficiently.
He is a member of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment and holds their Level 4 Diploma in Investment advice and the CFA UK’s Investment Management Certificate.
Ciaran will bring his extensive experience to OCB to help the Charity to manage its financial resources efficiently.
Neil Russell
Operation Christmas Box Director and Trustee
Neil joined the Army as an apprentice aged 16 yrs in 1977 passing out as a geodetic land surveyor and Sapper. In 1987 he commissioned via RMAS into the then RAPC and subsequently AGC SPS in 1992. He served a total of 38.5 years across a wide spectrum of roles and theatres. On leaving the services in 2016 he joined FDM Group as a senior Agile Delivery Manager working with various clients on both large UK and European IT and security projects. He took early retirement in 2023 to spend more time in France.
Neil is an avid cyclist and charity fundraiser. He has completed the SSAFA Edinburgh to London ride 3 times, twice as a ride leader. He has also completed the London to Paris ride twice for Alzheimers and the North Coast 500 for the Nora Docherty Foundation and Prostate Cancer research.
He was absolutely delighted to be asked to join the Operation Christmas Box team, having directly benefitted from the Charity on a previous operational tour.
Neil currently splits his time between his adopted and beloved Scotland and SW France. He is married to Linda, has 3 children, George, Jessica and Philippa and has recently become a very proud grandparent to Atticus. In his spare time he can be found cycling, fishing, walking dogs, honing barbecue skills and sampling the many Bordeaux reds on offer!
We rely on your generosity.
Help us to reach out to as many of our troops as possible.
SPONSORS
We would like to thank everyone who has supported us over the years, here are a few.
The Royal British Legion
BAE
COONEEN
M&S
Vestey Foods
Westminster Foundation
Sodexo
MBDA
Kilfrost
