John May – teacher, leader and cat lover
John May, CEO of Cats Protection, looks back at his student days, being a gay teacher in the 1980s and a lifelong passion for learning. And, of course, his love of cats.
When John May was a newly qualified teacher in the 1980s, he had to work under the shadow of the infamous Section 28 legislation, which made ‘promotion of homosexuality’ by local authorities illegal. As a gay man this was extremely difficult for John to live with.
He explains, “When I went to teach I realised how challenging my sexual orientation was to others and how challenging it could be in terms of my own career. I found Section 28 deeply difficult to live with because it meant that I could not be myself at school. And I wasn’t able to offer assistance to children as they began discovering their own sexuality.
“But in recent years former pupils have contacted me on social media to say how accepting I had been when they were developing their own understanding of sexual orientation – and that discovering when they were adults that I was gay made perfect sense.
“If I look now at schools, it is empowering to see the next generation of teachers being able to be honest about their sexuality and becoming really positive role models.”
Why teaching?
Teaching was John’s vocation but he came to it somewhat accidentally.
“I started off believing I wanted to be an actor. But then realised I couldn’t act. This was when I was doing my first degree at Bristol, and was also doing my Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. For the volunteering part of that I was helping with a Scout Group in St. Paul’s, which was quite an underserved community. It was challenging but really, really fulfilling.
“It was there I discovered I really enjoyed working with young people and so I thought to myself that teaching might be an interesting thing to do.”
Westminster College
After graduating from Bristol, John chose to do a PGCE at Westminster College on Harcourt Hill – now an Oxford Brookes campus. And as soon as he started teaching, he knew this was what he wanted to do.
“On that first morning of the very first teaching practice, going into a class of 10- and 11-year olds and realising I had an opportunity to make a difference to 34 young lives.
“I was lucky enough to work at Faringdon Junior School with an amazing class teacher called Kath Thacker. I was only with her for six weeks but she was able to share with me her love of teaching and her vocation.”Studying and living at Westminster College was very different from being at a larger institution and its close-knit community suited John.
“Westminster was an amazing community and I absolutely loved it. We all lived and ate together. At that time Westminster was a dry college so we’d walk down to the Fishes pub at the bottom of the hill for a drink.
“The PGCE course was very intense and the great support each of us were able to give each other was important.”
Teaching career
After graduating from Westminster College, John’s career quickly took off.
First he became a primary school teacher in Lichfield, Staffordshire where he worked for four years before becoming a deputy headteacher of a village school in Sussex, then rising to headteacher of a large middle school in Buckinghamshire whilst still in his twenties.
The conventional career path for a headteacher would have seen him joining a local authority as an advisor or inspector. But John’s boss instead thought he should apply to be Director of Education at the charity Business in the Community – an inspired suggestion.
“While I’d been a classroom teacher, I’d spent a lot of time linking business with education. I taught my classes about industry and entrepreneurship, things that are taken for granted nowadays but not so much then. I gave it a go and ever since have worked in the charity sector rather than the education sector.
“Even so, I don’t think I ever really stopped being a teacher. I want to see colleagues succeed and invest in their personal and professional development. And being a teacher gave me a window into a really wide group of people.
“Also, I can spot a typo in a report like nobody else – that comes from years of marking 11-year-olds’ exercise books!”
Charity career
John was part of the team that created the Teach First programme, which sought to widen the pool of people who became teachers as a way of addressing educational disadvantage.
“Teaching gave me a sense of my own purpose and place in the world. It also gave me a real commitment to social justice. I saw the opportunities that young people could have and those that they were missing, and wanted to do something.
“Teach First changed the public perception of what teaching is and who can be a teacher. My sense is that the esteem of teachers and the understanding of the profession has increased as a result of that programme and others since.”
He went on to become Secretary General of The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award – overseeing the award globally that had first got him involved in working with young people. This was an ideal role for somebody who passionately believes in the importance of both formal and non-formal learning.
“Not all learning happens in the classroom. I believe that really strongly as a teacher. I saw the impact that youth work can have on young people’s lives.
“The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award takes young people out of their normal environment for short periods of time and gives them a taste of what might be. It gives them the chance to do different things – volunteering, sport, an expedition – that help to inculcate habits that they can take into adult life.”
Cats Protection
John is now Chief Executive of Cats Protection, one of the UK’s largest charities – reflecting both a personal love of cats and the good he believes they can do people.
“I’ve shared my life with cats ever since I was a child. In fact, I’m told that when I was very small if my mother was looking for me she would find me in the cat’s basket!
“I work with volunteers and staff who are absolutely committed to making a difference for cats. But also for people. We recognise the relationship that exists between this particular species and people, and that frankly, our world is better for having cats in it.
“One of the things I’m really proud of is Cats Protection’s Lifeline Service. It is a really shocking situation that many people in damaging domestic relationships don’t leave those relationships because they are terrified for their pet. We provide a short-term fostering service for cats in those households. So that somebody who needs to flee domestic abuse can do so without fear for their pet.”
Future High Sheriff
John has been nominated High Sheriff of Oxfordshire for 2025/26, an unpaid ceremonial role which will give him a platform to raise issues close to his heart.
“I’m intending to look at the question of whose voices should be heard in terms of justice but are not always heard as loudly as they should. Oxford Pride, for instance, is so important. I will look to work with organisations that are already working so hard to amplify the voices of LGBTQIA+ and those of other protected characteristics, to celebrate diversity, inclusion, equity and equality within the county.”
The freedoms that have been fought for
John is proud of his achievements – including as a volunteer helping to bring about the Scout movement’s first commitment to full equal opportunities. But he is also reflective about what he went through as a young gay teacher and adamant that progress should never be taken for granted.
“The day I saw the Scout Association walking at Pride in London was genuinely one of the proudest days of my life because I felt I played a small part in making that happen.
“But I wish I had been braver at the time of Section 28. If I look at what I have found the confidence to do in the last 20 years, I wish I had been as courageous as some of my contemporaries were in the 20 years before that.
“I have seen a shift from a number of brave souls being prepared to be really clear about social justice in the area of sexual orientation and sexuality, to a point in time where there is a genuine acceptance within education.
“But I don’t think we can ever take for granted the freedoms that have been fought for. History shows how those freedoms and those rights can be compromised so quickly.”