Sir James Cropper KCVO was born in 1938 and is the great great grandson of the founder of James Cropper PLC. He was educated at Eton and Cambridge University graduating with a degree in Law and trained as a Chartered Accountant with Price Waterhouse in Newcastle.

He was involved in the creation of the Foundation in 1997 when he was then Lord-Lieutenant of Cumbria. He was appointed Patron of the Foundation in 2012.

He was Lord Lieutenant of Cumbria from 1994 until 2012 and was appointed Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in 2011.