John Chelchowski MBE

Appointed 2009

John was born of Polish parents in Chiswick, West London. Upon leaving Chiswick Comprehensive School, John joined the Civil Service in 1977 and was appointed to Her Majesty’s Customs & Excise. He started his career at London Heathrow Airport, transferring to the Investigation Division in 1983. Although John has previously been based in London, his work has taken him to all parts of the country and overseas. In 1995 John was posted to Warsaw, Poland and he has subsequently worked in the countries of the former Eastern Bloc, The Balkans and Central Asia.

John concluded his overseas work in 2004 returning to live in Chelmsford with his partner Katy. Also in 2004 John was made a MBE for services to H.M. Customs & Excise. In early 2005 John was seconded for a brief period to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. In August 2005 John returned to his former Department, which had now become H.M Revenue and Customs following the merger with the Inland Revenue. In 2008, John transferred from London to work in Ipswich. He now works for the Home Office in the United Kingdom Border Agency.

In his spare time, John likes travel, walking and photography. He has always been avidly involved with designing sound and lighting for amateur theatre groups as and when time permitted. He is now an active member of Theatre at Baddow.  Since 2008, John has been involved in voluntary work within the Justice sector.