SPEAKERS
We have stars from the realms of entertainment, charities, professions and of course Rotary to inspire, encourage and entertain you. We hope you will find something of interest to recharge your Rotary batteries this weekend!
This is not yet a comprehensive list and more speakers will be added to this page as they are confirmed.
Baroness Floella Benjamin DBEWe are pleased to welcome Baroness Floella Benjamin as Keynote Speaker at our Conference!
Born in Trinidad, but brought up in England, and with a wide and varied career in entertainment, both as an award winning presenter, producer and businesswoman founding and runnng her own TV production company, amongst others. Alongside this she was an award winning author and campaigner, especially for children’s issues. Baroness Benjamin has connections with and was Chancellor of the University of Exeter for 10 years, (the first black woman University Chancellor in the UK). As a tribute to her tenure a statue was commissioned by the university to celebrate her legacy, and is believed to be the only living black woman to be commemorated in such a way. She was the Chair of BAFTA - Television and created the successful BAFTA Children’s Awards, to recognise practitioners in the world of children’s film and television. In 2001 she was awarded the OBE ‘For Services to Broadcasting’ and in 2004 she was awarded the BAFTA Special Lifetime Award for her services to children’s television. |
She also played a leading role as a regulator and board member of various organisations, including, OFCOM on the Content Board, National Film & Television School for 16 years and BBFC Children’s Advisory Panel. She sat on the board of Dulwich College for ten years, responsible for child protection.
Floella is particularly concerned with the plight of children, their human rights, education and welfare throughout the world. She created her role model initiative ‘Touching Success’ to motivate, raise aspirations and encourage social mobility amongst disadvantaged children. For 20 years she campaigned tirelessly for a Minister for Children to oversee joined up Government policy a position which was successfully put in place. She also campaigned vigorously for diversity in children’s books and in the media for several years. She was elevated to the peerage in 2010 and speaks on issues concerning children, women, diversity, media and the arts. In the Lords she has been influential in introducing legislation concerning these issues. Baroness Benjamin still makes TV appearances and campaigns tirelessly for others. |
Leah Charles-King, Ambassador for BipolarUKLeah Charles-King’s is a multi award winning TV & Radio Broadcaster, Producer, Speaker and Media Trainer. Her story and the path has been a journey of ups and downs, turns and twists. Yet through it all, one theme has emerged to define not only Leah as a person, but what her story teaches all of us: Follow your dreams and never give up!
Her career started at a young age, pursuing her onscreen goals as a child actress. As a teenager she burst onto the music scene as a founding member of the R ‘n’ B group Kle’shay signed to Sony Music. After ten successful years including a top 20 UK chart single, reaching number one on the RnB charts, and countless TV appearances, she moved back into onscreen roles; this time as a TV Presenter and live correspondent. Today she enjoys international presenting assignments and hosting major events at some of the most iconic venues around the world. She is one of the faces of Jackpot247 on ITV, and also hosts and produces a weekly flagship music, entertainment and debate show on multi award-winning The Beat London 103.6FM. To add, she runs her own media production company, and is the founder and primary coach at The Red Carpet Academy which helps businesses, entrepreneurs and budding presenters to refine their on-camera presence. |
Maybe best known to many for presenting A Place in the Sun, there is much more to Leah than that. Leah is also an ambassador for the charity BipolarUK.
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Steve Brown, TV Presenter
In June 2005 Steve became paralysed when he fell from a balcony and broke his neck. He left hospital in October 2005 and in that same month took part in his first wheelchair rugby training session with London Wheelchair Rugby Club. In 2006, he was awarded a place in the Great Britain squad and in 2012 he went on to captain Great Britain at the London Paralympic Games. During the build-up to the games, Steve was involved in a series of Channel 4 documentaries and the Paralympic advertising campaign, Superhumans.
John Waldie, Founder and Director of our main sponsor AFWMWe are pleased to welcome John and his team to our conference. They are here to explain and demonstrate their dedication to their unrivalled client care and unrelenting activity in managing client wealth. Atkins Ferrie Wealth Management was founded in January 2011 with the aim of offering the highest ethical principles and best service standards available from any Independent Advisor in UK. |
Since 2012, Steve has been increasingly present on television for a variety of channels and in a variety of roles. In his earliest work he drew on his passion for, and experience in, sport. He was a roving reporter on Sky Sports Game Changers, a pundit for ITV at the BT World Wheelchair Rugby Challenge, a member of the BBC team at the Invictus Games (2014, 2016, 2017 & 2018) and Wimbledon and a member of the Channel 4 team at the 2016 and 2020 Paralympic Games.
More recently, Steve has demonstrated his range as a presenter on the BBC's Countryfile, Escape to the Country, The One Show and BBC Breakfast and winning the ‘Best New On Screen Talent’ award. Aside from Steve’s career he works as a coach and mentor guiding and supporting students, professionals and athletes to achieve in their fields, giving them the skills and mind-set to reach their potential. Along side all this, he is heavily involved in numerous local and national charities that support causes close to his heart as a Patron, Ambassador or trustee, including The Youth Development Fund, Rotary, The Spinal Injuries Association and The RSPB. The effort he makes in supporting charities and individuals in his local area were recognised when he was awarded the title ‘Freeman of the Borough’ by the Council of Swale, where he lives. In 2021 Steve accepted an invitation from Rotary GB&I to become and ambassador for Rotary too, a role he readily accepted. |
Sanj Srikanthan, CE of Shelterbox
Sanj joined the ShelterBox team in December 2019. Sanj spent 10 years at the International Rescue Committee (IRC), where he was Senior Vice President, Europe and Executive Director, UK.
In a previous role at IRC as Emergency Field Director, Sanj managed responses in Mali, Syria, Liberia, Lebanon and Turkey. Earlier in his career, Sanj worked for UN OCHA (the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) and was previously a Captain in the British Army. ‘It is a huge privilege to lead ShelterBox, an organisation with such a powerful clarity of mission – to turn despair into hope through shelter provision. Over the course of my career, I have seen first-hand the direct impact that quality emergency shelter can have in helping people begin to recover from disaster.’ |
Nigel Linacre, Co-founder and Chair of WellBoring
Nigel Linacre co-founded WellBoring in 2011, having led and worked on UK Aid and World Bank projects in India, Nigeria and South Africa, and run leadership development programmes in Kenya. A professional Executive Coach and Team Facilitator, he recently formed The Big Life Course, to bring personal development to a larger number of people. Deeply interested in making a difference, Nigel is the author of books on business, leadership, life, and poetry. |
Luke Simon, Founder and CEO of School in a Bag
Luke founded the charity, the Piers Simon Appeal, in 2005, shortly after his brother Piers sadly lost his life in the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. Luke has a wide skill set which has meant taking the charity from strength to strength – his humour and love of dressing-up have certainly helped make some fundraisers very successful! His drive and passion for the charity are second to none and there aren’t many dull moments in the office when Luke’s around! He has big plans for growing School in a Bag over the next few years and making it a more recognised charity nationally and loves that although it all began under very sad circumstances and there will never be anyone quite like his big brother P, there is a lot of good being done in his memory for thousands of children around the world. |
Yeoman Warder, Scott Kelly
Scott is the 409th Yeoman Warder, more commonly referred to as a Beefeater, at HM Tower of London since records began. He joined in 2018 having served in the Army Air Corps for twenty four years. In this time he served all over the world including tours to Afghanistan and Iraq.
The son of a military family Scott moved to Exeter in his teens where he excelled in rugby and went on to represent England South West at U21 level and play for Exeter Chiefs at 1st team level. Scott continued his rugby during his army career, playing for the British Army First XV including being capped in the Inter Services Cup. Scott is an avid supporter of a number of charities including the Rawthey Project and Royal British Legion raising money and awareness for our Armed Forces Veterans. Most recently he ran the London Marathon with a weighted mannequin of 40kg to simulate carrying a soldier off the battlefield and raised over £34,000. He is also Chairman of the Glider Pilot Regiment Society who actively complete work to honour the invaluable work of those who fought as Glider Pilots during previous conflicts. |
Scott is delighted to be able to share a thousand years of British history, his own experiences at The Tower of London and in the Military as well as his charitable work. |
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Aziz Memon, Rotary Foundation Trustee and Rotary International RepresentativeAziz Memon has been involved with Rotary for more than 30 years, and has led Rotary Foundation’s polio eradication efforts in Pakistan. He is Member of International PolioPlus Committee and has been Chair Pakistan National PolioPlus Chair for the country.
Under his chairmanship, Rotary International contributed US$ 134M to Eradicate Polio from Pakistan through WHO and UNICEF. With the help of this funding several NIDS (National Immunization Days), seminars and conventions were organized and aggressive campaigning of the End Polio Now slogan was conducted through billboards and hoardings in Karachi and across Pakistan. Mr Memon worked closely with partners and stakeholders including WHO, UNICEF, EPI-government officials and departments, ulemas and religious scholars, celebrities, corporate executives from multinational companies and Rotarians to completely eliminate polio from Pakistan. He motivates Rotary Clubs to hold polio camps, seminars, joining hands with National Immunization teams to distribute social mobilization items to school children, as well as assisting them to access areas where security is an issue. |
Steve Cartwright, Kids Out Coordinator and Trustee
Steve is passionate about Rotary ideals and “putting something back into the community”, especially helping those most in need.
The National Rotary KidsOut Day at Drayton Manor Park provides a successful and super venue for everyone not just the kids, and Steve strives to ensure that this annual event goes from strength to strength. |