Human Rights Speakers

FORMER ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER METROPOLITAN POLICE FORCE

Tarique Ghaffur spent over three decades in UK policing diligently and passionately working towards making communities safe within Greater Manchester, Leicestershire and London. He found it a personal honour to lead thousands of dedicated and skilled police officers and detectives dealing with community reassurance, investigations, law enforcement, counter terrorism and global security issues.

Tarique made history by becoming the highest ranking Asian and Muslim Police Officer in United Kingdom for which he received several high achievement awards.

Tarique Ghaffur has a BA (Hons) in Public Administration, MA in Criminology, Honary doctorates in Law and Criminal Justice Degrees from Manchester Metropolitan, Leicester and East London Universities. He was awarded the Queens Police Medal (QPM) in and in Commander of British Empire (CBE).

Tarique is a graduate of FBI Academy, veteran of several overseas assignments, and countless international advisory presentations.

A unique combination of recognised role model, an operational leader and all round `hands on’ and `individual` practitioner makes Tarique a unique speaker on professional issues related to leadership, crises response, policing, community dynamics and race relations. He intelligently uses a mixture of real life experiences, stories, case studies and humour to put across his material and often tests conventional thinking by being forthright and controversial on emotive and serious subjects thereby promoting learning. Tarique regularly writes articles on security related matters which are published within authoritative publications. His recent article on Airport Security was published within the Huffington Post.

Career

Tarique Ghaffur joined Greater Manchester Police in 1974 and worked in CID, undercover and uniform roles up to the rank of Chief Inspector in inner city areas including Salford and Moss Side. He led a goodwill mission to India and was commended for his work to tackle street robberies, public disorder and crime investigations.

In 1989 he transferred to Leicestershire Constabulary, where as a Superintendent and then Chief Superintendent, Tarique Ghaffur gained experience in both operational commands in Loughborough and Leicester City, as well as heading a major force re-organisation to implement community based policing. He graduated from FBI Academy, Quantico and was part of team that inspected Jamaica Constabulary Force.

In 1996, Tarique transferred to Lancashire Constabulary as Assistant Chief Constable where he was appointed head of operational policing for the force and for a short period was also responsible for Human Resources. Whilst in Lancashire, Tarique Ghaffur headed a major anti-terrorist operation in relation to the Blackpool Labour Party Conference. He also led a major corruption enquiry into a public organisation.

In 1998 Tarique was promoted to Deputy Chief Constable and worked at the Home Office Police Technology Organisation as operational adviser to develop technology for Policing.

In 1999, Tarique Ghaffur was selected to be a Deputy Assistant Commissioner and transferred to the Metropolitan Police Service. He initially assumed command of territorial policing in South London and in 2000 was appointed as the Commander of Westminster Borough (3,500 staff) with massive responsibility for the government security zone, demonstrations and public events including Nottinghill Carnival and New Year’s Eve celebrations. His innovative leadership made major impact on reducing overall crime in the City of Westminster.

Tarique Ghaffur was promoted to Assistant Commissioner in 2001 and took command of the Policy, Review and Standards Directorate. Amongst a broad portfolio, Tarique Ghaffur worked closely with senior criminal justice partner Heads in London and nationally to formulate an effective and collaborative partnership. He put in place innovative solutions to improve partnership between the Police and Private Sector.

In November 2002, Tarique Ghaffur set up the Specialist Crime Directorate (3200 detectives), to provide a distinct response to tackling all aspects of serious and organised crime in London, including homicide, drugs and gun crime. He was responsible for the institution successful innovative programmes to tackle organised crime around such issues as drugs, human trafficking, Heathrow Airport and serious fraud. He also developed Operational Quadrant to build confidence in South Asian communities in London through effective law enforcement and community engagement.

Tarique Ghaffur has overseen a number of high profile investigations, including the Damilola Taylor and Victoria Climbié cases. In 2004, Tarique Ghaffur carried out a comprehensive crosscutting review of race and diversity within the MPS and played a major part in supporting casualty recovery, investigations and building Community relations after 7 July bombings in London.

Until September 2008, Tarique Ghaffur was responsible for Central Operations (7,000 staff) delivering ‘Capital City Policing’ and `security’ around policing of Airports, Diplomatic missions, security of State buildings. He was also responsible for firearms, public order, traffic, communications and contingency planning. His officers planned for and dealt with over 5000 public events (football, cricket, rugby, concerts, carnivals, New Years Eve celebrations, royal visits, state occasions, demonstrations). Tarique led in co-ordinating the aftermath of foiled terrorist attacks in central London in 2006.

Also, he was the Operational Co-ordinator Lead for the 2012 Olympics for which he has produced a comprehensive and holistic security and safety strategy to protect London and UK during 2012 Olympics. In 2008 he visited the Olympic Games in Beijing and produced an authoritative lessons learnt report. In 2007, He visited India with Mayor of London as one of London’s Ambassadors.

Through over 30 years of policing allied to his personal life, Tarique Ghaffur has created a real sense of proportion around vulnerable communities. He has become recognised as a positive role model, resulting in his receipt of a number of community awards from all sections of the community and high profile public profile on Race Issues within the Police Service. He is well known in South Asia, Middle East and Africa and has become an expert on protecting and securing major cities from terrorist attacks and major emergencies.

Tarique Ghaffur has a BA (Hons) in Public Administration, an MA in Criminology and three honorary doctorates from Universities of Leicester, Manchester Metropolitan and East London. He has attended the International FBI course in the USA and been awarded a Certificate in Criminal Justice Education (University of Virginia). In 2001 Tarique Ghaffur received the Queen’s Police Medal (QPM) and in June 2004 was awarded the CBE (Commander of British Empire) by Her Majesty the Queen.

Tarique Ghaffur has written a number of influential articles on policing and communities, as well as delivering a considerable number of international, national and local presentations on a range of policing issues including changing nature of serious and organised crime, global security and terrorism. Tarique Ghaffur has a strong interest in Asian music and sports – particularly squash – where he has won numerous awards and represented the police service at the national level.

Tarique Ghaffur retired from the Police Service in November 2008 and has since set up a Foundation to promote shared responsibility for security and safety amongst vulnerable communities in UK. He is also a Chairman of Community Safety Development Global Limited which provides innovative security knowledge, solutions and training.

Mark Oaten was Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Winchester for 13 years and at one time considered favourite for party leadership. He is a recognised leading expert on the subject of Coalition governments- his book Coalitions was first published in 2007.

Oaten now lectures and advises a wide range of clients on the practical workings of successful coalitions.

He is currently a member of the Council of Europe representing the UK. He is a Board member of the British Healthcare Trade Association, Alcohol Concern, Mental Health Matters, the prison charity Unlock, the Council for Administration and a Director of the Charity Finance Directors Group.

Mark lectures at Wroxton College in Oxford and provides commentary and reviews for Sky and BBC Television.
During his time in parliament he was Chairman of the Liberal Democrats, Shadow Home Secretary and a member of the Business Select Committee.

After many years in high-level diplomacy Charles Crawford has a unique profile as an imaginative, dynamic and even provocative speaker who has addressed audiences large and small in English, Polish and Serbian

After an Honours degree in Jurisprudence from Oxford University he qualified as a Barrister before joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

From 1985-87 Charles served as Foreign Secretary Sir Geoffrey Howe’s official Speechwriter, contributing ideas/language for speeches by the Foreign Secretary (major set-piece speeches, Parliamentary debates and less formal after-dinner remarks)

His first job on joining the FCO in 1979 was to head the Indonesia Section, followed by his first posting, to communist post-Tito Yugoslavia. He returned to London in 1984 and after a year on the Aviation Desk was appointed FCO Speech-writer. He was posted to South Africa in 1987 as part of the Embassy team led by Ambassador Robin Renwick working to end apartheid.

Returning to London in 1991 he worked in the FCO Department dealing with the Soviet Union as communist rule collapsed. He then spent three years in Moscow as Political Counsellor and then served three times as HM Ambassador: in Sarajevo (1996-1998); in Belgrade (2001-2003) and most recently in Poland (2003-2007).

In 1987 he wrote the FCO’s first Guide to Speech-Writing, a dynamic text full of real-life examples on how to write speeches – and how to weed out lugubrious mistakes. Two decades later it remains a core part of the FCO’s speech-drafting training

He subsequently contributed to speeches by members of the Royal Family and successive Prime Ministers, as well as different Ministers and other senior personalities in public and commercial life

He left the FCO at the end of 2007 to start a new career as writer, consultant, mediator and trainer. In 2009 he joined the UK Conservative Party candidates list

In recent months Charles Crawford led training courses for senior EU and other officials and private clients aimed at improving their communication skills. He has written for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Independent, DIPLOMAT and Total Politics.

In 2009 his audiences included the Headmasters Conference and Conservative Friends of Poland, as well as private groups and academic gatherings

In 2010 he and other former British Ambassadors in partnership with ADR Group launched a new senior strategic dispute resolution panel, ADRg Ambassadors

Charles Crawford’s trenchant observations on public policy issues are now available to a growing readership on his blog




Such honesty has no place in modern government…it’s bloody dangerous!
Andrew Dodge (Samizdata)

The most telling critique of this delusional foreign policy comes in regular instalments in the form of a blog by the former British ambassador to Poland, Charles Crawford. It’s called www.charlescrawford.biz, and if you want to know just how much in despair many of our diplomats are, this is the place to look
Dominic Lawson (The Times, 2010)

In 2005 a humorous FCO email he wrote as Ambassador to Warsaw (a satirical speech by Prime Minister Tony Blair damning other countries’ selfishness on EU Budget issues) caused a stir when it was leaked to the Sunday Times

His FCO written work was praised at the highest levels in London, NATO and the EU for its uncompromising dynamic style:

“fabulously readable and interesting analysis, with practical application … just about the best scenesetter [No10 staff] have ever seen”

“acrobatic and eye-catching in his use of language”

As a speaker Charles Crawford draws on dramatic episodes from his diplomatic career to explain wider policy themes, paradoxes and trends. His presentations are interesting and thought-provoking, but above all memorable

He is strong on foreign and public policy issues such as:

o Communism (and Vampires)
o Dealing with extremists and war criminals
o Climate change and PPP (perverse precautionary principles)
o Amazon Space: how the Internet is changing the strategic policy context
o International negotiation (as explained by Shrek, the Joker and Clint Eastwood)
o UK/European Union relations: Too Big (not) to Fail

Journalist and adventurer Donal MacIntyre is Europe’s best known investigative reporter. He has worked for all the UK broadcasters, most famously ITV and the BBC where he has won awards for his outstanding and often dangerous work.

As a finalist of Dancing on Ice he won the nation’s heart and brought his journalism to whole new audience. MacIntyre has worked also in adventure television for Discovery and National Geographic and travelled the world living with far flung tribes and enduring the planets Wild Weather for the BBC.

His work is more diverse than any other broadcaster in the country ranging from undercover to war zone reporting to animal welfare documentaries. From live radio to live television, he has won awards across the world for his unique brand of work. Recently he has worked with the Government on fatherhood and health campaigns and he is currently an Ambassador for Born Free and Mencap.

In addition, he has won major awards as a director across Europe. He is currently broadcasting on BBC Radio Five Live and writing screenplays and novels.

Donal inspires and entertains conference and after dinner audiences with his experiences from war zones to jungles to one of the most surprising and biggest departures yet from his comfort zone – going from rank outsider to finalist on Dancing On Ice.

He talks about overcoming fear stress and anxiety, operating outside of your comfort zone, and managing risk and reward. From welcoming tribes into his home to learning to dance on ice, Donal is not afraid to take a risk and believes that we can achieve anything we want with the right mindset. Donal is inspiring and entertaining and appeals to a wide audience.

Baroness Helena Kennedy QC grew up in Glasgow, raised from a working-class background. She has dedicated her professional life to giving a voice to those with the least power by championing civil liberties and promoting human rights.

Elevated to the House of Lords in 1997 – she has argued with passion, wit and humanity for social justice and written and broadcasted on a range of issues, from medical negligence to women and childrens rights.

Beyond the House of Lords, Helena Kennedy is an acclaimed public speaker, regularly requested for lectures and after-dinner speaking.

As a member of the Doughty Street Chambers in London she has been involved in many prominent cases; including the Brighton Bombing, the Michael Bettany espionage trial, the Guildford Four appeal and the bombing of the Israeli embassy. She has acted for many battered women who have killed their husbands.

She was a British member of the International Bar Association Task Force on Terrorism. She currently chairs the inquiry for the Royal College of Pathologists and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health into infant death, following miscarriages of justice where mothers were wrongly convicted of infanticide.

She is a life peer participating in the House of Lords on issues of human rights, civil liberties, social justice and culture.

From 1992 to 1997, she was chair of the constitutional reform group Charter 88, persuading the Labour government to make devolution and human rights legislation central to thier manifesto. She is also on the board of the Independent newspaper and chair of the Human Genetics Commission, advising government on the ethical, social and legal issues related to genetic science.

An active and prominent promoter of education issues, Kennedy was commissioner on the Hamlyn National Commission on Education from 1991 to 1993. In 1997, her report Learning Works, for the Further Education Funding Council sparked great changes within education policy. Subsequently, The Helena Kennedy Foundation was established to help disadvantaged students into higher education.

In 1993, she became the first chancellor of Oxford Brookes University from 1993 to 2001 and is now president of the School of Oriental and African Studies at London University, the National Children’s Bureau and vice president of the Association of Women Barristers and the Haldane Society.

She is chair of The British Council and the Human Genetics Commission. A trustee of the Club of Three: a tri-lateral network of countries comprising UK, France, Germany, and the KPMG Foundation. A member of the Foreign Policy Centre advisory council, the International Centre for Prison Studies, World Bank Institute, the Independent News & Media board and the Académie Universelle des Cultures. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and the City and Guilds of London Institute.

As a media personality, she has presented radio and television programmes including Heart of the Matter, Raw Deal and the award-winning Time, Gentlemen, Please for the BBC, and is a frequent guest on both radio and television, including Any Questions, Newsnight, Question Time and The Today Programme.

She made the film Mothers Behind Bars, which radically changed policy within women’s prisons. She created the highly political drama series Blind Justice, which lifted the lid on many of the legal scandals of the era.

Helena Kennedy’s new book Just Law: the changing face of justice and why it matters is now available – click here to review or purchase

Michael Portillo was born in North London in 1953. His father, Luis, had come to Britain as a refugee at the end of the Spanish Civil War, and his mother, Cora, was brought up in Fife. She met Luis while she was an undergraduate at Oxford.

Michael attended a grammar school, Harrow County, and went to Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he gained a first class degree in History. Leaving Cambridge in 1975, he worked for a shipping company for a year before moving to the Conservative Research Department in 1976, staying three years.

At the General Election in 1979 he was responsible for briefing Margaret Thatcher before her press conferences and for the next two years was special adviser to the Secretary of State for Energy.

He worked for Kerr McGee Oil (UK) Ltd from 1981 – 1983. He contested the Birmingham Perry Bar seat at the 1983 Election.

Michael returned to politics as a special adviser to the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Nigel Lawson) and in December 1984 won the by-election in Enfield Southgate, caused by the murder of Sir Anthony Berry MP in the Brighton bombing. Michael represented the seat for thirteen years but was defeated in the 1997 Election.

He joined the Government in 1986, and remained a member until 1997. He was a whip, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Social Security, Minister of State for Transport, Minister of State for Local Government and Inner Cities; and as a Cabinet Minister was Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Secretary of State for Employment, and Secretary of State for Defence. He was admitted to the Privy Council in 1992.

After his 1997 electoral defeat, Michael returned to Kerr McGee as an adviser. He also turned to journalism. He wrote about walking as a pilgrim on the Santiago Way, and working as a hospital porter. He had a weekly column in The Scotsman. He had a three part series for Channel 4 about politics Portillo’s Progress, and a programme in BBC2’s Great Railway Journeys series, which was partly a biography of his late father, and radio programmes on Wagner and the Spanish Civil War.

Michael was re-elected to Parliament in a by-election in Kensington and Chelsea in November 1999 and was Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer February 2000 – September 2001. Following the Conservatives’ election defeat in 2001, Michael unsuccessfully contested the leadership of the party. In 2005 Michael left the House of Commons.

Michael has made a number of television programmes for BBC2 including Art that shook the world: Richard Wagner’s Ring, Portillo in Euroland, Elizabeth I in the series Great Britons, When Michael Portillo became a single mum, and Portillo Goes Wild in Spain (a natural history programme). For BBC4 he has made several series of Dinner with Portillo, a discussion programme. In 2006 he joined The Moral Maze team on BBC Radio 4. In 2003 he began the weekly political discussion programme This Week on BBC1 with fellow presenters Andrew Neil and Diane Abbott MP. Beginning in 2004 Michael became a weekly columnist on The Sunday Times and was the theatre critic of The New Statesman between 2004 and 2006.

Michael is a member of the International Commission on Missing Persons in the former Yugoslavia (which organises the identification of massacre victims) under the chairmanship of Jim Kimsey, and sits on of the Board of BAE Systems plc.

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia from 1993-1998. He also served as Minister of Finance for Malaysia from 1991-1998. Highly respected for his principled stance against corruption and his skillful management of the Malaysian economy during the turbulent period of its financial crisis, Anwar is also viewed as one of the forefathers of the Asian Renaissance and a leading proponent of greater cooperation among civilizations.

He is an ardent supporter of democracy and is an authoritative voice bridging the gap between East and West. Anwar was invited to join the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the ruling political party in Malaysia, and the government in 1982, by then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. His rise in the party and in the government was meteoric.

He was elected in 1984, as Leader of UMNO Youth and in 1986, became a Vice-President of UMNO. He served as Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports in 1983; Minister of Agriculture in 1984; and Minister of Education in 1986, prior to his tenure as Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister in the 90s.

Active on the national front, Anwar has also been highly engaged in the international arena. He has been a strong advocate for civilizational dialogue and has worked tirelessly towards the ideals of Convivencia, the mutual coexistence of civilizations and the interplay of different social, cultural, and spiritual ideas.

Anwar also was Chairman of the Development Committee of World Bank and International Monetary Fund in 1998. During his tenure he strongly endorsed the initiatives of debt cancellation and reprieve for poor countries, particularly those in Africa.

Throughout his career in public service, Anwar was unrelenting in his campaign against corruption and has been committed to the ideals of empowerment, justice, and equity. He has stressed the need for internal reforms in order to reinforce civil and democratic institutions and to expand the democratic space. As acting Prime Minister in 1997 he introduced the controversial but effective Anti-Corruption Legislation. His emphasis on social justice, poverty eradication, education and civil society has guided his government involvement to the end.

During his tenure as Finance Minister, Malaysia enjoyed unprecedented prosperity and economic growth and joined the ranks of other Asian countries as an “Asian Tiger.” Anwar’s impact on the economy was immediate. Shortly after becoming Finance Minister, Euromoney named him as one of the top four finance ministers and in 1996, Asiamoney named him Finance Minister of the Year.

In the midst of Asian Financial Crises of 1997, Anwar was hailed for guiding Malaysia through this period of instability. He backed free market principles and called for “creative destruction”, highlighting the need to reconsider the proximity of business and politics in Malaysia. He advocated for greater accountability and refused to offer government bail-outs to companies facing bankruptcy. He also instituted widespread spending cuts and gut government expenditure on mega projects. These prescriptions saved the Malaysian economy and earned Anwar many accolades, including the title “Asian of the Year” by Newsweek International in 1998.

As Anwar amplified his calls for reform in 1998, fearing that he was losing his grip over the country, then Prime Minister Mahathir dismissed Anwar from the government and had him tried on trumped up charges.

Anwar’s trial and subsequent conviction were widely discredited in the international community. Amnesty International stated that the entire trial proceedings “ exposed a pattern of political manipulation of key state institutions including the police, public prosecutor’s office and the judiciary” Many world leaders including US Vice President Al Gore as well as the US Senate called for his release from prison.

His conviction was overturned by the Malaysian Supreme Court and Anwar was finally released from solitary confinement on September 2, 2004.

Since 2004 he has held lecturing positions at St. Anthony’s College at Oxford, the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University and at the School of Foreign Service in Georgetown University. Anwar was recently appointed as Honorary President of the London-based group AccountAbility as well as Chairman of the Beirut-based Foundation for the Future. Anwar is also currently advisor to the People’s Justice Party (Keadilan), Malaysia.

He is an internationally renowned speaker on the subjects of democracy, freedom, governance, Islam and democracy and the need for accountability. He resides in Malaysia with his wife and six children.

Since being shot six times by Al-Qaeda terrorists in Saudi Arabia, and returning to work as a wheelchair user, Frank, 44, has become the country’s most recognisable disabled journalist. A fluent Arabic speaker, he was the BBC’s first full-time Gulf correspondent and, in the wake of the twin tower attacks, became the BBC’s security correspondent, reporting for TV and radio on domestic and international security.

Since the shooting, he has written a memoir, Blood and Sand, and was awarded an OBE in 2005.

A child chess prodigy who started playing as a five year old, Kasparov qualified as an International Chess Master at the age of sixteen. Those close to Garry know his unrestrained contagious laugh, his kindness and caring and know him as a multi-faceted and unique person.

All of his adult life the courage of his convictions have been put to the test. His matches against Anatoli Karpov were widely regarded as a show of individual opposition to the authoritarian state. Kasparov was in the fore-front of the anticommunist movement and the resulting threats to his well-being were real.

In 1988, a computer program was devised to analyze a vast collection of chess statistics, in order to create a ranking of the all-time chess greats. Top of the list, was the twenty-five year old Russian, Garry Kasparov. Today, in his late-thirties, Kasparov has been THE WORLD CHAMPION for fourteen years.

He has successfully defended his title more times than any other champion in modern times. On each occasion, his famous attacking style of play and brilliant strategy have proven too much for his opponents.

The restless Russian is always looking for new challenges and for the past decade has astounded the Chess world by beating some of the world’s strongest Olympic chess teams, playing four or six Grandmasters simultaneously.

In February 1996, in Philadelphia, he played IBM’s Deep Blue computer. His opponent was able to analyze 50 billion moves in three minutes. In NYC in May 1997, Kasparov again played the monster computer. The series stands at one match each and the World Champion has challenged IBM to a tie-breaking third match.

The Brain Club and Synapsia elected Garry as its first ‘Brain of the Year’ and described him as ‘The World Chess Champion, athlete and humanitarian both, and a cultivated and curious man who closely follows literature, films and politics’.

He has authored several books on chess and is a regular contributor for the Wall Street Journal. Other recent contributions have been made to TIME magazine and Forbes. His speeches are as dynamic as his chess.

Everywhere he goes he is a guaranteed news story. This is brought about by his forceful personality, his outspoken political and economic views and his greatest passion of all – an undying love of the game of Chess.

Matthew Parris was educated in Britain and Africa graduating from Clare College, Cambridge, and going on to study International Relations at Yale. Two years at the Foreign Office were followed by a spell at the Conservative Research Department. From 1977 until the 1979 General Election, he was on the staff of Mrs. Thatcher’s office. Elected Member of Parliament for West Derbyshire in 1979, he gave up his seat in 1986 to become Presenter of LWT’s “Weekend World”, a political interview programme.

He led expeditions to Mount Kilimanjaro in 1967, 1989 and 1996; to Zaire in 1973, the Sahara in 1979 and to Peru and Bolivia on several occasions.

He is now Parliamentary Sketchwriter for The Times and he also writes for the Spectator on a regular basis and for other magazines occasionally. He is a frequent television and radio broadcaster. His first book “Inca-Kola” in 1990 was about his travels in Peru. His second, in 1991, was a compilation of his pieces in The Times under the title “So Far, So Good”. Since then there have been several updates. The first, in 1993 (and revised in 1994) was “Look Behind You”. In May, 1997, the latest compilation called “I Couldn’t Possibly Comment” was published. “Scorn”, a book he has edited of quotations about curses, jibes and general invective, came out in October 1994 and was up-dated in 1995 with the new Title “Scorn – With Added Vitriol” and came out in paperback in 1996. A third edition entitled “Scorn: With Extra Bile” came out in 1998. “Great Parliamentary Scandals” was first published in October 1995 and was updated and issued in paperback in 1997. “Read My Lips”, a treasury of things politicians wish they had not said, was published in 1996. “The Great Unfrocked” has just reached the bookshops and is a catalogue of misdemeanours carried out by people in the Church.

Matthew Parris was awarded the London Press Club’s Edgar Wallace “Outstanding Reporter of the Year” Award in 1990; the British Press Awards’ “Columnist of the Year” for 1991, 1993 and 1995, and the “What The Papers Say” Columnist of the Year for 1992. In 1994 he won the national newspaper category in the Annual Media Awards given by the Institute for the Study of Drug Dependence. In the first Channel 4 Political Awards, he won Journalist of the Year, 1998.

Parris’s style is often humorous, mainly light, but sometimes with a more serious undercurrent.

Camila Batmanghelidjh is a psychotherapist and founder and director of Kids Company, a charity based in south London devoted to ‘lone’ children. These are children and young people who experience significant psychosocial difficulties because their parent is unable to function as a caring adult. The lack of a functioning adult has a negative impact on their ability to access education, health, housing and meaningful employment.

Born in Tehran to prosperous Iranian and Belgian parents, Batmanghelidjh was sent to public school in Dorset, England. Her father was Dr. Fereydoon Batmanghelidj. After the Iranian Revolution her sister committed suicide, but she was kept on by her school despite a lack of funds.

Severely dyslexic, Batmanghelidjh completed her studies using a tape recorder instead of pen and paper. She completed her degree in theatre and dramatic arts at Warwick University gaining First Class Honours. Then she did a Master’s degree on the philosophy of counselling and psychotherapy, two years of child observation at the Tavistock Clinic in north London and a course in art therapy at Goldsmiths College, in south-east London. For four years, she trained in psychotherapy. She also worked with children as a nanny, and discovered a talent for the work.

Batmanghelidjh used her mortgage repayments to set up The Place to Be, offering psychotherapy and counselling to children in schools. It is now a national project and serves in excess of 20,000 children a year.
Camila is now Director of Kids Company – registered charity 1068298. Kids Company supports children with severe behavioural, emotional and social difficulties resulting from significant levels of trauma and neglect.

The children often suffer from abuse, mental health problems, substance misuse and homelessness. Kids Company aims to restore their trust and provide an environment in which they can begin the healing process, using a carefully designed support system that includes psychotherapy, counselling, education, arts, sports, hot meals and various other practical interventions.

Kids Company currently delivers services to 11,925 clients through – 33 inner-city schools in London, – a drop-in centre at street-level in Camberwell and – a new, post-fourteen educational institute, the Urban Academy in Southwark.

For ten years Kids Company has survived due to the support of charitable trusts and businesses. Camila has taken on and exceeded the challenge of funding the organisation. It has been a ‘hand to mouth’ existence for the organisation and Camila has kept united a staff team who accept that the future is always uncertain. On two occasions she has re-mortgaged her flat to see Kids Company through its lack of funding.

Batmanghelidjh won the Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2005. She has written Shattered Lives: Children Who Live with Courage and Dignity, ISBN 1-84310-434-2 and other papers. She was also nominated in The Good List 2006, of exceptional people.

Camila Batmanghelidjh was awarded the Woman of the year award for 2006 in recognition of her work with Kids Company.

She has curated two major art exhibitions, one called “Shrinking Childhoods” at the Tate Modern in 2005 and “Demons and Angels: Does it have to be this way?” at Shoreditch Town Hall.

Pam Giddy is director of The Power Inquiry. The Power Inquiry was set up in 2004 to explore how political participation and involvement can be increased and deepened in Britain following all time low turn-outs at the polling booths and a seemingly increasing public distrust of politicians and the political system. Its work is based on the primary belief that a healthy democracy requires the active participation of its citizens. With a long history, and interest, in constitutional and democratic reform issues, Pam established the Power Inquiry in 2004. She was appointed to the Content Board of Ofcom in May 2003.

After graduating in 1989 with a degree in Law from LSE, Pam joined Charter88, the newly formed constitutional reform movement. It was there that she launched the Violations of Rights series of publications, which set out to show how the lack of specific rights had an impact on us all. She left to cut her journalistic teeth on Cosmopolitan magazine in 1993 as Careers and News editor and then at the BBC with Newsnight, looking after political coverage.

She produced a series of films for the BBC on social exclusion in Salford, Manchester for the BBC before becoming the first female director of Charter88 in 1999. She has been widely consulted by the Government on issues relating to youth and diversity and is currently working on launching a major inquiry into the state of democracy and participation.

Jenni Murray is one of radio and television’s most respected broadcasters. Her wide-ranging expertise in politics, business and the arts has led commentators to write admiringly of her “well stocked mind”. Her passions fuel her work and her polemic for FIVE TV’s Don’t Get me Started on assisted dying provoked discussion and debate beyond the usual reach of the programme. Her ability to deal with healthcare issues is testament to her professionalism; she has only recently recovered from cancer herself.

Her interviews with the powerful (PM’s, Cabinet Ministers, Church and Business leaders and the Royal Family) are described as “probing”‘, “steely” and “no-nonsense” and her knowledge of the arts is matchless. Describing her work with people in tragic or difficult circumstances, one reviewer wrote of Jenni as “an interviewer who for sensitivity and pointfulness (sic) leaves most others far behind”.

As presenter of BBC Radio’s WOMAN’S HOUR, Jenni daily demonstrates her incredible range and depth and a unique ability to understand the feelings and complexities of those she interviews – talents she brings to Radio 4’s The Message and talents she brought to BBC TV’s Newsnight and Everyman and BBC Radio’s Today and Tuesday Call.

In late 2000 she brought her wit and wisdom to a couple of episodes of the revamped Loose Women – Live Talk – for Granada TV.

Also for Granada TV Jenni presented three series of This Sunday – a live look at issues across the entire religious spectrum.

She wrote a weekly column for THE EXPRESS – a great forum for her wit and ideas, and written proof of her versatility and depth.

Now she writes for THE MAIL amongst many others. Away from page and broadcast Jenni is an accomplished conference facilitator and presenter – skilled at managing platform and audience with an incisive grasp of issues and impressive speaking skills.

Corporate Credits include:

NHS Executive.’ Positively Diverse Launch’,
NHS Nat. Framework for Mental Health launch.
NHS Staff Conf. ‘Improving Working Lives
NHS Chief Nursing Officers Conf.
NHS – Communicating the Difference Conf.
NHS D.O.E
Trebor,
British Gas,
Shell UK, , Glenfiddich (Awards),
B.I.RG,
Biochemical Society,
Greater London Authority,
Daycare Trust,
Environmental Agency