Breaking The cycle of Emotional Avoidance

One of the UK’s leading voices on mental health, Josh helps others escape the grip of toxic family dynamics.

Through his bestselling book It’s Them, Not You and his raw, honest talks, he shines a light on the hidden epidemic of emotional avoidance and the healing power of accountability.

Re-engineering Equality One Toilet at a Time
DUO TALK

Physicist Hazel McShane co-founded PEEQUAL, the UK’s first women’s urinal, an award-winning innovation tackling the unequal queues and discomfort women face at events

Re-engineering Equality One Toilet at a Time
DUO TALK

Design anthropologist Amber Probyn co-founded Peequal, merging user-centred design and scientific rigour to champion “pee-equality” for everyone

TED talks are typically one person on stage but TED have given us special permission for both Amber and Hazel to share their incredible story together.

The Heat of the Matter: Climate Change and Our Health

A climate scientist at the University of Bristol, Dr Eunice Lo studies how rising temperatures and extreme weather reshape human health.

From advising government to contributing evidence in landmark climate cases, she ensures data translates into action.

Feeding Empowerment and agency to those in need

Activist and social entrepreneur Melanie Vaxevanakis founded The MAZI Project, a Bristol-based charity giving marginalised 16–25-year-olds access to nutritious, sustainable food and a sense of agency.

A former filmmaker and independent researcher for the BBC and National Geographic, she now uses food as a medium for storytelling, dignity, and inclusion.

Reimagining Care for the Next Generation

With over 30 years on the frontlines of social work—and lived experience in the UK care system, Roxroy "Roxy" Fearon co-founded BPlaced, a new way to reshape how young people find a safe, supportive home.

His mission is simple but profound: turn a system that often fails children into one that believes in them

From Bake Off to Breaking Barriers

TV presenter, baker, and disability advocate Briony May-Williams first captured the nation’s heart on The Great British Bake Off but her most powerful creation wasn’t a cake, it was confidence. 

Born without fingers on her left hand, Briony grew up in a world that apologised for her difference.Today, she uses her platform to challenge stigma, celebrate visibility, and champion true acceptance for the disability community.

Building Beyond the Blast

As a child, Andrew Scott survived Belfast’s Abercorn bombing an experience that shaped his lifelong belief in resilience and reinvention. 

Today he’s one of the UK’s most dynamic entrepreneurs, having built and led multiple companies under The Ascot Group and founded Business Leader Magazine. Andrew’s story isn’t about business success; it’s about how to rebuild, refocus and rise, no matter what life throws at you.

Agitator for Equality in the City He Loves

Bristol born and raised in Knowle West, Julian Davis is the founder of Curiosity UnLtd, a “think & do tank” for social justice.

He writes and speaks with urgency about Bristol’s racial and social fractures, pointing out that despite its diversity, it ranks among the most unequal cities for people of colour. His vision? A city where caste, colour, class, and culture don’t determine opportunity but character and justice do.

Architect of Global Cities & Civic Futures

Professor Michele Acuto is Pro Vice-Chancellor for Global Engagement at the University of Bristol, and also serves as Professor of Urban Resilience in the School of Geographical Sciences.

His work spans urban governance, global health, climate resilience, and how cities respond to planetary pressures. He’s advised UN agencies, national governments, and city authorities around the world. 

Human Creativity in the Age of AI

Novelist and games writer Stark Holborn creates worlds that blend grit, wit, and imagination from the acclaimed Factus Sequence to the cult classic Nunslinger.

A British Fantasy Award nominated author and lead writer on the sci-fi detective game Shadows of Doubt, Stark explores where human creativity ends and machine imagination begins.

At a time when AI can imitate almost anything, she asks what remains uniquely and defiantly human about storytelling.

Fighting for Change

As CEO and co-founder of Empire Fighting Chance, Martin Bisp has turned a boxing gym in inner-city Bristol into a global movement for social change.

What began as helping a handful of young people off the streets now supports thousands through sport, mentoring, and mental-health support, reaching from local communities to UN programmes worldwide. 

Martin’s mission is simple but profound: to fight for every young person’s chance to thrive, no matter where they start.

The Flavour of Belonging

Chef, author, and broadcaster Romy Gill MBE has spent her career using food to bridge cultures and tell stories of identity.
Born in West Bengal and now based in Bristol, she’s been a regular on Saturday Kitchen, Ready Steady Cook, and The One Show and has authored celebrated cookbooks such as Zaika and On the Himalayan Trail.

Through her recipes and writing, Romy explores how food connects us, across borders, memories and generations.

Solving Radicalism, One BBQ at a Time

Jared Shurin has spent years working on the frontlines of counter-extremism and community cohesion, discovering that the most powerful solutions aren’t found in policy papers they’re found in smaller, more human places.

Blending his expertise in radicalisation with his love of backyard BBQs, Jared shows how simple, human acts of sharing food and space can defuse division before it starts.

Rewriting the Language of Illness

At fifteen, Amelia Howe was diagnosed with a rare soft-tissue cancer. Now in remission, she’s using her experience to challenge the way we talk about illness and the systems that support young people.

Amelia argues that terms like “fight” and “battle” add pressure rather than empowerment, and that young patients deserve to be heard, not heroicised.

Amelia is calling for a new kind of healthcare, one that listens, supports and treats young people as partners in their recovery.