THE FIRST batch of names has been released for this year’s speakers at the TEDx Royal Tunbridge Wells event with a line up ranging from Olympians to musicians who will give talks on the theme of ‘discovery’.
Due to be hosted at the Assembly Hall on June 10, TEDx organisers will be seeking to capitalise on their success over the past two years of operating within the town.
Promising to ‘showcase Royal Tunbridge Wells to the world and bring the world to Tunbridge Wells’ the event the centrepiece of the event is the talks given by around a dozen speakers who have been selected due to their ability to inspire those in the audience.
Each year since 2015 the local TEDx has sought ever larger venues due to the popularity of its events after seeing the size of its audiences grow from 100 people to a predicted 1,000 this year.
So far the speakers which have been listed include double gold Olympic winner, Dame Kelly Holmes who will talk about ‘reinventing herself’ and Lance Corporal Cassidy Little, a military amputee and winner of Strictly Come Dancing’s Christmas Special. He will talk on the topic of ‘Pride. Determination. Aggression. Resilience and being cheerful in the face of adversity.’
Other speakers include; Justyn Rees Larcombe on recovering from a gambling addiction; Henry Rose Smith on living with Prosopagnosia – a condition which means she finds it hard to distinguish the faces of individuals – Joaquim Bretcha, a businessman who’s travels give him a unique take on Tunbridge Wells and Phoebe Oldrey, an interior designer on how to make ones environment enhance their lives.
“The ‘E’ in TED stands for entertainment”
TEDx organisers have released additional information on two more people in the line up, eccentric musician Paul Cheese (pictured)Â and Jane Walker MBE.
The latter will talk about ‘finding purpose through service to others’. She will focus on her time setting up a charity to help impoverished children living in the slums of Manila, the Philippines, and her work at the UK based charity Purple Community Fund – which provides social enterprise projects for socially vulnerable people. She received her MBE in 2009 and won the Woman of the Year UK award for her services.
Mr Cheese, a singer, songwriter and record producer, will regale listeners about his 4,000 mile cycle ride across Europe where he visited the towns of Edam, Gruyere, Gorgonzola and Camembert and recorded ‘distinctive sounds’ along the way. These ranged from sounds recorded ‘from the tops of mountains to deep underground and even underwater.’
TEDx’s Lizzie Bentley-Bowers said: “The ‘E’ in TED is often mistaken for education when it actually stands for entertainment and that is something that Paul Cheese will definitely bring to the table.
“Jane offers a different perspective on volunteering that might get you seeing yourself differently. We can’t wait to share their voices with the people of Tunbridge Wells and beyond.”
