Lily Webb | Transport for London
Lily is passionate about delivering projects that transform customer experiences and deliver innovative solutions for clients in the transportation sector.
Lily studied MEng Civil Engineering and graduated with First Class Honours in 2016. Whilst at university, she received a scholarship through the Institution of Civil Engineers/University of Surrey Scholarship scheme, gaining 18 months of industry experience with a major engineering consultancy, with overseas visits in the North America, Middle East and Asia Pacific regions.
After graduating, Lily pursued her interest in the transportation sector, successfully delivering solutions for aviation clients and their local communities in and around London. This included supporting the design through to installation on site in challenging timeframes to deliver an innovative monitoring trial at a major UK airport, and achieving consistent project delivery and local authority approval of environmental schemes in the surrounding community.
In 2019 Lily joined Transport for London, leading projects supporting the modernisation of Rolling Stock to deliver improved reliability, environmental benefits and transformative customer experiences for London Underground. Whilst leading a multi-disciplinary team she identified an opportunity to pull-forward critical scope without return-to-service constraints, which received endorsement from London Underground’s Executive Committee in 2020. Alongside her project management roles, Lily has supported the roll-out of training courses for her colleagues; digitally upskilling her project team and promoting TfL’s environmental commitments and sustainability initiatives as part of an award-winning Safety Foundation Course. Lily has also been recognised with awards for her contributions to building a more inclusive workplace, supporting junior colleagues, and improving safety and security across the business.
Lily is currently working as a Project Manager for London Trams, responsible for leading the development of a portfolio of asset renewals projects across a range of infrastructure asset types. She was recently announced as the winner of a competition seeking ideas to support passenger recovery across London’s transport network, gaining the backing of senior leaders in a “Dragons’ Den” style pitch.
Outside of work, Lily is a passionate STEM ambassador and a member of the University of Surrey’s Civil Engineering Industrial Advisory Board, a role in which she contributes to taught content evaluation and informs strategic changes to undergraduate degree programmes to better suit the future needs of industry.
Holly Dimmick | Air Navigation Solutions
After spending my school years thinking that working in a lab was my future path, I sat on the apron at Heathrow airport and saw a Singapore Airlines plane out of my window.
Astounded by the size, I noted the name ‘Airbus A380’ and looked it up as soon as I got home. From there, an interest in plane spotting sparked. This curiosity grew from recognising aircraft features to wanting to understand how some of the world’s busiest runways were managed, such as Gatwick Airport. My final eureka moment was sitting in a hospital lab during work experience. The window was facing the runway at Southend Airport and an easyJet aircraft took off and soared above me; I knew instantly my passion was lifelong and that my career was meant to be in aviation.
Whilst studying Aviation Technology and Management BSc at the University of Leeds, our learning covered a broad range of topics such as pilot theory, airport operations, airline finances and aircraft engineering. During my degree, I completed an Industrial Placement at NATS as a Safety Performance Analyst. My job role was responsible for producing imperative safety reports and dashboards for a wide range of internal customers and to the regulator. I then went to the Heathrow tower as a Safety Support Specialist to expand the visibility of the unit’s safety performance and culture, in between necessary trips to the top of the tower.
After graduating into a worldwide pandemic, I began my journey as a Business Insights Analyst at Air Navigation Solutions Ltd. Within my role, I develop data-driven insights from thorough analysis and interactive reports, dashboards, and visualisations within PowerBI. The company manages the traffic at Gatwick Airport, one of the world’s busiest single runways, and Edinburgh, Scotland’s largest airport. I therefore have achieved one of my aforementioned goals in this role, and have developed many more.
Aviation is a diverse and mind-blowing industry and I look forward to the long career I have within it.
Claire Airth | Mott MacDonald
Claire is a senior project manager with Mott MacDonald whose technical knowledge and emotional intelligence have assisted her throughout her professional career and outside of work.
After gaining her BSc in Information Technology from the University of West of Scotland, Claire quickly found a graduate role in Motorola and hasn’t looked back. Working for Mott MacDonald, she could nurture her passion for developing systems and solutions that helped road users have informed and reliable journeys.
With over twenty years of experience developing and delivering Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) for the likes of National Highways, Claire used her wealth of knowledge to write a paper for the ITS European Congress in 2016, where she presented on the National Highways Collaborative Traffic Management programme. This led to authoring various articles in industry publications. Claire gained her Chartership with the British Computing Society in 2017, and although she has gradually moved away from developing software, Claire has utilised her technology and domain knowledge to engage with clients at various technical levels. As a project manager, it is her collaborative approach that ultimately cultivates trust, whilst never losing focus on delivering solutions that benefit the transportation industry and its customers.
Outside of work, Claire has volunteered at the local hospice since 2017. She mentors teenagers who are pre and post bereavement. Her empathy and compassion for these young people instil trust. Through mentoring, she helps to build their confidence, self-esteem, and resilience in what is a difficult transition in their lives.
Jessica O'Logbon | King's College London
I have always tried to be the best at what I do despite the odds that may be stacked against me.
My innate determination to positively impact the lives of others and rise to life’s challenges has led me to pursue a medical career. However, my journey has not been linear.
In 2016, I was unsuccessful my applications to medical schools, so I decided to take a gap year and reapply. I got a job as an NHS healthcare assistant and became the youngest employee to be awarded the ‘Make a Difference’ Award – a staff recognition scheme that highlights the hard work and dedication of individuals that exceed patient expectations. The patient and her family expressed that my kindness made their in-patient experience as comfortable as possible, and it made me reflect on what I could do to improve healthcare for patients within my various roles as a healthcare assistant, a medical student, and a doctor in a few years. Needless to say, working at a hospital is not easy. The NHS is undeniably understaffed and overworked – a damaging combination that is wearing away at staff morale and, in turn, affecting the patient experience. Throughout my journey, I have continued to ask myself how I can ‘make a difference’. I have tried to embody kindness in each of the lives I touch and hope to build sustainable and scalable solutions that positively transform health services so they can keep meeting the needs of patients and staff alike.
I used my earnings from that year to support my family and undertake medical school preparation courses. However, I realised that these expensive courses acted as a barrier to underprivileged students wanting to apply. Since then, I have become a champion for widening participation, supporting young people to pursue higher education, especially medicine, regardless of their socioeconomic background.
I do this by working as an ambassador for my university’s widening participation team and mentoring students through my own online platform: Progress with Jess. Sharing my experiences and achievements, whilst offering free medical school application support, has helped students from underrepresented backgrounds gain a place at medical school; inspired unsuccessful students to try again; and ensured that current medical students reach their full potential during medical school, to try and reduce the current attainment gap. I have also authored 2 e-books: ‘Relocating as a doctor abroad’ and ‘Demystified: funding your studies’ to widen access to information and opportunities for those wanting to progress in their respective careers.
Widening participation work is particularly close to my heart because I am currently a student on the King’s College London Extended Medical Degree Programme – a medical course that provides targeted additional support for those from disadvantaged backgrounds like mine to be able to train as doctors. It is with this support, especially financially, that I have been able to achieve my best academically. My dedication to widening access to higher education led to me being invited to 10 Downing Street to discuss the work that can be done to increase representation and cultural competence within the medical field. I have since been recognised as one of the top 150 outstanding students of African and/or Caribbean heritage by Future Leaders Magazine.
I have recently completed my 3rd year of medical school and I am currently intercalating in a master’s in Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge. I was awarded 3 scholarships alongside the NHS Bursary in 2021 to fully fund my studies. My research will focus on the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of young people and their parents and aims to inform future government policymaking, education, and clinical practice.
Bhairavi Sapre | Ministry of Defence/British Army
Prof Bhairavi Sapre is a General Adult Psychiatrist working for Cheshire and Wirral NHS Foundation Trust as a Community Psychiatrist in the Perinatal Mental Health Service.
She has been an NHS Consultant since 2011. She is the Joint Clinical Lead for the Cheshire and Mersey Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Service. She is a Schwartz Round Facilitator and qualified in Executive Coaching and Mentoring. She is mentor for the Point of Care Foundation, a registered charity responsible for delivering the national Schwartz Round Program.
She is Veteran’s Champion Clinical Lead in her Trust and has helped her trust achieve Veteran Aware Status and set up an Armed Forces Network to help shape the trusts support to armed forces and their families in the Cheshire and Wirral area.
She is an External Committee Member for the Westminster Centre for Research for Veterans at the University of Chester and one of their Visiting Professors. She is currently co-principal investigator for a two-year project that will focus on transition to civilian life for veterans and their families, but will also seek to understand the full experience of these veterans throughout their service.
She is also an Army reservist, serving in the Royal Army Medical Corps with 20 years’ service, holding the rank of Lt Colonel, with 253 Medical Regiment, Northern Irish. During her service she has spent time at the Department of Community Mental Health, Catterick with her military counterparts and has attended numerous military psychiatry training courses and conferences in Trauma focused CBT and EMDR. She is a member of the Defence Hindu Network Committee where she has supported the development of webinars and has delivered lectures at Asian Women's' Events. She is also a member of the 1(Div) Mental Wellbeing Working Group and is the 102 Log Bde Mental Wellbeing and Resilience Lead where she advocates for and supports the wellbeing agenda across the Division.
Chanelle Smith | NHS
My name is Chanelle Smith. I am an FY1 doctor working in East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust.
I was featured in the Guardian, the Bristol Post, the Epigram and interviewed by BBC Bristol Radio to share my experiences volunteering as a medical student during the pandemic. This led me to be featured within a children’s book honouring Captain Sir Tom Moore: One Hundred Reasons to Hope. I have now been selected to become an ambassador for the Captain Tom Foundation and I will be working on projects alongside my medical work to support the foundation.
During my studies, I became determined to resolve some of the health inequalities that exist in the BAME community. I have recently contributed to a dermatology textbook, Dermatology Cases in Skin of Colour, that educates medical professionals about skin conditions in different ethnicities. I have strived to improve healthcare for BAME mothers and newborns through my role as an ambassador for BAME Maternity and have been invited to speak at their conferences about the impacts of health inequalities. I will be helping to raise money for The Brun Bear Foundation through hikes and an epic adventure to Greece.
South-African born, I have always tried to stay connected with my roots. My work empowering black communities in Ghana has won me the Pius Adesanmi Memorial Student Award for outstanding contribution to Pan-Africanism. My work was celebrated by the University of Bristol for International Women’s Day and I have been invited back to a regional conference to inspire the next generation of medical students.
Abigail Swerdlow | Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust and East London NHS Foundation Trust
Abigail is a Specialist Registrar in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust.
This year she has taken on the role of fellow in medical education for East London NHS Foundation Trust and honorary lecturer for Queen Mary University London, designing and delivering undergraduate medical education in psychiatry. She obtained her undergraduate degree from the University of Cambridge and qualified as a doctor from Kings College London in 2011. In addition Abigail has gained further qualifications by completing a diploma in philosophy of medicine and a foundation certificate in systemic approaches in working with individuals and families. She is currently completing her postgraduate certificate in learning and training.
Abigail recently set up a London medical education forum for psychiatry trainees, which she chairs. This focusses on peer support, collaboration and sharing learning. She organised a successful global mental health conference for all London medical students. Abigail has delivered webinars and workshops on mental health within schools, youth groups and to the wider community. Abigail has set up numerous mentoring programmes and mentors many individuals personally.
Abigail sits on the Royal College of Psychiatrists wellbeing committee, is the junior doctor chair of the Jewish Medical Association and is a trustee of JAMI and co-chair of their clinical governance committee.
Victoria Kinkaid | British Army
Victoria is a junior doctor with a passion for women’s health. She studied Medicine at the University of Aberdeen, graduating in 2019, and holds an MSc in Global Health and Management, with a strong focus on Global Maternal Health.
Victoria is a self-reported feminist and activist. She is passionate about the safe provision of healthcare, particularly good reproductive care for women, alongside spreading evidence-based information around women's healthcare to enable women to make informed and empowered decisions around their healthcare.
She advocates strongly against the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and has led a group of researchers to do research around how much medical students know about FGM. From this novel dataset, it was found that medical students in the UK wanted to be taught more about FGM. Victoria then established a team with her mentor to raise awareness to all frontline professionals of their mandatory reporting duties with regards to FGM. This has resulted in her and her team creating a 4-week free FutureLearn course in collaboration with the University of Aberdeen, which had over 450 students enrolled.
She is also passionate about the provision of safe and accessible abortion care. She is the campaigns coordinator of Doctor's for Choice, a pro-choice organisation of healthcare professionals who advocate for abortion rights and reproductive justice both in the UK and worldwide.
She also volunteers for a charity called "Abortion Talk", which runs a confidential talkline to provide support to anyone with an experience of abortion care; including sexual and reproductive health and abortion care professionals, those who have had or are considering having an abortion, and those who have supported loved ones with their abortion care decisions.
Victoria is passionate about gender equality and has a specific focus on women's healthcare, but also women's empowerment more widely. She does all of this whilst working a full-time clinical job.
Jessica O'Farrell | Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
In school and college I never really knew what I wanted to do when I “grew up”.
My mum was a nurse and I liked the idea of being able to help people so when the time came I applied to study nursing and got a place at Edge Hill University.
3 weeks before I started my nursing degree my father was diagnosed terminal cancer and had a prognosis of 3 weeks to live. Despite the odds my Dad fought and lived until December 10th 2013. That experience changed me in many ways as one could imagine , but beyond many other emotions I was inspired. My Dad had a nurse from the palliative care team caring for him who changed everything for me , I saw the comfort and confidence this nurse brought to my Dad in the face of his own mortality and I knew in that moment that this was what I wanted to be, a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Palliative care. Those 3 months , in which my father had an incredible quality of life and comfort because of this one nurse changed the game for me, I didn’t just want to be a nurse anymore I knew that I HAD to be a nurse , it was my passion and my goal.
After my Dad passed away I worked hard to complete my degree. In 2017 I qualified as an adult nurse and got my first job as a staff nurse in the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre , I worked here for two years caring for cancer patients , providing both curative treatments and end of life care to patients aged 16 onwards. I then became a deputy ward manager on this same ward and welcomed the new challenge , I studied and worked and pushed through because I knew it would lead me to my dream job and the career that I had always been so passionate about.
In December 2021 amidst the pandemic my dreams came true and I started my role as a Clinical Nurse Specialist in palliative care , working alongside the incredible team who had once cared for my father. The pandemic was a heartbreaking and truly challenging time for us all but through supporting one another we always pushed through no matter what we saw in a day and how it effected us we rose to the challenge for our patients and for each other. This has been a truly humbling time in my life.
Through the pandemic I felt I needed to do more and have also began working in a local COVID vaccination centre in my free time to help protect the most vulnerable of our country and prevent the spread of the virus.
Sarah Almond-Bushell | The Children's Nutritionist
Sarah Almond Bushell is an award-winning Registered Dietitian, ex NHS Consultant child nutritionist of 22 years and founder of The Children’s Nutritionist™.
Having worked for 22 years as a medical-based nutritionist in the NHS, studied child development, eating psychology, feeding therapy and positive parenting practices, Sarah has now created her dream online business that allows her to help other parents through courses and classes, who are in the same position as she was, from not knowing how to help their picky eater to not understanding how to nourish their children - and in doing so will create a ripple effect globally of improved health and wellbeing for future generations.
Food always played a large role in Sarah's life. At school, it was obvious that home economics was her subject and a flair for the sciences led naturally to a career as a nutritionist. But being highly ambitious Sarah wanted to train to become a Registered Dietitian, a step up from a nutritionist because she felt the intuitive pull towards helping people manage their health and medical conditions through food.
She graduated in 1999 with a Bachelor’s Degree in nutrition & dietetics and subsequently achieved a Diploma in advanced dietetic practice, and a Master’s Degree in nutrition for children.
Sarah specialised early on in her career in paediatrics and worked for the NHS till she left 22 years later at the top of her game as one of a handful Consultant Dietitians in the UK.
During her career, she was awarded the British Dietetic Associations Roll Of Honour (patron HM the Queen) for her leadership in the development of a paediatric nutritional assessment document for dietitians. More recently in November 2021, Sarah was shortlisted for the British Dietetic Associations Outstanding Achievement Award for her role in supporting other dietitians in their careers.