In the spirit of TED’s mission, “ideas worth spreading,” TEDx Macclesfield 2019 brought together original thinkers with a strong connection to the town. While giving a platform to engaging and challenging ideas, we made new connections locally and started conversations which can spark positive change anywhere.

Enormous thanks to our dedicated and passionate speakers Prof Barbara Evans, Dr Rachael Ainsworth, Alistair Hudson, Shelley Metcalfe, Esther Bird, Paul Robinshaw and Dr Ailsa Holland, along with the team of enthusiastic volunteers and supporters who made the second TEDxMacclesfield another resounding success.

See www.TEDxMacclesfield.com to watch the playlist, view photographs, find more details of speakers or to join the mailing list.

Townley Street Chapel
Townley Street
Macclesfield, Cheshire East, SK11 6HZ
United Kingdom

Ailsa Holland

Poet, activist and specialist in women's history

Dr Ailsa Holland is a poet, activist and Director of Moormaid Press. She studied literature, history and women’s studies at the universities of Oxford, York and Southampton. Her poems have been published in journals, anthologies and in her pamphlet, Twenty-Four Miles Up (2017). Ailsa created the Library in the Landscape at Tegg’s Nose Country Park, co-wrote and performed Under Silk Wood for Barnaby Festival 2014 and was Artist-in-Residence in 2016 creating Hills Up Streets and Backwallgate Books. She is a passionate campaigner for equality, a placard and banner-maker. Since 2018 she has co-curated the women-in-history twitter project @OnThisDayShe with Tania Hershman and Jo Bell. Ailsa grew up in Stone, Staffordshire and settled in Macclesfield with her family in 2006.

Alistair Hudson

Director, the Whitworth and Manchester Art Gallery

Alistair Hudson was appointed Director of the Whitworth and Manchester Art Gallery in February 2018. Prior to his return to Manchester, he was Director of Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art where his vision was based on the concept of the Useful Museum. In the preceding ten years he was Deputy Director of Grizedale Arts in Cumbria which gained critical acclaim for its radical approaches to working with artists and communities, based on the idea that art should be a tool of social change and not just an object of contemplation. Alistair is co-director of the Asociación de Arte Útil with Tania Bruguera – an expansive international project and online archive. He attended The King’s School, Macclesfield before studying at Goldsmiths College, London.

Barbara Evans

Prof of Public Health Engineering and Sanitation specialist

A chartered engineer with a second degree in Development Studies, Barbara Evans is Professor in Public Health Engineering at the University of Leeds. She leads a multi-disciplinary team that works on sanitation, hygiene and water services in the global south, with a focus on cities. Barbara worked as a consultant and at the World Bank for over 20 years, living in South and East Asia, Africa and Latin America. She advises organisations including the UN and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Barbara has won prizes but is most proud of the graduates of her training programme who are now working to improve public health through better sanitation in their home countries. She lives with her family in Macclesfield.

Ben Gorb

As a teenager Ben discovered artists such as Jimi Hendrix, The Who and AC/DC and developed a passion for classic rock. Within a year he was writing music for the guitar. After Fallibroome he went on to study music, gaining a Masters Degree in Popular Music from the Royal Northern College of Music. Ben creates explosive rock, heartfelt pop and folk ballads. He also writes for strings inspired by composers such as Stravinsky and Beethoven. Ben performs solo or with a trio and string quartet. In 2016 he released a studio EP Ride,followed by a live EP Unplugged With Strings. Ben regularly gigs in Manchester and Cheshire and has been played on local radio stations including XS Manchester.

Esther Bird

Climate change activist and Action for Conservation volunteer

Esther Bird is a 13 year old eco-activist from Macclesfield. She is a student at Tytherington School and alongside lessons takes part in extra-curricular clubs such as drum group, choir, band, Student Parliament and Tythy Goes Green. In 2018 she was a founding member of the town's new interschool youth eco group, and became an ambassador for Action For Conservation - a charity with a mission to create the next generation of nature conservationists. Esther has been appointed to the Leadership Group of the UK’s first large scale youth-led nature restoration project. She has joined the #FridayForFuture school strikes and is currently developing a new podcast called Youth Activists.

Hugo Kensdale

Hugo Kensdale is a Macclesfield-based singer-songwriter who pens alt folk/pop/rock melody driven songs that have been described as having hints of The Shins, Elvis Costello, Glen Hansard and Crowded House amongst others. Since first venturing out onto the Manchester live music scene circa 2012 Hugo has taken his music around the UK supporting numerous international artists including Turin Brakes and Steve Craddock of Weller and Ocean Colour Scene. Described as “Electrifying...a master of atmospherics” by the Manchester Evening News, Hugo embarks on a 3-month European tour in summer 2019 and his debut album is due for release early 2020.

Paul Robinshaw

Baker and 'real bread' campaigner

Paul Robinshaw runs Flour Water Salt, a bakery and café in Macclesfield making award-winning ‘real bread’ and pastries, and supplying artisan food-halls and restaurants. Paul grew up in Manchester, studied Applied Statistics and after a brief foray into research psychiatry, went on to a high level career in computer programming. Paul was commuting to London for a global travel technology company when, after the birth of his daughters, he started looking for a career more focused on home. In 2009, with no formal culinary training, Paul converted his cellar and began baking sourdough. Five years later he finally gave up IT and, through word-of-mouth, started selling directly to the public. Paul is an Ambassador for the Real Bread Campaign.

Rachael Ainsworth

Research Associate at Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics

Dr Rachael Ainsworth is a Research Associate and Open Science Champion at the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester. She has a PhD in Astrophysics, a BSc in Physics and was an intern at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She is an expert in the interpretation of radio emission from protostellar systems in nearby star forming regions and her research involves observing jets from young stars with next-generation radio telescopes to investigate the physical processes that assemble stars like our Sun. She is passionate about openness, transparency, reproducibility and inclusion in research and organises a women in data meetup group in Manchester called HER+Data MCR. Originally from Hampton, New Hampshire, USA Rachael now lives in Manchester.

Shelley Metcalfe

Web literacy evangelist and marketing specialist

Shelley Metcalfe is co-founder of The Digital Life Skills Company a social enterprise that teaches children and young people digital information literacy skills, equipping them to access reliable information and avoid misleading media online. Shelley spent 20 years working in strategic, creative and operational roles in blue chip, start-up and third sector environments. Her career began in the media, leading the marketing effort in youth magazines including Smash Hits, Sky and The Face. With a degree in English and Philosophy, Shelley returned to education in 2008 to take an MSc in Responsible Business Practice, and went on to provide consultancy to not-for-profit and for-purpose organisations. She served on the Board of Macclesfield Barnaby Festival until 2016 and lives with her family in Poynton.