Rotary Symposium "Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow"

The Rotary Club of Knaresborough presents their first Rotary Symposium event “A formal meeting of experts or specialists to discuss topics of interest”.

The event speakers will be:
Brian Forshaw:

A local historian and Chairman of the Knaresborough Historical Society.

Brian will talk about Mother Shipton. Brian came to live in Knaresborough in 1968.

Living in a town like Knaresborough was ideal for someone wanting to immerse themselves in history, as the town contains many fascinating artefacts and ruins, which in turn are linked to historical facts, myths and legends.
As a teacher in both primary and secondary schools, the town’s history was always part of the curriculum.

For several years, Brian was a guide at Knaresborough Castle and also organised guided historical tours of the town and tours of St. John’s Church. Brian has even given Ghost Tours of the town!
For many years Brian has been a member and the Chairman of Knaresborough Historical Society. 

Kate Adams:

A Professor of Education at Leeds Trinity University.

A former primary school teacher, she has taught in universities in Scotland and England.

Her research explores children and young people’s experiences of phenomena which might be termed imagination, spiritual, religious, psychological, supernatural or paranormal, and explores how we can interpret the same experience in different ways.

The young person’s perspectives are at the centre of her work, which show that many keep such experiences hidden for fear of ridicule or disbelief. Kate has published widely for over two decades through research papers, articles, and books including Unseen Worlds: Looking through the lens of childhood, and The Spiritual Dimension of Childhood.

Andy Wilkins

A UK futurist, conference speaker, podcaster and founder of FUTURE OF HEALTH – a new think tank exploring the long term vision for holistic health in a technology enabled 21st century.

Andy grew up in Knaresborough and moved to London to study Physiology and Psychology.

He has always had big dreams and on leaving University formed a rock band to pursue fame and fortune.

When this didn’t work out, he was forced to change direction and worked at BT for 10 years before launching a career as an independent strategy and innovation consultant.

Andy has spent his career exploring the question of “what do we value?”

He has undertaken research, innovation and strategy projects across many different industries but more recently on Health and Care.

This includes authoring high profile reports for the UK’s NHS and policy makers on whole systems approaches to the future of Health.

He has recently been appointed Programme Director for Imperial College’s Executive Education course on Leading Systemic Innovation in Healthcare and is a visiting lecturer to UCL.