Her Honour Judge Carol Lesley Atkinson (LLB Hons – Law, 1984) is the senior and founding District Judge of the East London Family Court. 

Carol was called to the Bar at Gray's Inn, in 1985; she was promoted to Recorder in 2001; was a member of the Bar Council between 1997 and 2007 and served as secretary to the Family Law Bar Association in 2004. 

Her judgements are often quoted and a number are entering law, particularly in relation to the ways families of EU migrants are supported in a community with an increasingly diverse population. 

She has developed national renown for the clarity of her thinking and the fairness of her decision making.

  

Damian Leighton Barr (BA Hons - Sociology and English Literature – 1998) is an award-winning writer, columnist, playwright and social commentator. 

His first book “Get It Together: How To Survive Your Quarterlife Crisis” was published in 2006 by Hodder & Stoughton about the pressures of twenty-somethings. 

His acclaimed memoir, “Maggie & Me”, won Sunday Times Memoir of the Year and saw him named Stonewall Writer of the Year. The book is an account of his experiences growing up gay in small-town Scotland during the 1980s. 

He is creator and host of his own Literary Salon, regularly appears on BBC Radio 4 and is a committed campaigner for LGBT rights. 

He was also voted National Consumer Travel Feature Writer of the Year at the Travel Media Awards 2015.

 

Tim Pemberton (BA Hons Philosophy and Religious Studies, 1986) is Executive Editor for BBC Africa, BBC World Service. 

He began his career with student radio at Bailrigg FM at Lancaster University before becoming a BBC trainee. 

He then became a Producer at BBC Wales, Senior Producer for Religion and Ethics and Managing Editor for BBC News in Bristol. 

He now leads the BBC Africa Region of over 100 million users for the BBC World Service where he is in charge of a team of 300 programme makers plus six language services.