Caroline is a best-selling author, speaker and advocate transforming how we talk about suicide, grief and healing. After losing her husband to suicide in 2018, she turned personal tragedy into a mission grounded in hope, honesty and humanity. Her work is led by lived experience and fuelled by the belief that silence can isolate, but compassionate communication can connect and even protect.

Through her acclaimed book Daddy Blackbird and a social media community of over 35,000 she offers life-saving messages that break silence and create space for honest, healing conversations. Caroline speaks to the heart of what it means to keep going, to hold space for others, and to find words when none feel quite enough. She empowers people who are grieving, supporting someone they care about, or simply trying to understand, by meeting them with deep compassion and clarity.

As a Strategic Communications and Wellbeing Specialist, Caroline works with organisations to create emotionally intelligent, human-centred cultures. She brings personal insight and professional depth, showing how thoughtful communication can change the way people feel, relate and recover.

A mother of two, she is raising her daughters with the same values she brings to her work every day: empathy, courage and connection. Caroline’s message is clear. How we speak, how we show up and how we listen has the potential to change lives - and save them.

Amelia is a passionate public speaker and the CEO and Co-founder of Suicide&Co, a charity established in 2020 to provide support to bereaved individuals and raise awareness about suicide-related grief. Amelia's personal experience of losing her mother at 19 while studying at university has given her a profound understanding of the challenges faced by those affected by suicide.

Amelia has over a decade of corporate experience in marketing and leading new business pitch teams. Shortlisted for Media Week Rising Star in 2015 Amelia was highly effective at cutting through the noise and grabbing attention from global brands. She is able to open up the subject regarding suicide bereavement in a sensitive and impactful way, speaking from the heart and leaving a lasting powerful impression.

Dr Rachel Clarke is an NHS palliative care doctor and writer who lives in Oxfordshire with her husband and two
children. Rachel is the author of three Sunday Times bestselling non-fiction books. Breathtaking, published in January 2021, reveals what life was really like working on NHS COVID-19 wards during the first wave of the pandemic.

Dear Life, shortlisted for the 2020 Costa Biography Award, long-listed for the 2020 Baillie Gifford Prize and chosen as a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week, is based on her work in a hospice. It explores love, loss, grief, dying and what really matters at the end of life.

The Costa biography judges described it as: “A beautifully written, powerfully moving book that tackles an emotive and difficult subject with professional compassion and personal insight.” Your Life in My Hands, published in 2017, documents life as a junior doctor on the NHS frontline.

Having been bereaved by suicide 9 years ago Rebecca received great support from SOBS –Survivors of bereavement by suicide and has volunteered at the Liverpool group for many years and is now an ambassador for the charity.

Rebecca featured in the Bafta nominated documentary ‘Life after Suicide’ in 2015 and was invited to Kensington palace to discuss her bereavement with their Royal Highnesses the now Prince and Princess of Wales.     

Believing passionately in those bereaved receiving the best support possible after a bereavement by suicide, Rebecca took redundancy after 34 years as a senior intelligence analyst in Merseyside Police to study to become a counsellor. She now works with the charity Suicide&Co; their mission to support bereaved individuals to open the conversation around suicide-related grief.    

Rebecca wants to reduce the stigma that suicide bereavement can bring and wants to encourage those bereaved to talk and not feel alone.

Rebecca is a keen cyclist and belongs to a cycling club in Liverpool. Happy outdoors with her dog and spending time with friends and family.

Professor Angie Doshani is a highly accomplished consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust. Committed to advancing women's health on local, national, and international fronts, she persistently strives to provide the utmost quality healthcare to her patients. Fuelled by a fervour for innovation and excellence, Angie has been instrumental in fostering a culture of safety and quality across diverse organizations.

Prof Doshani has invented the “JanamApp”, a revolutionary information portal empowering South Asian mothers with culturally sensitive and linguistically appropriate evidence-based information, enabling informed choices and decision-making.

As a leading researcher, Angie focuses her research on ethnicity and health, specifically within the unique population mix of Leicester, UK. Her research endeavours encompass areas such as ethnicity and incontinence, and more recently impactful research in areas to reduce inequalities in maternal health and improving outcomes for mothers and babies.

With a dedicated career spanning two decades, Prof. Doshani has significantly influenced medical training and education. Through various roles in undergraduate and postgraduate education, both locally and nationally, she has made a positive impact, ensuring that the future workforce receives high-quality education to meet the evolving healthcare needs of society.

She strongly advocates for an inter-professional approach to training and delivering clinically effective care.

With a strong foundation in coaching and mentoring, she actively supports and co-creates with colleagues to improve patient experiences and outcomes.

Madhuri is a Bereavement Support and Outreach Coordinator, dedicated to supporting South Asian bereaved families through their grief, ensuring they know they are not alone. Madhuri tirelessly raises awareness about the vital role of bereavement support in the healing journey, especially in the context of baby loss.

 
Her work includes creating positive partnerships and spearheading initiatives tailored to the unique needs of South Asian families. These efforts aim to improve outcomes and provide compassionate support for parents and families navigating their grief. Having personally experienced baby loss and the associated inequalities, Madhuri is a fervent advocate for change. She works diligently to bring these issues to light and push for systemic improvements.

He is currently involved with various charities: Board member – External Affairs, Gardens of Peace Muslim Cemetery, based in Hainault Essex. This is the largest dedicated Muslim Cemetery in the United Kingdom.

Director of Muslim Bereavement Support Service.

Chair – National Burial Council ( an umbrella body for all Muslim Community dealing with burials and Deaths)

Member of the Burial Cremation Advisory Group at the Ministry of Justice representing the Muslim Community.

Board Member of ICCM ( Institute of Cemetery and Crematoria Managers)

He is a trustee of The Big Issue Invest  – an organization funding Social Enterprises that are not able to obtain funding from banks.  Mohamed has been actively involved with community work in East London for the last 15 years. 

He has been the governor  of Oaks Park High School in Ilford for the last 20  years and a chair for the last 4 years . Oaks park is a community school and the only PFI school in the borough.

Appointed as a trustee of Haven House Children's Hospice in Woodford in August 2016.

Member of the advisory group on Counter Terrorism Advisory Network at Scotland Yard.

Chair of the Redbridge Faith Forum.

Elle trained at the University of Manchester a counselling Psychologist. Prior to her doctoral training, she lived and worked in China and Hong  Kong. 

Elle currently works at Maggie's four days a week and she also works at for the Greater Manchester Rape Crisis working with women impacted by sexual violence. Elle has worked at Maggie's for 2 years and facilitates Maggie’s Manchester bereavement support group.  

Elle has a particular passion to help people talk about their grief and bereavement saying: “We all experience loss of a loved one throughout our lives yet as a society we often struggle to sit with loss and to talk about it. Helping people to talk about and process their loss in a calm and contained environment is something that I am very passionate about.”

Dr Huw Twamley is the Regional Medical Examiner for the Northwest region which includes Lancashire and South Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Cheshire, and Merseyside. He is responsible for the implementation of the Medical Examiner system across the region and overseeing the 21 Medical Examiner Offices, alongside the Regional Medical Examiner Officer Bob Wilson. He reports to the National Medical Examiner Alan Fletcher.

Huw is a dual trained Intensive Care and Anaesthetic Consultant based at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. His former roles include Regional Clinical Lead for Organ Donation, Clinical Director for Intensive Care, Trust Mortality lead and Associate Divisional Medical Director for Medicine.

He is currently a tutor for the LLM in Coronial law at the University of Bolton and a doctoral student for the Centre of Contemporary Coronial Law at The University of Bolton, looking at the impact of the Medical Examiner system on the Coronial Jurisdiction.

I am a Police Coordinator/Liaison Associate at Irwin Mitchell. I joined Irwin Mitchell after 17 years of Police service with Merseyside Police. I spent my last two years as the inspector in charge of specialist training. Prior to that, I spent 6 years as a roads policing sergeant leading the police’s response to serious, life-changing, and fatal road traffic collisions.

Before that, I undertook the role of force prosecution manager, responsible for the police team prosecuting road traffic offences; I worked closely with HM court services and the crown prosecution service.

In my current role, I deliver training to UK police forces as a subject matter expert. I also advise and support the firm's solicitors and clients, helping them achieve justice and support for their injuries and losses.

Mo Mansfield joined INQUEST in April 2019.

Mo is a community organiser, advocate and feminist campaigner for prison abolition. Mo has more than 20 years experience working in the voluntary sector in both front-line and management positions at organisations such as Women at WISH, Women In Prison and the Women’s Resource Centre. Much of their work has focused on providing independent support to criminalised women from a social justice perspective.

 
Mo is member of Abolitionist Futures and also completed a MSc focused on improving services for people with personality disorders.

Laura is Community Projects Lead for Bereavement at St Oswald’s Hospice in Newcastle upon Tyne. She leads on community partnerships, projects and training around death, dying and bereavement, working with organisations to produce fit-for-purpose training and resources to signpost, build confidence and reframe 'difficult' conversations.

She also provides 1 to 1 bereavement support and is responsible for overseeing partnerships with other charities and businesses with a focus on increasing access to bereavement support and best practice.

Laura is also a Training Facilitator for Hospice UK, delivering grief, loss and bereavement training sessions for their Compassionate Employers training programme.

Maria qualified at university hospital Aintree, Liverpool in 1989.

She became one on the first Lung Cancer Clinical nurse specialist (CNS) in the Northwest in 1997.

Along with a colleague in the Manchester area, Maria co-founded the Northwest lung cancer nurses’ group, with the aim of support, education and development in 1997. This was thought to be the first such group in the UK of its kind at the time and subsequently led to the formation of the National Lung Cancer Forum for Nurses. (NLCFN) now LCNUK.

Maria was NLCFN committee member for 12 years including 3 as chairperson; she completed her term of office in 2008.

During her time as chair she was a keen advocate of true Multidisciplinary team (MDT) working, including highlighting the importance and protecting the role of the Lung CNS

In collaboration with the United Kingdom Lung Cancer Coalition (UKLCC) conducted the NLCFN first parliamentary “fly in” accentuating the importance of specialist nurse support for all patients with Lung cancer and mesothelioma.

Maria has been involved in many projects and service developments demonstrating the CNS influence in improving patient and carer experience across the thoracic oncology pathway.

Maria has represented the UK on the International Thoracic Oncology Nurses Forum, (ITONF) -of which she was a founder member-planning and delivering   international workshops and attending many World Lung cancer conferences as invited speaker, since stepping down as chairperson of 4 years in 2021– she maintains an active role as advisor / mentor to the committee faculty.

Maria was an inaugural member of the MNAT (Mesothelioma Nurse Action Team) and was a Mesothelioma UK Clinical nurse specialist for the Merseyside and Cheshire region until 2022. Leading on many Mesothelioma UK initiatives including the Patient Passport that was highly commended at the International Mesothelioma congress 2021.

Maria has a long history of representation on various committees and advisory bodies locally, nationally, and internationally collaborating on policy and educational initiatives and publications.

Maria received Chief Nursing Officer  Gold award in 2022 in recognition for her significant leadership and  raising the profile of nursing whilst improving the quality of care received by patients and their families.

Maria is currently the lead nurse for the SWAN end of life and bereavement care service at Liverpool University hospital foundation trust.

Sarah Thomas is the Benefits Manager for Mesothelioma UK, providing bespoke benefits advice for patients and their families in North East England and leading on welfare benefits training, awareness and campaigning nationwide.  

She also leads on the Coroners Project, which examines coronial practice and procedure in cases of mesothelioma.  A focus group of nurses, legal representatives, and mesothelioma researchers meet regularly to discuss the topic and to provide feedback for the ongoing research.

She undertook a survey of coroners and developed links with coronial services which led to opportunities to share the research and influence practice in supporting mesothelioma families. Sarah and the focus group are working towards a final project report, with the aim of sharing their findings and bringing about beneficial changes for families affected by mesothelioma.

I am a Research Fellow at the Mesothelioma UK Research Centre, University of Sheffield, UK. I have been conducting research to improve the experiences of mesothelioma patients and their families since 2016.

My areas of interest broadly comprise patient/ family member experience research in mesothelioma and other life-limiting cancers, equitable access to care and support and communication between patients, their families and professionals.

My research seeks to learn from the experiences of patients, their families and professionals to improve understanding and shape service provision, care delivery and policy. I enjoy working closely with people who have lived experience of mesothelioma and using creative, participatory approaches in research.

Stephanie Patrick joined WAY as Chief Executive in August 2021.

Starting her career as a professionally qualified youth worker, Stephanie has nearly 30 years’ experience of working within the third sector and has substantial experience of strategic leadership and organisational growth.

She was drawn to WAY because her brother was widowed in his early 30s, so she understands some of the challenges that come with being widowed at a young age. She has led, managed and delivered services for a wide range of beneficiaries and prior to working for WAY, she was Acting Chief Executive Officer at YMCA Sutton Coldfield.

Stephanie is currently a Trustee of Black Country YMCA and supports this charity by helping to ensure good governance.

Orlanda was widowed nearly four years ago when her partner died suddenly on holiday while she was pregnant.

Since joining WAY Widowed and Young, she has been able to connect with other widowed mums and has been leading WAY’s campaigning activities on this matter by sharing her story to make sure unmarried bereaved parents are treated fairly.  

"My late partner Julian and I were on holiday when he unexpectedly and suddenly died of a heart attack; I was five months pregnant when it happened... 

It is not fair or right but, as the law currently stands in the UK, when you want to register the birth of your baby, the registrar is not allowed to add your late partner’s name to your child’s birth certificate, if you were not married when they died. Instead, there is a large blank space where the name should be."

My current role at Child Bereavement UK is as Head of Training and Research: overseeing our programme of online and bespoke training for anyone who is supporting bereaved families.

I have worked directly to support individuals and families when a child or adult grieves or when a child dies and I have a particular interest in how culture, faith, time, circumstances, relationships may affect an individual’s grief and grieving.

I believe that we all can contribute to a world in which all bereaved families receive the support they need.

When his musician son George died by his own hand, Nigel Linacre started writing words that Vladimir Miller would set to music, creating the Grief Opera - Love goes on, which brings to life the grief journey. 

Nigel is an Ambassador for Suicide & Co and a volunteer for Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide. He is also Founder Director of water charity WellBoring. 

At the conference Nigel sings alongside George’s aunt, Keri Farish, and Gavin Macrae, who lost his son Owen to suicide.