Theme: Spill the Tea!

Our Theme, Spill the Tea invites you to reach deep within to gather courage to share ideas, truths, vulnerabilities and the secrets of the soul. In doing so, you inspire others and broaden your perspectives, whilst emerging dialogues become purposeful and address tough topics within the community in an authentic and meaningful way.

Drinking tea is most commonly associated with enlivening the body and awakening the tired soul and serves as a powerful metaphor through which we aim to nourish the community, share ideas and spark inspiration.

Midlands Art Centre
Cannon Hill Park
Edgbaston, Birmingham, B12 9QH
United Kingdom

Aleema Noormohamed

Mindfulness Coach

Aleema strongly believes in the healing power of the outdoors. She is a Neuro Linguistics Programming Master Practitioner, Trainer, Mindfulness Coach, an Edupreneur and a Nemophile, dedicated to reactivating the human spirit’s connection to nature. She pushes us to go deep within ourselves and awaken our consciousness, making us realize that in everything we do, we have a choice. It is her belief that if we spend more time in the present moment, we can reclaim our power back from our subconscious and create a more conscious society.

Andrew Bagshaw

Professor of Imaging Neuroscience

Andy Bagshaw is a physicist by training, having completed a PhD in Nuclear Physics at the University of Manchester in 1998. He went on to undertake postdoctoral positions at City University London, University College London (UCL), and the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI). It was at UCL and subsequently the MNI that he first worked on the development of brain imaging techniques, with a specific focus on epilepsy. He has worked at the University of Birmingham since 2005, where he is Reader in Imaging Neuroscience and co-Director of the Centre for Human Brain Health. His main research interest is in developing and applying non-invasive brain imaging methods to understand how the brain is affected by epilepsy and sleep.

Cordell Jeffers

Mindset and Personal Development Coach

Cordell is an award-winning entrepreneur, international speaker and mindset coach from Birmingham; he has used adversity and difficult situations in his early life to become the unstoppable force he is today. Growing up in urban inner-city Birmingham Cordell faced vast challenges around crime and drugs, but he chose to keep on the straight and narrow. Early school life was very turbulent. He quickly became disengaged while at secondary school, believing that it was a rigid structure with one end goal; not designed for people with his innovative flair. After eventually being expelled from school, Cordell moved to the Caribbean with his mother and brother. He spent over a year in the new, raw environment. Since then he has progressed beyond all expectations, and is now founder of multiple successful businesses and an international social enterprise.

Jessica Plummer

Co-Founder of Shaquan Sammy Plummer Foundation

Shaquan Sammy-Plummer was killed on the 30th of January 2015 in an unprovoked knife attack. He was 17 years old with a bright future ahead of him. His murder robbed his family of a loving son, brother and deprived the community of a hard working ambitious young man. As a result The Shaquan Sammy-Plummer foundation was setup by his loving mother Jessica to make a positive change in the community and lives of our young people.

Maggie Fennell

Environmentalist

Maggie has been working in environmental R&D, project management and communications since 2010 at Boningale Ltd commercial nursery in Shropshire, specialising in green roofing and innovative planting techniques for positive aesthetic and environmental impact. Collaborating closely with academic experts and industry partners, she has experience of putting great ideas and valuable research into action and helping people work across traditional boundaries. She is now a founding board member of GRO, the UK’s first green roof trade association, and has recently worked on secondment with the West Midlands Combined Authority setting up their Natural Environment Plan. She is keen to apply her knowledge and understanding of the real value of plants and nature in a way that makes sense to people’s everyday lives.

Mahdiyah Bandali

Paramedic

Mahdiyah Bandali works as a Paramedic in multiple areas of the NHS from Primary Care to Frontline Services and is a Visiting Lecturer in Student Paramedic university education. Alongside this, Mahdiyah is a columnist for the Journal of Paramedic Practice and an active member of the College of Paramedics and the British Islamic Medical Association. During her time in the Ambulance Service, Mahdiyah became very passionate about advocating for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion after experiencing discrimination and islamophobia. Hence, she regularly uses her voice through social media in raising awareness of discrimination and has since been recognised by the Huffington Post and Metro news publishers. As a Muslim, Mahdiyah also enthusiastically promotes awareness of religion and culture and has worked closely with several mosques and community centres within England to teach basic life support and first aid skills.

Moin Younis

Charity Ambassador

Moin has defied medical opinion throughout his life, since the moment his parents were told he would not live beyond his first birthday. The life-limiting condition means he lacks the protein needed to bind the layers of his skin together, so it tears and blisters at the slightest touch. Now 21, defying the odds and despite his many challenges, Moin is committed to making a difference to the lives of others. In his role as Ambassador at Acorns, he has a real say in ways the charity can improve its services He has won Pride of Birmingham and went on to then win Pride of Britain. In a moving speech that had the audience on its feet he said: “A lot of people take life for granted. While I am here, I want to get the message out to people to enjoy life. Please, please get the most out of your life and make the most of what you have.” His podcast reflects his attitude and is called “Live to inspire”.

Nicola Bass

Resilience and Leadership Consultant

Nicki is a resilience and leadership coach who uses the thrill of adventure sports to take clients outside of their comfort zones and help them to reach their potential. With a master’s degree in occupational psychology and over 18 years lived experience working in high pressure environments around the globe, Nicki has a unique insight into how theory and practice align. Nicki is passionate about the power of daily adventure to develop self-belief and resilience. As host of The Everyday Adventure Podcast, she speaks to a wide variety of people about the physical and psychological adventures they have undertaken and how this has helped them in their everyday lives.

Rio Jhalli

Tabla Player and Student

Rio Jhalli’s life ambition is to play Tabla around the world. His grand-parents migrated from Punjab to Birmingham in the 1960’s, part of the migration from commonwealth countries to work in the textile and foundries of the Midlands. There was soon a rich Indian culture of Punjabi’s around Handsworth and Smethwick (suburbs of Birmingham). These Punjabi’s bought with them their folk music (bhangra), food and tradition which slowly evolved over the decades. This was the norm by the time he was born, a hybrid of rich Indian traditions, hip-hop and the latest Nike trainers. His Grandfather made a name for himself in local bhangra bands at weddings. His Father too was a renowned dholak player (a cylinder-shaped folk drum of Punjab) At a young age Rio enjoyed the sound of every beat of dholak he heard. His dad was his inspiration. Such that he followed his Dad’s advice to play the Tabla, as then the dholak would come to him naturally.

Sabika Rezavi

Re-Parenting Coach

Sabika is a Re-Parenting coach with 16+ years’ experience working with children and an MSc in Psychology. She believes we as adults are holding on to the traumas, challenges and experiences from our childhood that are crippling us from living a flourishing and thriving life. She has been on a tough journey, where she turned her own childhood wounds into wisdom by connecting back to her inner child and began RE-Parenting herself. Sabika knows this is a phenomenally powerfully way to release what is holding us back, enabling us to self-develop and transform into who we were born to be.

Sandra Wathall

Laughter Yoga Practitioner and Counsellor

Laughing Hearts is based in Birmingham, in the West Midlands, and provides groups and organisations with an experience of therapeutic laughter. Laughter Yoga is a fun, energising workshop that combines laughter exercises with yoga breathing with no yoga ability required! Laughter Yoga can help with Team Building, alleviating stress and depression. It boosts the immune system and aids overall wellbeing. Laughter Yoga is for groups of all ages and is an unforgettable experience for enhancing mood and bringing warmth and connection within a playful context.

Sarah Mamdani

Playworker for Deaf Children

Sarah is profoundly deaf and uses a hearing device for communication. She is a qualified Nursery Nurse, qualified in Bournville College Birmingham and works as a Playworker for deaf children, a befriender for deaf adults and has recently started teaching British Sign Language on social media to promote Deaf Awareness. Sarah is an individual that has managed to overcome various obstacles throughout her life. Not only has she been profoundly deaf since birth, but she also suffered a stroke at the delicate age of twelve. This sudden deterioration of her health, along with the compromise of her hearing and speech, gave her further challenges to overcome. And overcome she did. Due to her strong and fearless nature, she is now a qualified Nursery Nurse, a playworker for deaf children, and she now guides struggling deaf adults through their own difficulties as a Deaf Befriender. She is also an advocate for the deaf community, which shines through her numerous deaf presentations worldwide.

Sayyada Mawji

Doctor

Dr Sayyada Mawji is a London-based General Practitioner, aid worker and senior charity lead. She is a compassionate doctor known for her patient-centred approach, and her motivation to help others has led her to assist during many of the recent humanitarian disasters, establishing various international healthcare initiatives that continue to support many worldwide. Alongside these roles she is a media doctor and health advocate, providing a trusted voice to leading international media outlets and improving health awareness and engagement through her social media platform

Taher Adel

Poet and Spoken Word Artist

Taher Adel is a British-Bahraini poet and spoken word artist. He has an MA in Creative Writing and Poetry from the University of East Anglia. He was co-poet in residence for Wells-next-the-sea in 2019. His poetry has also been published in Ambit, SMOKE Magazine, The New European, Gulf Daily News, Glassworks Magazine, Poetry London Magazine and Poetry Salzburg Review.

Thomas Fortes Mayer

Mental Health Revolutionary

In the year 2000, Tom Fortes Mayer experienced a profound single event that changed how he viewed himself and his life completely. From that moment he has been obsessed with the magic and mechanics of these kinds of epiphanies. He has since dedicated his professional life to learning how to engineer epiphanies for others in the most powerful ways possible. Now he is a Harley St therapist, published author, international speaker, creator of the award-winning FreeMind self-therapy app and founder of the FreeMind Project charity which is a think tank dedicated to envisioning a more beautiful world and articulating the simplest and most powerful steps that could be taken to bring it into existence. He is passionate about the power of the human mind, the beauty of the human heart and the ability we all have to change our lives and the world in an instant.

Xidus Pain

Hiphop Educator and Rap Artist

Xidus is UK based and was mentored by HipHop legends The Sugarhill Gang and Grandmaster Melle Mel. He has been featured on radio stations all over the world such as UCB (United Christian Broadcasters), Global Funk radio, Heart FM, BBC Radio 1Xtra and many more. He has worked with countless artist from different music genres including the likes of Brooklyn Rapper Special Ed, Music legend Chuck D (Public Enemy), The Last Poets (Abiodun Oyewole), Peabo Bryson, members of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Sheena Easton, Michael McDonald and many more. Xidus has performed at the world-famous Vans Warped tour, The Royal Albert Hall, The Great Escape festival and a other venues. He is regularly featured BBC Radio and has delivered freestyles for the Queens Diamond Jubilee, The Olympics, the world cup, The United Nations and the Universal HipHop Museum in The Bronx New York.