Sometimes kindness is measured in cans and miles. Sarah Donaghy shares how a running club turned compassion into action, fueling food banks and strengthening a community one step at a time. Sarah Donaghy is the welfare officer at Hampshire based Fareham running club. Having helped set up the club’s yearly ‘Food Bank Run’, Sarah was moved by the work of food banks in the UK. Following the death of her stillborn daughter Katie Louise in January 2022, she was touched by the help of the local community. Feeling the impact of those feeding her family at their lowest, Sarah was keen to see how the running community could help their local community. Her idea is to pay it forward getting as many UK running clubs to run their own ‘Food Bank Run’.Sarah is wife, mother to 4 children and Katie in heaven, currently working as a Special needs teacher. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

What if creativity could reconnect us to ourselves and each other? Eleanor Hawkridge shows how local art and culture can transform communities, inviting us to rediscover wonder in the everyday. Eleanor Hawkridge is a creative producer, curator and artist champion. A strong advocate for improving culture thorough arts engagement, she works to bring communities together for innovative moments of creative excellence that allow people to break free of the confines of the day-to-day and rediscover their own creative wonderland.Starting life as spreadsheets, her projects have led her to co-found several arts organisations and programmes including a digital creative agency in Marrakech, and a gallery, artist’s studios and creative social workspace supporting emerging artists in Liverpool. She has produced an annual arts festival creating a platform for the voices of artists with lived refugee experience, a Google ISD community-building project focussed on reducing hate crime through arts participation, and a VR experience exploring street art in Iran. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

Life begins and ends with connection. Hannah Jardine Youell explores how embracing our shared experiences of birth, death, and belonging can transform not just our wellbeing, but our communities themselves. Hannah Jardine Youell is a mental health trainer and hypnotherapist with over 15 years’ experience in community wellbeing, education, and mental health. Her career spans education, mental health provision, and professional training — always with a focus on compassion, inclusion, and creating spaces where people feel they belong. Personally and professionally, Hannah is especially passionate about exploring the profound human experiences of birth, death, and belonging — helping people reflect and reconnect with themselves and each other. Her talk at this year’s event will explore the stories we hold about the bookends of life - birth and death - and how sharing our stories can help us to find deep healing and connection Hannah believes that when we build communities of care and courage, we don’t just feel better — we begin to change the world. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

In a world obsessed with clicks and algorithms, Jessica Shailes brings us back to the human heart of marketing. She reveals the unseen forces shaping why we buy, and how understanding them can help us make better, more meaningful choices. Have you ever regretted spending money on purchases that feel wasteful? Or feel overwhelmed by the endless choices in today’s consumer-driven world? In her TEDx talk, Jessica Shailes reveals the hidden forces behind why we buy, from personal narratives to unconscious influences and offers a fresh perspective on navigating consumer choice in a world of abundance. Using science, psychology and storytelling, she shares practical tips to help you avoid buyer’s remorse, align your spending with your values and become a more intentional, conscious consumer. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

When the tide turns against us, how do we keep swimming? Anna Wardley transforms grief into courage, showing how even in our darkest waters, we can find strength, purpose, and light. At a time when the world feels volatile and overwhelming, Sheffield-born Anna shares an unforgettable story of personal empowerment and hope.Moving to Gosport 20 years ago cemented a life-changing connection with the sea that has seen Anna overcome unimaginable childhood loss to achieve incredible feats of endurance in the water. In 2013 she became one of only four people to swim non-stop swim around the Isle of Wight. With warmth, humour and disarming honesty, Anna’s storytelling helps people discover that even in the most testing of times, we each have the potential to find purpose, courage and hope.A record-setting endurance swimmer and award-winning Churchill Fellow, she’s led groundbreaking work to improve support for children after the suicide of a parent. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

What does it take to thrive when everything around you is falling apart? Paula Reid has faced some of the planet’s toughest environments, from the South Pole to a war zone, and brings back lessons on courage, mindset, and what it really means to dare greatly. Paula Reid is no stranger to risk and bravery, having yacht-raced around-the-world, skied to the South Pole and volunteered in East Ukraine 7 times. In her TEDx story she will be revealing a little about her own heroic journeys, then sharing the monomyth concept of ‘The Hero’s Journey’ which she studied for her MSc. in Applied Positive Psychology, before involving the audience in the HOW - how to Dare Greatly and be a hero because, she believes, we need more of them! This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx