Scamp News

International Women’s Day takes place this year on Sunday 8th March 2026 and celebrates the achievements of women.

The first IWD Day took place back in 1911 supported then by over one million people. Celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women, the day also marks a call to action for better gender equality.

If you are planning an event this year either on the 8th March or around that date, these are a few of the inspirational speakers we would recommend. 

When I used to work in my previous job, on the occasion we had a hard or tough day, me and my colleague Jean used to say “we need some Glen!” and then played Rhinestone Cowboy by Glen Campbell. Somehow it always made us smile and put us in a good mood.

This was just a tiny thing that helped us out personally, but we work with a number of speakers who speak in depth about mental health/stress and anxiety and some of things they have done to help with their mental health. 

Richard Gerver came to prominence when, as a headteacher he turned around a failing school in the UK in under two years. Winning plaudits globally, Richard was referred to as “The Walt Disney of The Classroom” by the UK media, and went on to win a multitude of international awards including a UNESCO award for leadership and innovation, Global Gurus Top 30 Thinker, and The National Teaching Awards, Headteacher of the Year. 

A respected thought leader on Change, Resilience and Leadership, Richard has kindly taken some time out to answer some questions for our Speaker Focus series.

This is our January 2026 Speaker News round up, this month featuring, feedback on Jamie McAnsh, Josh Littlejohn, Richard Gerver, Katy Ashworth, Mark Foster and Kevin Keegan; we have updates from Cris Beswick, Leanne Spencer and Penny Mallory; we welcome Nicola S Morgan to the website and we have an updated showreel from Stef Sword Williams.

Sam Carrington is a former sales controller at ITV turned professional comedian and communication coach. He understands both sides of the fence — the commercial pressures, and the performance skills needed to cut through.

Via is Smirk Experience Sam offers two types of talks –

Harnessing the power of Comedy to transform business communication
Helping Sales teams become unmissable in every conversation

Here is some more information on his talks and what he can offer in detail

Our Book of the Month for January 2026 is “Career Comedown: What to do when work isn’t working for you” by Stefanie Sword-Williams – a TEDx speaker, founder, and author of F*ck Being Humble.

So if you’ve ever asked yourself…

Am in the right career?
Am going to feel stuck forever?
How can I find better work life balance?
How can I stop letting work take over?
Can I reinvent myself and still be successful?

…then this book is the one for you.

As we start the New Year we are delighted to welcome 3 new speakers to our website.

Paul Tolley is a former RAF fast jet pilot and Big 4 management consultant, and currently an elite performance coach working with professional cricket teams, and is a speaker on high performance and mental health.

Dave James is a professional speaker, TEDx speaker and former healthcare professional who helps people and teams reconnect with what makes them human and what makes a Happy Human.

Shaun Flores is an inspirational speaker, consultant, and changemaker redefining how we talk about mental health, masculinity, neurodiversity, and redemption culture

When we get asked about a speaker on change, it can be difficult to suggest some speaker ideas as it is such a wide ranging term with speakers offering views on change from a personal/lived experience to those offering more of a business view on dealing with change

One specific area on change we have been asked about recently is about “Leading change” and in specific for speakers who have within a business or organisation helped to bring about change.