Gemma brings her warmth and skills to the Friendship Lab project by co-hosting our flagship course, Friendship Lab On Demand.

Passionate about spending quality time with people, Gemma was delighted to join Friendship Lab to help others discover how they too can share in lifelong, meaningful friendships.

Gemma started her career in television in 2003 and hasn’t left our screens since. Those with children may have seen her presenting on CBBC or more recently on CBeebies on the pirate themed game show “Swashbuckle.” Gemma is on the presenting team for Songs of Praise and recently co-hosted The Caravan Show on Channel 5 alongside Rufus Hound. As well as thousands of hours on TV Gemma can also be found hosting at festivals and running Confident Communication Coaching workshops. As if that wasn’t enough, she is a published author of children’s books in the “See! Let’s Be” series with more books on the way.

Gemma loves cooking and is well known for making fudge, although doesn’t eat much of it herself. But she does love a Friday movie night with her husband and daughter with a large selection of popcorn, sweets, chocolate, crisps, and nuts!

As our Strategy Lead, Lois helps us clarify and focus on our most important goals so we can have the greatest impact in each season. 

Professionally, Lois is a Strategic Change Planning Consultant, supporting organisations to achieve ambitious transformations which enable growth and (crucially) take their people on the journey with them. Currently working for Oxford University, Lois has worked in education, health, technology and commercial sectors, and has a particular passion for building healthy working cultures that ensure organisations are both successful and joyful. 

"What makes me most excited about Friendship Lab," she says, "is the sheer number of people who tell us how much they need it. Getting to be part of building something truly special that will make such a difference to peoples lives - there's no buzz like it!"

Lois spends a lot of her time chasing after two toddlers and getting their snacks stuck to her socks. When she isn't doing that, she loves to write, paint her nails, and watch formulaic crime dramas.

With his extensive background in academia, industry and government, Simon helps us connect with and serve the big end of town.

A serial innovator, Simon has engineered solutions for pharmaceutical problems, environmental challenges and space systems, and now leads InnovSpace, which is pioneering the use of space data to support people and build infrastructure resilience in natural disaster and conflict zones. Combining his doctorate in biotechnology with his recent space career, his projects include supporting biotech experiments on board spacecraft as they orbit the earth. If that wasn’t enough, Simon has set up three spin-out companies, been on the board of a seed fund, chaired international funding councils and established national networks and advisory boards to support the deployment of solutions for environmental challenges.

“Despite this tech-sounding biography,” Simon says, “my real passion has always been to see people thrive and reach their potential. Friendship Lab is therefore right down my street.”

Simon is married to Carol and has two adult children. He's a lifelong West Ham United fan and he loves the Star Wars franchise, having gone to school with Darth Vader's children!