Keynote Speakers and Workshops

Katrina Stephens
Katrina joined Westmorland and Furness Council as Director of Public Health (DPH) in July 2023, drawn by the opportunity to move to Cumbria, be part of a brand new Council, and make a difference for local residents on the diverse range of health challenges in the area. As DPH she has oversight of and responsibility for the Council’s public health functions, as well as a wider responsibility for improving and protecting the health of the local population. She is also a Board Member for Active Cumbria.

Outside of work Katrina is a keen runner, although unusually for someone who lives in Cumbria, she is more comfortable running on the roads than in the fells.

Dr Angela White
Dr. Angela White, widely known as The Running Granny, is a retired doctor, surgeon with a special interest in hip fracture, and qualified personal trainer with a deep passion for healthy ageing and the power of movement to transform lives. With a career spanning medicine, surgery, fitness, and technology, she combines medical expertise, lived experience, and relentless curiosity to inspire individuals and professionals alike to take action for lifelong health.

Angela is a dedicated advocate for proactive ageing. She founded Going for Old CIC, a social enterprise aimed at empowering people to improve their health through movement, education, and community support.

Dr Jagjit Mankelow
Jaj has been a physiotherapist for 20 years. She is also a senior lecturer at Teesside University and a well published pain science education researcher. As A Flippin’ Pain Community Pain Champion, Jaj is passionate about everyone she works with having access to an up-to-date, evidence-based understanding of pain. Her overwhelming goal is that everyone who experiences persistent pain is empowered to live as well as they possibly can.

Julia Gover
Julia is a chiropractor and has spent a decade in MSK practice in the North West of England. In 2019, Julia delivered the highly impactful TedX talk “Pain and the Brain,” which has amassed over 60,000 views on YouTube and is widely used in Pain Science Education courses across the country, helping to make modern pain science accessible to a broad audience. Passionate about raising awareness, she joined Flippin’ Pain as a Community Pain Champion and is also currently pursuing an MSc in Pain Sciences and Management at Keele University. Julia is dedicated to deepening her expertise and continuing her mission to improve how people understand and approach pain.

Bex Townley
Bex is an Activity and Health Practitioner (CIMSPA) who has been in the business of movement, exercise, and fitness since 1988. Her work to date spans projects/employment consulting and partnership working with NHS, Adult Social Care, Leisure, and Voluntary Organisations.

Bex has broad experience in delivering exercise as part of agreed clinical pathways i.e., cardiac rehab, pulmonary rehab, stroke, young adults living with neurological conditions, older adults living with frailty and risk of falls, and has worked for Later Life Training since 2009, travelling the length and breadth of the UK and wider delivering training to NHS, care, and leisure teams. In addition, she is involved in quality assurance and research projects, and in supporting service leads and commissioners in their development of best practice exercise provision for older people.

Ed Tallis
Ed is an experienced Senior Healthcare Leader/Executive and Business Improvement Specialist, expert in identifying and delivering strategic and operational objectives. Currently Director of Delivery for North East and North Cumbria NHS, he has been involved in setting and delivering organisational strategy for many years, through functional teams with a positive and a can-do culture.

Colin Cox
Colin has been Director of Public Health and Communities for Cumberland Council since that Council was formed in April 2023 following the reorganisation of local government in Cumbria. In this role he is responsible not only for public health but also for public protection and a wide range of community engagement and community development functions. Prior to this he was Director of Public Health for Cumbria for nine years, during which he was instrumental in establishing the Health and Wellbeing Coach team, a significant new approach to supporting individuals to improve their health and wellbeing, as well as leading the local response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Before Cumbria he spent 11 years in Manchester’s Joint Health Unit and public health team, having moved there from Stockport, where he started his career co-ordinating the work of the Drug Action Team before moving into wider health policy and partnership management.