Grantham's Inaugural TEDx Event Announces Its Speaker Line-Up as Tickets Go on Sale

Five speakers confirmed for TEDxGrantham on 10 October 2026 at The Old School Hall, The King’s School, Grantham.

TEDx Grantham, the independently organised TEDx event bringing the global TED format to Grantham for the very first time, has today announced its inaugural speaker line-up. Five speakers have been confirmed for the event on Saturday 10 October 2026 at The Old School Hall, The King’s School, Grantham, with talks spanning disability, regeneration, mental health, literacy and business recovery.

The theme of the inaugural event is Rethink, a direct invitation to speakers and audiences alike to question the assumptions that shape how we live, work and understand the world. The five confirmed speakers each approach that challenge from a different direction, drawing on their own professional experience and expertise.

THE SPEAKERS

Emma Easton FRSA MA MCIM · Strategist and speaker

Disability is not simply a fixed quality within a person. It can emerge from the environments, systems and assumptions that decide who can participate.

Emma Easton is a strategist and speaker whose work focuses on the relationship between people, systems and participation. Her talk challenges the conventional framing of disability as an individual condition, arguing instead that exclusion is frequently designed rather than inevitable.

Professor Paul Y. F. Lee MBBCh, MFSEM (UK), MSc (Sports Med), PhD, FEBOT (Eu), FRCS (Tr & Orth) · Consultant orthopaedic surgeon

Surgical success is often expressed through familiar clinical measures, yet recovery is lived far beyond the operating theatre.

Professor Paul Lee is a consultant orthopaedic surgeon whose talk examines what surgical success actually means when measured not in clinical outcomes alone but in the lived experience of the people who go through it. His talk brings a rare clinical and human perspective to the question of what recovery really looks like.

Hannah Worrall · Brand strategist and business owner

What If Success Is Just Survival in Disguise?

Hannah Worrall is a brand strategist and business owner whose talk confronts the way success is defined and rewarded in modern working life. She argues that organisations and individuals have confused the ability to carry unsustainable loads with genuine achievement, and asks what it would take to build lives, workplaces and systems in which people can genuinely thrive.

Taryn Lee Johnston · Publisher, writing partner and literacy advocate

The Spark

Taryn Lee Johnston is a publisher, writing partner and literacy advocate whose talk examines where the love of reading actually begins. Drawing on her experience across publishing and education, she argues that the spark that makes a child a reader has never come from a system, platform or campaign, and makes the case for every individual’s role in lighting it.

Matt Craven · Spa owner and small business advocate

The ROI of Rest

Matt Craven is a spa owner and small business advocate whose talk reframes recovery not as time away from work but as a fundamental part of how both founders and their businesses continue to function. His talk challenges the culture of relentless output that defines much of modern entrepreneurship and argues the case for rest as strategy rather than indulgence.

Mel Cole, TEDxGrantham, said:

“Every person involved in TEDxGrantham is a volunteer who believes Grantham has ideas worth sharing with the world. Announcing this speaker line-up feels like the moment it all becomes real, and we cannot wait to open those doors in October.”

TICKETS

Tickets for TEDxGrantham are on sale now at £20 each, with 100 seats available. They are available exclusively at tedxgrantham.com/tickets. Given the venue capacity, early booking is strongly recommended.

VOLUNTEER AND SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

TEDxGrantham is entirely volunteer-led, and opportunities to join the team remain open. Volunteers are needed across community outreach, speaker liaison, logistics, front of house, stage management and AV support. Full details and registration are available at tedxgrantham.com.

Sponsorship and in-kind partnership opportunities are also still available for local and regional businesses who want to support the event. Financial packages start at £500 and include brand placement, complimentary tickets and recognition across the event’s digital and physical channels. In-kind contributions, including refreshments, printed materials and goodie bag items, are equally welcomed. For further information, email think@tedxgrantham.com.

ABOUT TEDXGRANTHAM

TEDxGrantham is an independently organised event operated under licence from TED, bringing the TED format to Grantham for the first time. The inaugural event takes place on Saturday 10 October 2026 at The Old School Hall, The King’s School, Grantham, from 1pm to 5pm. The King’s School was founded in 1329 and counts Isaac Newton among its former pupils. The theme of the inaugural event is Rethink.

TEDxGrantham is operated under licence from TED. This is an independently organised event.