Jane (she/her) serves as Minister with Kensington Unitarians, based in central London at Essex Church, but reaching out to include a geographically widespread community of Unitarians around the country and worldwide via online ministry since 2020. Prior to formal ministry training Jane studied at Heythrop College for a BA in Philosophy, Religion and Ethics (and before that, in her ‘previous life’, she gained a PhD in Radiological Sciences at Guy’s Hospital). Jane has been a regular at summer school since the year 2000, and has been very much involved in organising the event since 2005. Jane is positively evangelical about the transformative power of engagement groups and created ‘Heart and Soul’ circles as a contemplative spiritual gathering where people can share deeply about their lives. Jane also serves as a spiritual director working with directees from a variety of religious denominations. When she is not working (or faffing about on the internet) Jane loves gardening, birdwatching, butterfly spotting, baking, podcasts and audiobooks, and she is a fanatical follower of bike racing on TV.

Charlotte (she/her) has been a member of Kensington Unitarians since 2018, most of that time online as a member of the congregation, the Zoom co-hosting team, and the management committee. She lives in France where she teaches English in a local secondary school. She is terribly disappointed not to be able to go on walks this year (following foot surgery) but is looking forward to them next year. She loves jigsaw puzzles, boring crime procedurals, singing (very) loudly in her car, and watching people solve sudokus on YouTube. She adores her godson and her nieces, and will bend your ear if you give her an opportunity to talk about them.

Lizzie works as Congregational Connections Lead for the GA and her role is to find new ways to connect our congregations so that we can share resources, serve our communities, and inspire each other. She is also a ministry student. She loves building authentic and meaningful connections with people and creating spaces where ideas can be shared freely and creatively. She cares deeply about Unitarian principles and left her career in teaching to contribute to our loving and vibrant community. Lizzie’s doctoral thesis is on the eighteenth-century Unitarian dissenter Joseph Priestley, and she has a deep respect for the radical and liberal values on which the movement is founded. Lizzie grew up in Norwich and now lives in Suffolk with her husband and daughters. The beautiful coastal countryside and the grounded and welcoming community at Framlingham Unitarian Meeting house have helped her to find a spiritual home.

Originally from one of the London suburbs, I've been a member at Birmingham Unitarians since 2007, where I'm currently the Chair and I occasionally lead worship at my home congregation and elsewhere in the Midlands. I'm also on the Board of Directors of the Inquirer, the monthly Unitarian magazine, and I moderate the UK Unitarians Facebook group with Aleks Zglinska. I've been to Summer School three times, and this is my first year as part of the panel. Outside of Unitarianism, I work full-time in central government. I’m strongly humanist and enjoy guided meditation, singing, participatory worship and meeting new Unitarian friends – all of which means I find Summer School fantastic.

Raj (he/him) is an administrator and member at Mill Hill Chapel, a Unitarian congregation in Leeds, where his responsibilities span governance, worship facilitation and the kind of administrative deep-dives that other people sensibly avoid. This is his second Summer School. He enjoyed it so much last year that he's now on the organising panel, which should probably serve as a warning to other first-time attendees. When he’s not working for the chapel, Raj runs a visual communication practice he operates with his partner Emma, working across design, film and animation. The thread running through all this work, he'd tell you, is a curiosity about where people find meaning and what happens when they genuinely encounter each other – and a commitment to building the spaces, stories and communities that make both possible. The Unitarians appealed to him for exactly the same reason. Outside of work, Raj is a collector of Soviet-era matchbox labels, a devotee of Japanese stationery, a lover of independent cinema, and a former professional magician – none of which has yet proven useful at a committee meeting, but he remains hopeful.