Guest speaker - Dame Tanni Grey Thompson

Mosaic Publicity is proud to organise the annual Colchester Lecture, a prestigious event in the town's calendar.

For the 28th annual Lecture, held on May 8th 2008, our guest speaker was Britain’s best-loved Paralympic athlete Dame Tanni Grey Thompson, who followed in the footsteps of a number of well-known celebrities and illustrious speakers, including internationally renowned architect Rafel Viñoly, TV weatherman Michael Fish, actor Tony Robinson, health specialist Professor Robert Winston, and TV mathematician Johnny Ball.

Her appearance as the keynote speaker gave the Colchester audience the first chance to hear her views since her appointment to chair a leading review by UK Athletics of its anti-doping policy.

Having won 16 medals including 11 gold, Tanni, who is now retired, remains one of the greatest athletes this country has seen and a passionate advocate of drug free sport.

History

The Colchester Lecture began in 1980 in response to a growing need to interest our young learners in the importance of science, engineering and technology.

Over the years the Lecture has gained in status and today it is acknowledged as one of the highlights of the civic year. Its remit has broadened to reflect the accelerating pace of technological change and the impact on all walks of life from the environment to human well being and to archaeology and our study of the past.

Today the Colchester Lecture is co-ordinated and managed by Mosaic Publicity, and made possible through the generous sponsorship of a number of Colchester businesses. This year, they include: Birkett Long, PKF Accountants and Business Advisers, Nat West, Hutton Construction, the University of Essex and Colchester Institute.

Times may have changed but the mission of the Colchester Lecture remains the same - to celebrate scientific progress and encourage and stimulate young people to consider a career in the many areas of our lives which now depend on science and technology.