Home > Changing Lives
Hear from our alumni about the difference the ESU has made. Their stories reveal how developing oracy skills can change lives.
Dorothy Byrne
Head of News and Current Affairs at Channel 4
Winner of the ESU Schools’ Mace debating competition 1970
Tommy Seagull
Incoming pupil barrister
Winner of the ESU Schools’ Mace debating competition 2012
Krishnan Guru-Murthy
JOURNALIST & BROADCASTER
Winner of the ESU’s School’s Mace Competition, 1984
The public speaking competition gave me confidence I could do things on a national scale.
I realised that if we all speak out about what we think is wrong in society, we can change it.
The ESU gave me confidence that I could be a winner in a strange land.
Rory Bremner
Impressionist and comedian
Winner of the ESU Public Speaking Competition 1979
Sir Trevor McDonald
Broadcaster
Former English-Speaking Union governor
Anita Anand
Broadcaster and author
Winner of the ESU’s Public-Speaking Competition, 1991
My exchange taught me it’s good to be outside your comfort zone.
Debating taught us that ‘If you can speak in this country, you can do anything’.
My ESU exchange was the springboard for deciding what to do with my future
Bilal Mahmood
Solicitor
ESU debate alumnus & governor
Daphne James
Retired teacher
ESU Secondary School Exchange student
Dick Clement
Writer and director
I was a very shy teenager and I gained so much confidence.
Debate Academy opened my mind to different opinions.
My science scholarship gave me a new life in America.
We rely on the generous support of our members, donors and volunteers to ensure we can reach those children who need our help most.
The ESU’s mission is to give young people the speaking and listening skills and cross-cultural understanding they need to thrive
Take your students’ debating or public speaking skills to the next level with one of our competitions