HOST: NESTA McGREGOR - BBC Senior Sports Journalist

Nesta joined the BBC in 2004 on the Journalism Trainee Scheme (JTS). The scheme is aimed at people who haven't studied journalism but Nesta was interested in pursuing it as a career - he had previously spent a year working as a photocopier engineer. Nesta has since presented and reported on BBC Radio 1's Newsbeat including event's such as 2010 London Riots, Royal Wedding, UEFA Champions League finals and special programmes including from South Africa marking 30 years since the end of Apartheid. Nesta has written, produced and presented several documentaries for BBC iPlayer - subjects including Black Lives Matter Movement, Interracial Dating and Vegansim. He is currently working as a senior Sports Journalist based in Salford. Nesta was due to cover the 2020 Olympics but Covid had other plans.

RAJIV POPAT - ITV News Central On-Screen Journalist

Rajiv Popat started his career as a radio journalist in Leicester. He's worked for ITV for 25 years as a reporter and presenter on a wide variety of programmes, including Asian Eye, Spotlight Asia and ITV News Central.  Rajiv has reported on some of the biggest stories in the Midlands, from the helicopter crash which killed the chairman of Leicester City Football Club to the incredible tale of the Foxes winning the Premier League. Although most of the news items have centred around the Midlands region, his role as a reporter has also taken him to interesting parts of the world like Boston and Arizona in America, India, Zambia, Uganda and Bosnia. Rajiv is a mentor on ITV's Breaking into News Scheme and volunteers on the Speakers For Schools programme.

Kath Stanczyszyn - BBC Political Reporter

Kathryn has been a political reporter for the BBC in the West Midlands for the past 5 years, reporting on local and national political developments – of which there have been quite a few! She also reports on some of the biggest stories from the region on national television and radio, regularly appearing on BBC Breakfast, network news bulletins, Radio 4 and 5 Live. She has recently contributed to a new book on the history of female MPs in the UK called Honourable Ladies and she is a co-founder of the charity Precious Trust, set up to help young women in the region avoid exploitation and make positive choices in their lives.

Lucy Kapasi - ITV News Central Content Editor

Lucy started her career in newspapers more than 20 years ago. Her first job was on the Daily Echo, Bournemouth, where she was health correspondent.

She then moved into radio and TV working for BBC WM in Birmingham and Coventry and ITV West Country in Bristol.

Since 2004 she has worked at ITV News Central as a reporter, presenter and now producer. She spent a year producing Central Lobby, Central's political discussion show, from Westminster. In her current role she produces the flagship 6pm news programme.

On the management team, Lucy looks after Production Journalists who are often new to the business. She also regularly works as online planner, managing the team behind Central's digital content.

Sam Hughes - BBC Technical Operator

Sam studied media throughout his education and attended Birmingham Ormiston Academy to study creative media production. During his time at college, Sam successfully applied for the ‘Broadcast Operator Apprenticeship’ run by the BBC Academy. Since then he has completed a 22 month apprenticeship, and is now working full time at BBC News in Birmingham (Midlands Today). He now works in technical operations mainly editing, directing breakfast bulletins, doing camera work and ingesting material.