80s Alumni Feature on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme

A recent BBC Radio 4 Today Programme (aired Friday 23 April), featured two Old Churcherians within 30 minutes.

Listen to Programme

Rhidian Brook (82)

Rhidian Brook, who gave the Thought for Today (he can be heard from 1:48:45), is an
award-winning writer of fiction, television drama and film (www.rhidianbrook.com) and has been a regular contributor
to Thought for Today on BBC Radio 4's Today programme since 2000.

Sir Jeremy Farrar (80)

26 minutes later, Sir Jeremy Farrar was interviewed on the worrying rise in COVID infections and collapse of the
health service in India commenting on the wider implications for world health (he can be heard from 2:14:48).

Jeremy is the Director of the Wellcome Trust, a global charitable foundation aimed at using science to benefit global health and wellbeing.

As part of the response to the Covid-19 pandemic, he is also a member of the UK government’s Scientific
Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), the UK Vaccine Taskforce and the Principles Group of the ACT-Accelerator hosted by
the World Health Organization (WHO), and he chairs the WHO R&D Blueprint Advisory Group.

As well as sharing his expertise, he champions rapid investment in research on Covid-19 testing, treatments and vaccines, and argues that everyone – not only people who live in rich countries – should benefit equally from the discoveries that result.