Jill McGivering, BBC foreign news correspondent, was born in Otley, West Yorkshire in 1964. Upon leaving school, Jill went on to complete an English degree at the University of London. Prior to embarking on her twenty-year career with the BBC, she worked as a staff features writer for the South China Morning Post, based in Hong Kong.
Grace McCleen was born in 1981 in Wales. Speaking of her childhood Grace says, “I grew up in a fundamentalist religion and didn’t have much contact with non-believers. My parents weren’t typical converts so we didn’t have much contact with other believers either. When I was ten I was taken out of school and we moved to the country [Ireland]. I spent all the time in the fields with two sheepdogs, or making things in my room”.
Mary Berry is a British cookery writer, TV cook and Aga expert. From an early age Mary knew she wanted to pursue a career in food having learnt the art of baking from her mother. At the young age of 18 she trained at the Bath College of Home Economics, followed by a Paris Cordon Bleu course, and finally qualified as a teacher.
British novelist Jojo Moyes was born in 1969 and grew up in London. After a varied career including stints as a minicab controller, typist of Braille statements for blind people for NatWest, and brochure writer for Club 18-30, she completed a degree at Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, London University.