Trustees & Advisors

Jimmy came to classics at university where he read French and Classics at Jesus College, Cambridge. “In my case, studying classics at Cambridge changed my life for the better giving me many opportunities. It was an engine for social mobility.”

Jimmy is Managing Director of Hat Trick Productions, which he co-founded in 1986. Since then, it has grown into one of the country’s leading producers of comedy, drama and entertainment.

Nicholas Barber read Greats (Classics) at Oxford, after which he moved to America where he started a classics department at Marlboro College in Vermont. He then began a long career in the shipping business, rising to become Chief Executive of Ocean Group. He renewed his classical roots when he became a Trustee of the British Museum and later Chairman of Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum during its recent major rejuvenation project. He has also chaired a publishing company whose publications included books on classical themes. He is a Foundation Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford. He served as a Trustee of Classics for All from 2013-19.

Although he came relatively late to the study of Latin, via his law degree, Geoffrey quickly discovered that the language teaches grammar, logic and thinking skills at the highest level.

In his other incarnations, Geoffrey is a life president of Oxford Philomusica, an honorary Life member of Elias Ashmole Group of the Ashmolean Museum, an honorary fellow of Trinity College, Oxford and a patron of the National Galleries Scotland and the Sparrow Schools Foundation.

Helen read Classics at The Queen's College, Oxford, where she loved exploring the wide range of disciplines which the subject made available to her. She is passionate about widening access to educational opportunity and the joy of learning; she firmly believes that classics can give each and every child the chance to find the window on to the ancient world which mirrors their own particular interests, igniting a spark which could lead absolutely anywhere.

Helen is a certified member of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising with 20 years' experience in development and communications in the arts, heritage and education sectors. She is currently Director of Fundraising at Lichfield Cathedral, as well as a Trustee of Sinfonia Viva and an Associate of Tarnside Consulting.

Marion was captivated by the classics at her state school and went on to read classics at Bristol University. She taught classics for 38 years, with a brief excursus to become an HMI, before Ofsted changed everything. A head teacher for 21 years in London, she carried on teaching throughout. She also co-founded and led for 12 years a ground-breaking state-independent school partnership, involving secondary schools in Southwark and neighbouring boroughs; classics was of course part of this. She is currently a trustee of Charleston in Sussex and an independent member of an Academy Trust.

Lidia is a teacher of English and Classics, whose interest in Classics was inspired by weekly Latin lessons at her state school in Leicester. After studying English Literature with Ancient Greek at Clare College, Cambridge in 2007, she went on to study Classics and English as a Special Student at Yale University, USA. She came home to the East Midlands hoping to increase the study of Classics at state schools, and has taught students from Year 3 to Year 13. She is currently Head of English and Latin at a free school in central Leicester, offering Latin to all incoming students regardless of their background.  

Matthew came to classics as a small boy via Andrew Lang’s Tales of Troy and Greece and has remained enthralled by the ancient world ever since. His interest was reinforced by inspirational teachers at every level of study, culminating in a decision to read classics at Oxford. He is passionate about the benefits that an understanding of classical languages and civilisation can bring to people of all ages and backgrounds.

Matthew is an investment banker and is currently a Senior Managing Director of Evercore in London.  He takes great pleasure in gardens and gardening, and is a Trustee of the Royal Horticulture Society, where regular exposure to botanical Latin at least helps to address some of the rustiness of his Latin vocabulary.

Mai read classical civilisation at Swansea University. She came to classics through a rather unconventional route; a chance encounter with Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles and Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia.  A 6th form summer’s excursion to Greece solidified her interest in the ancient world, which led her to study the subject at university. She is passionate about increasing access to classics for marginalised groups.

Mai is an ancient historian, a Public Engagement and Heritage Officer at Swansea University, and co-founder of the Classics in Communities project based at University of Oxford. She has worked in higher education for the last ten years on access, outreach, and heritage projects including running the outreach programme for the Faculty of Classics, Oxford. Her research areas focus on race and ethnicity in the ancient world.

Michael is a professor in the Department of Classics at the University of Warwick. He realised he wanted to be a classicist having spent his 17th birthday at the archaeological site of Olympia. Alongside his academic work, Michael has long been passionate about communicating the ancient world to national and international audiences through articles, books and talks, as well as television and radio documentaries. He is equally committed to ensuring that everyone has access to the ancient world, and recently founded the Warwick Classics Network in conjunction with Classics for All to support the teaching of classics and ancient history in schools across the West Midlands. An Honorary Citizen of Delphi, Michael is also President of the Lytham St Anne’s Classical Association branch, the largest branch in the UK.

Sonia is the Headteacher at St Matthew’s C.E. Primary School and the Director of St Matthew’s EEF (Education Endowment Foundation) Research School, in Nechells Birmingham. St Matthew’s is a Talk for Writing Training Centre and previously held DfE Teaching School status. Her school regularly hosts’ visits, for leaders, who want to see evidence-informed practice, across the curriculum.

Sonia has recently published a book called, An Ethic of Excellence in Action; has had articles published and regularly reviews blogs for SchoolsWeek. She has a chapter in, The researchED Guide to the Curriculum and is a contributor to the new WALKTHRUs 3 book. Sonia is a member of the UKLA National Council, representing the Teacher RfP Groups and is a member of the Church of England National Society. She has spoken at various conferences including, ResearchED Brum.

Judith Mossman was formerly Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Arts and Humanities, and is now Professor Emerita of Classics, at Coventry University. Previously, Judith held the post of Professor of Classics at the University of Nottingham, and fellowships at Trinity College, Dublin and Christ Church, Oxford, and is currently Vice-President of the Hellenic Society and (more recently) Chair of the CA Council. She specialises in Greek literature in the fifth century BC and the second/third century AD and is the author of two books and a number of edited volumes and articles on Euripides and Plutarch.

Dr Peter Jones MBE, a co-founder of Classics for All, has been a driving force and advocate for the teaching of classics in state schools for more than four decades. He has published widely on ancient language, culture and history, has for 28 years written a weekly ‘Ancient and Modern’ column (now in The Spectator) reflecting on how the ancient world might ‘talk’ to the modern, and is an adviser for the BBC History Magazine.

He was director of the project that produced the Reading Greek series, for which he was appointed MBE. His ‘Learn Latin’ and ‘Learn Ancient Greek’ columns from The Daily Telegraph are best-selling books (Bloomsbury).

For pupils of classical civilisation and ancient history, he has revised E.V. Rieu’s translations of Homer for Penguin, written commentaries on the Iliad and Odyssey in translation, and eight books for the general public on ancient culture and civilisation. His latest is entitled Memento Mori: What the Romans can tell us about Old Age and Death.

Jeannie’s interest in classics was initiated by the passion of her Latin teacher at school, who offered lunchtime lessons in Greek to anyone who was interested.

Jeannie has taught classics in both the independent and state school systems for many years. She was previously Executive Secretary of the Joint Association of Classical Teachers and Executive Secretary of Friends of Classics.