Kate Garraway – Keynote Speaker

Kate Garraway is a British television and radio presenter and journalist. She began working in television in 1994, when she joined the south edition of ITV News Central as a production journalist, reporter and news presenter.

Kate has worked on ITV News Meridian, the launch of the BBC 24-hour News Channel in 1997, Sunrise on Sky News, GMTV and Daybreak, which in 2014 was replaced by Good Morning Britain with Kate joining as one of the main hosts. The same year, Kate joined Smooth Radio as part of the relaunch of the station. She presents the weekday mid-morning programme, with 2.3 million listeners tuning in to her show each week. Kate appeared in the fifth series of Strictly Come Dancing with professional partner Anton du Beke. She came fourth in 2019’s I’m a Celebrity . . .Get Me Out of Here!

Kate Garraway is the author of book “Power of Hope”. In March 2020, her husband, Derek Draper, contracted Covid-19 and was placed in a medically-induced coma. Initially, Kate was told that he would not survive. Still in hospital and in a critical condition, he is thought to be the UK’s longest-fighting Covid-19 patient. In this intimate book, Kate shares her deeply personal story. As well as recounting how the illness took hold of their lives, she writes about how she is coping with the uncertainty of their future, how she’s supporting her children through this traumatic time, how she has found strength in community and how she strives to hold on to hope even at the darkest of times. Covid-19 has affected everyone across the country in so many ways and Kate hopes that by revealing her own personal experience, it will give comfort to others. By sharing the lessons she has learnt along the way, it will help us all begin to try to re-build our lives.

Kate’s exceptional courage, positivity and warmth shine through on every page, making The Power of Hope a truly inspiring read that will resonate with all of us whose lives continue to be touched by the virus.

In June of 2023 Kate Garraway was awarded an MBE for services to broadcasting, journalism and charity.