Beth Whittaker is a communications consultant with 30 years' experience, specialising in lifelong learning and the rural and urban regeneration fields. She works mainly with voluntary and community organisations and local authorities.

Beth trained and worked as a newspaper journalist for ten years before moving into PR in the mid 1980s as an Account Director on consumer and business-to-business clients for one of the UK's most successful regional PR agencies. In the early 1990s, she launched her own business.

She takes great pride in developing creative, long-term working relationships with her clients, helping them develop confidence in their own ability to communicate more effectively, both externally and internally.

This sharing of skills not only takes place during day to day client contact but also, more specifically, through a series of Viva Communications training workshops.

Martin Whittaker is a journalist with over 25 years' experience. After starting his career on local and regional newspapers, since 1991 he has been a successful freelance feature writer for a host of national publications including the Independent newspaper and the Mail on Sunday.

For over a decade he specialised in education issues, becoming one of the Times Educational Supplement's most prolific freelance contributors. He also regularly contributed to the Guardian as well as a range of specialist national education publications.

Martin has also been commissioned to carry out research projects and write reports on subjects ranging from media literacy and careers guidance to the impact of the recession on local market towns.

He is currently studying part-time towards a Post-Graduate Certificate in Social Research with the Open University.