Speaker, Facilitator & Contributors Biographies

At M25 Consortium’s Annual Conference 2026 – Sunshine through the rain: celebrating our successes

Keynote Biography
Martin Reid, Director of Library Services, House of Commons Library

Martin has been Director of Library Services in the House of Commons Library since 2019, leading a team of 50+ librarians and information professionals providing information resources and services to support both MPs and their staff and the Library’s highly valued research service.

He was previously Deputy Director and Head of Academic Services at the London School of Economics Library from 2012-2019, and before that was Law Librarian and Academic Support Manager for Arts, Humanities and Social & Historical Sciences at University College London from 1995. He studied History at Oxford University and has a MA in Library & Information Studies from Loughborough.

He is currently Secretary of IFLAPARL, the Library and Research Services for Parliaments section of IFLA, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions.

Speaker, Facilitator and Contributor Biographies

Dr Andy Cope

Andy is a keynote speaker, best-selling author and ‘recovering academic’. A regular on radio and TV, he specialises in positive psychology and the science of human flourishing. The reward for grinding out his PhD is that Andy gets to call himself a Dr of Happiness.  

Andy’s mission is to change the narrative and re-focus psychology away from what’s wrong with people to what’s right. His messages act as a gentle nudge towards people taking charge of their own mental health.  Find out more here

Jem Shackleford

Jem is a mindfulness teacher, supervisor and teacher trainer. While living in Taiwan (2001-4) he became interested in meditation and began to explore more fully the benefits of mindfulness meditation for people who suffer from recurrent depression (himself included). Today, his practice is based in the secular tradition, with a particular interest in moving mindfulness ‘off the cushion’ and making a positive impact on society. 

He trained at Bangor University studying for an MSc in Mindfulness-based Interventions – completing in 2018. He has worked with the University of Oxford’s Department of Psychiatry, supporting the teachers and helping schools embed mindfulness and meet the various challenges they faced for large research study. At present he works for the Oxford Mindfulness Foundation teaching mindfulness courses online, for the Mindfulness Network and Mindfulness in Schools project training teachers to deliver mindfulness.

Jem also moderates the assessment of trainee mindfulness teachers for the NHS and is also a trustee of the British Association of Mindfulness-Based Approaches (BAMBA).