Safira Afzal was called to the Bar in 1998. She is a criminal Barrister with extensive experience of prosecuting Youth Crime, Hate Crime, Domestic Abuse and Fraud.
Safira has worked on specialist youth cases involving mental health, knife crime, gang related crime, drugs and county lines, physical abuse or neglect of children, sexual abuse, child abduction, children and young persons as defendants, victims, and witnesses, working closely with the courts, YOT teams, probation, the police, and social services.
Safira has prosecuted both In the Crown Court and Magistrates Courts throughout London.
Safira supports Violence Against Women (domestic violence, rape and other violent offences in which women are predominantly the victims). She supports Refuge the United Kingdom charity providing specialist support for women and children experiencing domestic violence and White Ribbon UK. The White Ribbon Campaign is a global movement of men and boys working to end male violence against women and girls.
Safira is a member of the Criminal Bar Association, Women in Criminal Law, and a member of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple.
Safira Afzal received the Freedom of the City of London on 20th September 2011 at The Chamberlain's Court, Guildhall, London.
Safira is a former James Bond girl, appeared in numerous TV Commercials including “Panama Six Appeal” and “Glade Air Fresheners”. TV credits include “Traffic”, “The Lady Vanishes” and featured in Eddie Grant’s music video Romancing the Stone, the title track from the popular Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito action comedy.
Safira was also chosen to represent Miss India for an American Beauty Pageant entitled 'The Most Beautiful Girl in the World Pageant', filmed in Hawaii.
Mei Leng, Trustee
Mei Leng Yew is a London-born writer of Malaysian-Chinese heritage. She is an alumni of the MAMA Youth Project, having successfully graduated from the programme in December 2012 as a trainee editor.
Since then, Mei Leng has regularly volunteered with MAMA Youth Project as a VT director on shoots and as a workshop trainer, delivering sessions to trainees on the development and commissioning process in film and TV.
Over the past decade, Mei Leng has enjoyed a varied career in the film and television industry, working at major broadcasters including the BBC, Sky and Channel 4. She currently splits her time between unscripted and scripted work and within both, she is passionate about stories that are set in unique, highly personal worlds with characters who find joy in unusual places. As a documentary filmmaker, she has worked for The Economist and ITV on sensitive current affairs issues while as a writer, she is an alumni of the Soho Theatre Writers Lab 2022/23 and the Royal Court Theatre’s Introductory to Playwriting Group 2023/24. Mei Leng's first short film won the Ideas Fund Shorts Award, screened at Underwire Film Festival and was subsequently acquired by Shorts TV. Her second short film script was developed on B3Media’s TalentLab 2018, longlisted for the BBC Writersroom and shortlisted for the VAULT New Writers Award 2018.
Mei Leng was one of Adobe’s representatives for their LoveTheJourney campaign in 2022, celebrating diverse voices in the creative arts. This year, she is being supported by Film London as she progresses in her writing career.
Scott is a Development Executive working at Expanded Media Productions, a scripted production company who work to produce bold big-impact television for the international market. Working across a broad range of genres, Scott’s responsibilities include script editing, generating original ideas and sourcing existing IP for Expanded’s slate.
Scott made his way into the industry through the Mama Youth Project, where he trained as a Current Affairs Researcher, before taking up a permanent position within Sky’s international sales and distribution arm, Sky Vision, as a Scripted Acquisitions Coordinator.
Following the creation of Sky Studios in 2019, Scott’s role evolved to include working
alongside NBCUniversal’s Global Distribution division. Having worked closely with Sky’s editorial teams, as well as with external producers, Scott subsequently moved into Sky’s Drama Commissioning team as a Development Coordinator, where amongst his responsibilities, he managed Sky’s Table Reads programme, aimed at platforming up-and-coming writers from diverse backgrounds.
Ayobami is a strategist, public speaker, and media professional whose work spans communications, live events, and broadcast production. He is the Founder and Managing Director of PaV Media, a creative production company delivering content direction, event strategy, and storytelling solutions across sectors. A graduate of the University of Cambridge Executive MBA, he combines strategic insight with creative execution, connecting ideas, people, and purpose.
Largely self-taught in media, Ayobami built his experience through years of hands-on production leadership, managing complex event operations and logistics for major public and private sector engagements – including high-profile visits involving UK Royalty, Prime Ministers, and Mayors, as well as large-scale productions across leading UK venues such as Wembley Arena and ExCeL London.
Beyond media, Ayobami is deeply committed to civic engagement and leadership development. He has contributed to multiple education, youth empowerment, and governance initiatives across the UK and Africa, bringing together strategy, service, and storytelling to drive social impact. He brings a blend of strategic vision and operational discipline to every project, with a particular passion for mentoring emerging talent and building sustainable systems that enable creative excellence and long-term impact.
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