The ones that got away
They loved us and left us. At least, most of them loved us. But they've all gone, and each one played a part in making WHYS what it is. So thanks to all. Here they are in the order in which they've said goodbye - starting with the most recent.
Alicia Trujillo
It started as a six month stint (it so often does) but we managed to keep hold of Alicia for a year in the end. During her time on WHYS she led trips to Florida, Haiti and, to her eternal credit, to the three main UK party conferences. The latter made us realise the depths of Alicia's diplomatic and organisational reserves as any number of elements of the set up inevitablty chopped and changed. On slightly less important matters, the WHYS Shakira fan club is looking for a new leader. Alicia's now to be found working in the planning department of 91Èȱ¬ World Service News.
Sheetal Parmar
Sheetal arrived at WHYS as a senior producer from the 91Èȱ¬'s Asian Network. She returns as Assistant Editor on Nihal's show, so she's clearly getting better and better (we wouldn't be so bold as to claim any part of that...). It was great to have her with us for a year and you can listen to the show that she works on now, here.
Paul Vassallo
Universally known as Torybear for reasons that reach back into the mists of time (though there is a blogger called and it definitely started there but the connection is loose to say the least). Paul's job for many years has been working in 'traffic' which is the department which takes incoming connections from correspondents around the world and makes sure they reach the right part of the 91Èȱ¬. He's gone back there now, but not before making us very fond of him. So we'll still hear his voice when we're on the road, but it would be better to hear it at closer quarters.
Helen Richmond
Leeds' finest Helen was was with us for most of 2009 and into 2010. We'd hoped she'd stay even longer but it wasn't to be. Which means we're not guaranteed at least one suggestion about a story in China every editorial meeting (she's very interested in all things Chinese...). She was a fantastic producer in the office, but really showed her stuff when we travelled to Berlin and then to Cornwall.
Heba Ayoub
Heba was officially with us for three months but it's actually been much longer than that as she was right at the top of the freelancer list we use to book production cover. She did a brilliant job on trips to Florida, Copenhagen and Cornwall. No sooner had her contract finished at WHYS she landed a job on the - which is probably the 91Èȱ¬'s best known radio news show. None of us were surprised. Let's hope she remembers us when surrounded by the bright lights...
Madeleine Morris
She presented, produced and edited and it was never going to be too long before she flew the WHYS nest. She's one of the 91Èȱ¬'s reporters in Washington at the moment, and will be a superstar correspondent before long we suspect.
Shaimaa Khalil
Shaimaa has become a 91Èȱ¬ 'path-finder'. And no that isn't a role which involves scouting. In fact, it's a very prestigious scheme set up to fast-track talented producers. Those of us who worked with Shaimaa can vouch that she's definitely one of those, and I have a bet with Krupa that she'll be snapped up to do some flashy new job before she's due to come back to us.
Tom Hagler
We only ever had half of Tom's time as he and Madeleine split their shifts between us and The World Today. Now he's going back the WT full-time. If you want to hear him on air, your best bet is weekdays between 0500-0700GMT.
Kate McGough
Kate arrived from the north-east of England and kept on moving almost as soon as she'd arrived. First she went to the 91Èȱ¬'s user generated content hub, and then she landed a job on which is where you'll find her now.
Peter van Dyk
Pete was there at the start and until recently it looked like he might be here forever. But the pull of the pleasures of life in Moscow proved too much. I'm not sure if he'll be coming back to carry on as a producer but last time I asked it seemed pretty unlikely. Which is good for Russia and not so great for WHYS.
Iain Croft
He wasn't with us very long and aside from being the man with the best contacts book, he'll also be remembered as putting together our (gold-winning) Sony Award entry. So he's got a lot of brownie points stored up. Iain is now working for 91Èȱ¬ News over at Television Centre.
Ben Tobias
Ben came from the 91Èȱ¬'s Russian Service and left for Moscow. In theory he'll be returning to Bush House but as every day brought multiple mentions of the big bear to the East, we're expecting him to stay.
Martin Vennard
Pull up a chair and he'll tell you about Ghana. A veteran of WHYS trips to Takoradi and Namibia, sadly for us Martin got a promotion and headed for the Newsroom. That said he takes lots of extra shifts here so he's still working on the show quite a lot.
Rabiya Limbaba
Plenty of us have come from Five Live, but Rabiya has gone in the other direction. She's swapped with Chloe and is going to be over there for a few months. She helped launch WHYS in 2005, and proved herself adept at both production and maintaining her good looks. If we felt scruffy normally, we felt scruffier in Rabiya's presence.
Fiona Crack
She was the last to move on of the original team of producers who launched WHYS in 2005 (although Peter is back after six months in the 91Èȱ¬'s Washington bureau). Fiona produced shows in India, South Africa, the States and the UK. She's now in charge of 'big bids' for World Service News so she's chasing very important people all day long - a far cry from dealing with us lot.
James Harrod
James arrived from on a swap with Richard. A nice idea which backfired on us somewhat when Richard decided to stay and James decided to go back. Was it something we said? Known for his passion and off-agenda ideas, the office has been lacking in fury and light Friday stories since James moved on. Quite rightly, many a listener has asked where he is since he's stopped reading emails on air. 91Èȱ¬ World and 91Èȱ¬4 is the answer.
Anu Anand
Anu's was the first voice we all heard on WHYS back on October 31 2005 and for most of our first two years she was a regular host of the show. So it was with heavy hearts that we heard that Anu had decided to leave the 91Èȱ¬ and head for Delhi. She was at the heart of the show and it doesn't seem right that we don't hear her on air anymore. Come back soon Anu.
Leonardo Rocha
One minute he was here and then our resident Brazilian was gone. He arrived from The World Today and has now been summoned to the 91Èȱ¬ World Service Newsroom where they welcomed him with four night shifts. Now he's gone, who will arrange for 'urbanists' from Sao Paolo to join the show? The answer is probably no-one.
Richard Bowen
The man from Birmingham steered the show through some tough terrain including Amsterdam in torrential rain and Issa's house in Kampala with no electricity or water. He was a listener favourite when reading your messages on air, with emails still arriving asking where he's gone. You'll find him producing and editing at .
David Mazower
Another member of the launch team, the man they called 'The Moisturizer' left us light on male grooming when he moved on to Newshour . Famed for an enthusiasm classical music, dense Middle East stories and printing out articles and putting them on a large unread pile, he did manage to clear out his "archive" before moving across the office to a desk nearer the editor's office.
Anna Stewart
She came for six months, stayed for a year, we'd hoped she could stay longer still but she's headed back to 91Èȱ¬ Radio Five Live from where she came.
Vicki Harrison
Vicki's moments on WHYS were fleeting. She arrived, went on our big Africa trip in May 07 and promptly got a promotion and moved to The World Today. But she didn't stop there, she then landed a top job in the press office.
Paul Coletti
Never a fully signed up member of the WHYS team, Paul was booked as a freelancer so often it just felt that way. He was known briefly as Rocky Blogboa, before we realised we could only take the Sly comparisons so far. The World Today then made an honest man of him and offered a contract, so he's there at the moment working as a producer.
Kevin Anderson
He was the man from Illinois who showed WHYS the way on blogging. Sadly for us, wanted a piece of the Anderson pie and Kevin's now head of blogs there.
Steve Richards
Steve was another one of the "originals". He saw the show through its first three months, presenting every Tuesday and Friday. You can still read him in adn he's always popping up on politics discussions on the television in the UK.