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Roy Jenkins guest this week has been counted by The Times newspaper to be among the 50 most influential women in Britain.   

Dame Julia Cleverdon is said to have ‘incorrigible charm and relentless focus’ and she manages to co-opt many of the leading figures in business and industry  to her campaigns -  on everything from promoting literacy and improving life chances through education to regenerating communities.  

Her operating style has been summed up simply: ‘pick a target, find a strategy, obsess about it, then pull British bosses together behind the cause again and again.’

She has been a long-term adviser to Prince Charles, working on many of his charitable projects, notably Business in the Community, which works for a fairer society and a more sustainable future - she was its chief executive for 16 years and is now vice president. 

She talks to Roy Jenkins about her life, her faith and her family roots in Aberdare.