UK's Best History Workshop Providers

Rest assured that, in booking The History Specialists, you can expect a highly professional service. We are proud to be full members of Equity so each benefit from their standard Public Liability Insurance of up to £10 million of cover. We are also fully DBS checked. We carry these as standard practice and share them with our clients. PLI/photo ID for your records if necessary

Lisa McCarthy

Lisa worked as a Museum Educator within Leicestershire County Council’s Museum Service at Snibston Discovery Park before becoming a Specialist full time. At Snibston, Lisa developed and delivered award-winning services for children with Special Educational Needs and recruited a team of staff as a Cultural Pathfinder.

She is a trained Occupational Therapist with most of her experience working with adults with learning disabilities. This background gave Lisa great confidence in grading activities; involving individuals fully in the process of an activity; and working with a wide range of individuals with differing skill levels. Understanding the importance of sensory exploration and its necessity for some people is a natural skill for Lisa.

Equity Number: 00409036

Rowan McCarthy

Rowan has over five years of experience delivering Circus and History workshops for Children. She spent four years studying at Circomedia the world-renowned centre for contemporary circus and physical theatre training. There she honed acting and teaching skills which aid her when delivering sessions. Currently Rowan delivers our Toys from the Past and Great Fire of London Sessions. Rowan also delivers our brand new Circus Workshops where children can learn the art of hula hoop, juggling, poi, spinning plates and much more.

Frankie McCarthy

Frankie McCarthy has years of experience delivering Circus workshops and lessons for primary aged children. He’s always had a deep passion for history, whether that be attending reenactment fairs or reading/writing historical fiction. Currently you can book him to deliver our Viking or Saxon day where he’ll come in role and in character as a fearsome warrior with tales of his many battles.

He has a 1st class degree from The Northern Film School where he developed his filmmaking and acting skills. He even directed and starred in a short film about Vikings utilising our costumes and resources.

In Memory of Greg McCarthy

Greg McCarthy was the passionate cofounder of The Specialists. Sadly we unexpectedly lost him in August 2025. He now rests in Valhalla and feasts with the very Gods that he enjoyed teaching children about.

For over fifteen years he inspired, taught and made students and teachers smile through their learning. Greg was full of energy in all of the different roles he took on. He felt privileged to be doing a job he loved that gave such joy to so many children. We will have Greg’s energy with us as we continue to bring history to life.

Greg’s early career as an actor was spent mainly within theatre in education, often involving children in workshops to be included in plays. He went on to train to teach before enjoying combining these two areas.

Greg not only loved history but was a huge fan of historical fiction too. We all loved Bernard Cornwall’s Uhtred series so….

Destiny is all.

We carry Enhanced DBS checks (registered with the update service) and ID.