Jenny Barraclough

Jennifer Ann Barraclough OBE (born 2 May 1937) is a British film and television producer. Much of her work is in television documentaries. She has also been involved in a number of trusts and charities. They include the Grierson Trust (Chairman between 2006 and 2009) and LEPRA  (Chairman between 2007 and 2011)  and the Razumovsky Ensemble  of which she is a Trustee.

Barraclough was educated at St Brandon's School (Somerset), Millfield (Somerset), and St Hilda's College, Oxford, where she achieved a BA Hons in English.

Barraclough was one of the first women television producers. Barraclough's film Gale is Dead (1971) was one of the first to draw attention to young homeless and drug addicts and contributed to the establishment of a House of Commons committee. Her film Women in Prison in 1972 (which won a BAFTA) was the first film to be shot in a women's prison in the UK. In the 1980s she made two films on Queen Elizabeth II and two on 10 Downing Street for BBC One. Barraclough also produced films on the arts, including one on the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and a major series on the London Symphony Orchestra in 1986.

Barraclough's films on AIDS helped promote understanding of the disease in its early days. Barraclough also produced other series focused on medicine, including series on transplant surgery and the history of cancer. Films for BBC World have included projects on leprosy (2001), vaccination (2004), and international efforts to prevent the spread of avian flu. In 2005 Barraclough produced a widely distributed film on the MMR vaccine for the Department of Health.

She was made a member of two BBC think tanks.

Barraclough was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2009 Birthday Honours.

Awards
Jenny Barraclough won many awards for the BBC and for Barraclough Carey (founded in 1988, later Mentorn Barraclough Carey) which won many international awards for its documentaries, both singles and multi-part.

Trusts and charity
Barraclough was trustee and Chairman of the Grierson Trust which plays a leading role in supporting the quality documentary in the UK at a time when it is threatened by ratings and other commercial imperatives. As trustee she helped expand the event from a single award to an event with nine categories, and as Chairman she initiated many new ideas including the specially commissioned films by young 'Newcomers'. She expanded the Trust's activities into many new areas, like staging the popular National Film Theatre events that highlight ethical and other issues in documentary-making, mounting Master Classes with DocHouse where leading documentary makers share their skills with their audiences, and supporting festivals that honour the documentary. She helped initiate three new Grierson Sheffield Awards at the Sheffield International Documentary Festival: the 'most innovative', best 'green' film and a 'youth award' for the film most admired by young audiences.

Jenny Barraclough made the influential programme The New Face of Leprosy in 2001 which was shown to 27 million people on BBC World and then shown by many individual national networks and also by educational groups throughout the affected countries. As a Member of the Executive Board of LEPRA she helped make decisions on the treatment of leprosy, TB and AIDS among thousands of people on three continents, speaking on the organisation's behalf and making fund raising films for them. She became chairman in 2007 and worked closely with the CEO in managing a charity with a £12 million annual income and employing over 4,500 worldwide.

She is a trustee of the Razumovsky Trust, which is the trust of the Razumovsky Ensemble and Academy. The Academy helps outstanding young musicians reach international standard and encourages classical music in some of London’s less privileged schools.