The Graft Podcast

Sally Orange broke her leg at 16, her boyfriend went off with her best friend while she was in hospital, and she failed her A-levels twice. It took her six years to get into physiotherapy. The same university that rejected her six times in a row later gave her an honorary doctorate. She served 22 years in the British Army — hiding a depression that eventually became a suicidal crisis in 2013, and...

Jamie Moore grew up in Salford with no boxing gym nearby and no obvious way out. A friend rang him at 13 to say one had just opened around the corner — the first night it opened. He went. He stayed for seven years. He became British, Commonwealth, Irish and European champion — the first fighter from Salford in over 100 years to win a British title. He reached number two in the world. He survived s...

Dennis Field was born in 1923, three miles from Windsor. He served in the Marines during the Second World War. After it ended, he tracked down his eventual wife Joan on his motorbike across post-war Britain — using ration coupons for petrol and a phone book to find her address. They were married for over 67 years. He broke his neck in his mid-90s. He had cancer. He's 103. When you ask Dennis t...

Ian Carter was 57 when he noticed something was wrong. The anxiety about seeing his golf mates. The mistakes at work he'd never made before. The arguments he couldn't stop starting. By 2024 it was confirmed: frontal temporal dementia. A condition, as Ian puts it, that doesn't kill you. It changes you. He fell into the void between diagnosis and deterioration — a gap the NHS has almost nothing to f...

Tim Heatley was fired from every retail job he ever had, failed at being a lawyer, and sold his mates' artwork at university rather than get a part-time job. Then he bought a derelict house for less than it would cost to rebuild — and something clicked. Tim is co-founder of Capital & Centric. They spend £3–4 million a week repurposing abandoned buildings and forgotten town centres — and un...

Dar Barrow was back on Graft to talk about chapter two: chemotherapy. The surgery was hard. What came after it was something else entirely. This conversation covers the side effects nobody prepares you for - frozen eyes, fizzy hands, the complete collapse of taste - the worst mental health day of his life arriving on an ordinary dog walk, the NHS helpline he used more than once, and what recovery...

GIVEAWAY TIME... 😴 Comment "SLEEP" below to be in with a chance to win a Leep ring Winner will be announce on Tuesday 16th June at 7pm GMT on our Instagram page - @graft.podcast --- Simon Neave spent 36 years building other people's brands — from Morrisons shelf floors to six-figure salaries in mobile tech, turning distressed products into £60 million exits and fighting to keep a co...

In 2017, Darren Edwards was three-quarters of the way up a 500ft rock face in North Wales when the ground beneath his feet gave way. A four-foot chunk of limestone collapsed. He fell with it. His best friend Matt - stood 50ft below - threw himself on top of Darren with an 80% chance they'd both go. They didn't. What followed - the hospital, the diagnosis, the losses he hadn't seen comi...

Matt Cowell's relationship with gambling began with a Simpsons fruit machine in a hotel games room in Newquay, aged ten or eleven. He'd saved up fifty pounds from his paper round. By the end of the holiday, he had £2.56 left - and already knew he needed to hide it. What followed was twenty-five years. By eighteen he was thousands in debt through Fixed Odds Betting Terminals. By twenty-five, bankru...

Sara Davison is a five-time best-selling author and the UK’s leading divorce coach, but her expertise wasn’t born in a classroom - it was forged on her bathroom floor. Overnight, Sara’s life as she knew it was annihilated. She discovered her husband - her business partner and the father of her one-year-old son - was not only leaving her but was "madly in love" with a woman 12 years young...

Matt Wing spent 32 years as a high-performing, "functional" drinker. To the outside world, he had it all—a successful career, a loving family, and a rigorous fitness regime. But inside, he was living in a state of "double stress," using alcohol to quiet the noise of undiagnosed ADHD while pushing his body to the brink of a stroke. In this raw conversation, Matt and Ben dismantl...

David Smith MBE is a Paralympic Gold Medallist, former British athlete across multiple disciplines, and a man now living with brain and spinal tumours. From representing Great Britain across karate, sprinting, bobsleigh and rowing - to standing on top of the podium at London 2012 - David built his life on performance, discipline and identity. Then everything changed. Multiple brain tumours. Paraly...

TRIGGER WARNING: talk of a physical attack that resulted in a death. On 4 April 2012, Jane Openshaw’s husband, Phil Sheriff, attended a corporate event in London. Hours later, he was fighting for his life after being attacked. Four days after that, he was gone. What followed was chaos, shock, the Old Bailey, a national campaign, a brutal appeal, and the daily reality of raising two children while...

From faxing press releases at midnight to leading one of the most profitable arms of the Matchroom empire, Matthew Porter has spent over two decades shaping the business of modern sport. Now Chief Executive of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and Chairman of Matchroom Multi Sport , Matt sits at the intersection of entertainment and elite competition - where numbers, audiences, and brand lo...

At 12 years old, Mark Long was told he’d be blind by 16. Three decades later, he’s a personal trainer, life coach, and advocate - proving how far resilience, humour, and relentless graft can take you. Diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa as a child, Mark spent years pushing the limits of denial and defiance - driving, working as a doorman, and living fast to outrun fear. It wasn’t until a crash in...

From being outed by the press in the 1990s to becoming one of the UK’s leading voices in equality and culture change, Jacqui Gavin BEM has lived through the headlines, the backlash, and the breakthroughs, and turned it all into purpose. Honoured by Her Late Majesty the Queen for services to gender equality, Jacqui has spent her career transforming inclusion across the UK Civil Service and beyond....

When public speaker Dar Barrow went on holiday to Menorca, the last thing he expected was to come home with bowel cancer. Fit, healthy, having just ran an ultra marathon(!) he had no symptoms, no family history, and no warning signs... just a pain in his stomach that turned out to be life-changing. In this powerful and unfiltered conversation, Dave sits down with Ben to talk through his diagnosis,...

From the skies to the council chamber, Sally Holland’s path to public service wasn’t planned. A former Virgin Atlantic Cabin Service Director turned twice-elected Mayor of Congleton and Cheshire East councillor, Sally lifts the lid on how local government really works - and how ordinary people can actually influence decisions. In this episode, Sally joins Ben to demystify councils (town/parish vs...

From garden kickabouts in Congleton to signing with Manchester United at just 12, Keira Barry’s football journey has been anything but predictable. Now 20 and currently on loan to Sunderland AFC Women , Keira has already faced the highs of representing England and the lows of multiple long-term injuries.  Her story is one of graft, resilience, and an unshakable love for the game. In this episode,...

When her dogs were stolen, Charlotte Robson hit a breaking point - then chose a different path. Today she’s a motivational speaker, Positive Psychology coach, and co-founder of The Authentic Girls Club , helping women swap people-pleasing and self-doubt for confidence, clarity, and action. In this episode, Charlotte sits down with Ben to share how a viral community effort brought her dogs home, wh...

When Ben and Mary laced up their trainers in their forties, they never imagined it would lead to a YouTube channel with over 15 million views, a thriving global coaching community, and a brand new career after decades in the classroom. Together, they are the duo behind This Messy Happy - a platform that helps everyday people fall in love with running and discover the life-changing strength it brin...

Trigger warning: brief talk of suicide. From a medical discharge from the army to IVF struggles, debt, and sleepless 4am walks, Dave Carter’s path has been anything but linear. Today he leads Men Walking & Talking in Sandbach, Cheshire - a simple weekly walk that’s become a lifeline for men facing grief, burnout, addiction, relationship breakdowns and suicidal thoughts. In this episode, Dave s...

From hospital radio decks and nightclub residencies to Radio 1, talkSPORT, and TNT Sport, Adam Catterall’s career has been anything but straightforward. Known today as one of the sharpest voices in combat sports, his journey is a masterclass in graft, risk-taking, and staying the course when the easy option is to quit. In this episode, Adam sits down with Ben to unpack his path into broadcasting,...

What happens when the host becomes the guest? In this season wrap-up episode of GRAFT , producer Rebekah flips the script and interviews Ben. They reflect on the journey of launching GRAFT, the emotional and professional lessons learned, and what it really means to “graft” in today’s world. If you’ve been with us from the beginning - or are just jumping in - this is the perfect episode to hear wha...

When Jill Carsberg walked into a routine mammogram, she never imagined it would change her life. Diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer - an aggressive form of the disease- Jill faced down a year of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy while holding her family, career, and sanity together. This episode of GRAFT is a departure from business as usual. It’s a raw, emotional, and deeply human...