Curious Chats & Kind Acts

Here is part 2 of the Chapel project episode, Joy, my wife, producer Jonah and I continue to chat about our journey of renovating a derelict Chapel and I chat to some of our lovely community along the way. I love this episode as Joy, Jonah and I are well into our second bottle of wine and we get a little bit silly, but hey, this whole project is a little bit silly so it fits… and no, Joy still doe...

It's here guys, I'm soooooo excited to share this one with you, we finally convinced Joy to sit down and share our story of The Chapel. A derelict building we bought 8 years ago and have created a fabulous community space and cafe on the outskirts of Chester. It was a Thursday evening, she arrived home to 3 mics and 2 bottles of wine on the table and off we went, we had our special guest h...

I’m chatting to Vlad today, he shares a bit about his life growing up in Ukraine, falling in love with the lovely Albina, then wham, he has to make the impossible decision of should they flee from their country. He does, and what a journey, having to rely on the kindness of strangers all along the way. He chats about his 3 month stay in France, living on food vouchers, not speaking the language, t...

I’m chatting to Mark today, he shares his journey of discovering he was gay as an adult and was very involved in his local church. He talks about those first feelings, of having to come out to his parents, and falling in love. We discuss kindness as a Christian and ‘tything’ or donating money, and how it isn't our wealth, we are just custodians of it. We then get a bit deep talking about havin...

Today I chat to Nicola, I met Nicola as I was walking my dog, she was living in a tent in a field. I saw her every morning for nearly a month and we just smiled or said hello, so one day I plucked up the courage to ask if I could listen to her story, and here it is. Nicola is a really resilient human, she has COPD, and needs a wheelchair and yes life is quite tricky for her, she is really open abo...

Gaming is a whole new world to me, well except for an occasional dalliance with Pokemon Go. Atlantis gives me an introduction to this world, events where she won £10k, through to this huge world of online gaming where people can re-invent themselves and spend hours… even days getting lost in different worlds! And why, well have a listen and find out! What I loved was that if you watch a film, you...

In this episode I’m chatting to Dave, who I know from my day job. I’ve been learning just how complex the care system is, how stressful and scary it is for the person now needing care, losing their independence, having to trust strangers. And I wanted to understand who the professionals are, who are helping people move through to the next life stage. So, we have got Dave today! He is a social work...

Today we have Carly, and she is one of the bubbliest cheeriest people you're ever likely to meet, she's my Pilates teacher at the gym, but I'm not kidding. Guaranteed I'll go in feeling miserable, come out, feeling happy and I wanted to find out why. And we cover lots of stuff, appreciating the simple things in life or having good mates and good community and for the first part of...

Today I chat with Bettina, she now co-owns a contemporarydance company, and has had quite the journey to get there, countless auditions, global travel, lots of determination. There has been a bit of fun times along the way, although not in night clubs! I know I would have been using my skills to do a bit of showing off! We discuss just how hard it is to make a living in the arts,and how kindness h...

We have a proper treat in store for you today. I’m chattingto Kate, who I know from my Macmillan days, I interviewed her for a job at Clatterbridge Cancer Centre. She blew me away with her passion, resilience and determination, and we have remained friends since. She talks so passionatelyabout her service, I have to say though it is a tricky listen and it’s not an easy job that she does.   She run...

Lori was my long covid rehab person, and we have sincebecome friends, she is a proper good egg. We discuss long covid, how debilitating it can be, and how we can help ourselves by making changes to our lifestyle to help combat the dreaded fatigue. Lori is such a positive human, she shares her lovely ideasaround giving and receiving light, and how she is happy with being content - a good 7/10 suits...

Dionne is a black, female and married to a woman. She hasworked in Equality Diversity and Inclusion (or EDI) for the police and currently Liverpool football club. She also volunteers for Ocean Cheshire a Charity who support Cheshire's Ethnically Diverse communities, sharing her life lessons and she is always selflessly trying to improve things for others. So, as you can imagine, we have a lot...

I'm speaking with Josh today, he is the owner of Prohibition, a secret cocktail bar in Chester. He shares his story of falling in love with hospitality, and his incredible journey of opening his first bar at 22! We hear how people have given him kindness and self-belief to make the bravest decision, quit his job and just go for it. And 10 years on, another bar and soon to be a boutique hotel,...

Happy Pride Month, and because it's pride month, we have another cheeky episode for you. (Edit note: Pride month was officially in June, but it is Chester Pride this month, August). A person called Archie.  I say a person because Archie is gender fluid, and if you want to know what this is, you will have to listen! We chat about them growing up as gay in a private school in posh England, which...

Happy Chester Pride month! Today I'm chatting to Dave. We met after work in a council building in Ellesmere Port, and we spent that long in there, the security guard came and kicked us out!! Here's me thinking I’m going along to chat social work, and it turns out Dave was part of the team who started Chester Pride.  We chat about his journey as a gay man in the 90’s, he shares his lovely l...

Well well well we have made it guys! Series one is a wrap! And we have a little treat in store for you today! Producer Jonah and I sit down with a cocktail and have a chat about our favorite episodes. We discuss what we have learnt, what others have learnt and what's next, so please have a listen and get in touch letting us know your highlights. Massive thanks to Vic at Mic Media for training...

Today I chat with Clair. Clair started her career in restaurants and cafes, then moved into the corporate world, living in luxury and the posh lifestyle to go with it. She is now trying to live off grid, she would love to live off the land, she homeschools, and her happy place is in the garden in her wellies! We chat about Clair’s life, and the common theme is her pure determination, which is now...

Kirsty talks about her difficult journey of being pregnant at 15, and living through 2 coercive and abusive relationships. What I love about this chat though is how Kirsty learnt to be kind to herself, like herself, and grow into the person she has become, mother of 3 wonderful children, a thriving career, and some beautiful long lasting friendships. Just a warning, we do discuss domestic violence...

This week we're talking to Heather about her passion for walking, mountain rescue, dog training, and her extremely varied career from working for the police to working on top of Snowdon! We talk about how she has experienced ageism, and how she views it positively. We discuss many different topics but it's fair to say Heather's story is an inspiring one. Walking the 500 km Cambrian Way...

Welcome to curious chats, how are you? I say curious chats as I got a little carried away with all the drama today and only mention kindness at the end, so sorry about that, but what a great chat! We hear from Ian about joining the police force in the 90’s so that he could play more rugby! Through to him becoming an inspector in CID. He shares stories about drugs coming up the Thames in a submarin...

I met Helen through People Planet and Pint, which is a monthly meeting where people get together to chat about the environment over a pint… and guess what, the pint is free!! We chat about Helen’s journey to caring for the environment and wanting to reduce her impact on it.  We discuss lots of tips about what we can all do to be kinder to our environment, from turning the heating down to buying se...

In this episode I talk with Jim, we discuss his health issues with dementia and heart attacks, as well as his interesting relationship history. I found this chat fascinating as we had to swap rooms half way through, when we were in the first room, we were chatting about his life growing up, his family, and he can remember so much detail, we are then interrupted by some ladies wanting coffee so we...

Today we are taking a trip down memory lane with Jo.  I’ve known Jo since school, and our youth involved lots of clubbing and drinking together. But as Jo got older and I think it’s a stage most of us reach, she wanted to explore other things in life. We chat about that journey which includes reverting to being Muslim, halal dating, not eating during Ramadan and wearing a moral veil. And this is w...

Today we explore the journey of Marcos. A former athlete turned personal trainer, as he navigates cultural identity, family, and mental health during lock-down. Delve into themes of kindness, empathy, and personal growth, highlighting the power of authentic connections and acts of positivity in impacting lives. And yes, we will be putting a clip of Marcos dancing on the socials!!

Today we delve into Twiggy's volunteering with St. John Ambulance, her transition to working within the NHS, and her realisation of the intrinsic nature of kindness in her actions, whether professionally or through simple, spontaneous acts of helping others. Twiggy recounts her childhood, marred by family issues and her stepdad's alcoholism, which influenced her career choices and instille...