In Conversation with Nickie Aiken

I visited the Fair Shot Cafe in Covent Garden, an incredible social enterprise cafe which opened its doors in 2021. Not only do they serve speciality coffee, but they help young people with learning disabilities into the hospitality industry. Founder Bianca Tavella joins me in this episode.

I recently brought together employers and fertility charities to Parliament to discuss the progress we are making on workplace rights for people undergoing fertility treatment.  Millions of people in the UK are struggling with infertility — and they are having to deal with multiple cycles, side effects and complications in silence in the workplace.  In this episode, I speak to Becky Kearns from Fe...

My latest episode comes from the streets of Soho, where I joined PC Andy De Santis on part of his patrol route. Andy is a dedicated police officer for Soho, and we spoke about his work in cutting crime and keeping the community here safe. 

Meet my latest Two Cities Hero — Jane Doyle. Jane has lived in Soho for more than 50 years, and she is Chair of the Soho Safer Neighbourhood Ward panel. Soho has gone through some huge changes in Jane’s half century as a local resident — I'm pleased to be joined by her in this episode from St Anne's Church in the heart of Soho.

Superintendent Beth Pirie joined the Met recently from Hampshire Police, and now leads Westminster's Neighbourhood Policing. I caught up with her on a range of pressing issues from licensing and public order in the West End, policing at night, my crime and anti-social behaviour survey, and the culture within the Met.

For Pride Month, I caught up with human rights and LGBTQ+ campaigner Philip Baldwin in Soho. Philip also campaigns and raises awareness of HIV. He was diagnosed with HIV during a routine check-up and he was later diagnosed with Hepatitis C. Thankfully, neither are the life sentences they once were — and with the proper diagnosis and treatment, you can lead a very healthy life. Philip joins me in t...

For the latest in my Two Cities Heroes series, I speak to Jens Jakobsen — a local florist and the most amazing urban gardener. He has the most beautiful garden with over 150 different plants and a huge onion tree right in heart of Victoria just behind City Hall. I myself discovered it just by walking past one day. Everybody is welcome so if you need a quiet spot to think, read a book or just relax...

Zurich Insurance were one of the first companies to sign up to my recently launched Fertility Workplace Pledge — the idea behind it is to get employers of all shapes and sizes to sign up to a set of basic principles that improve the workplace rights for people going through treatment. I was delighted to visit the team in their City office — and their Head of People, Steve Collinson, joined me on m...

Meet Hamza Taouzzale — Hamza was born in Westminster, and is now our First Citizen. He has broken the mould by becoming the youngest Lord Mayor and the first from an ethnic minority background. He’s a Two Cities Hero — and he joined me in this episode.

In the next of my Two Cities Heroes series, I went to The Abbey Centre, run by the fantastic Caz Gandy-Brown. It’s an incredible hub serving our Westminster community which hosts activity groups, a social supermarket and so much more. Caz joins me in this episode 

For the latest in my Two Cities Heroes conversations series, I met up with Rabbi Morris at Bevis Marks. If you haven’t been, Bevis Marks is situated in the heart of our City and is believed to be the longest continuously operating synagogue in the world. Rabbi Morris has been busy overseeing the restoration of the old building, the synagogue is now complete for everyone to visit — and I can tell y...

I’m pushing a Bill through try and get better workplace support for people going through IVF. Infertility affects 3.5 million people in the UK, it affects people of all backgrounds and ethnicities, and did you know it affects more men than women? I was joined by Anya Sizer from Fertility Network UK and racing driver TAG Toby Trice in this episode, to discuss this further. 

Meet Jeremy Goring - a member of the Goring family, who owns the Goring Hotel in Victoria, and they are helping people who have been homeless into careers in hospitality. They provide work experience, mentoring and introductions to employers.

I talk to Christabel Flight for the next episode in my Two Cities Heroes series. Christabel is an old people's champion, a former Councillor, and a true hero!

Acoustic cameras to deal with supercars; better support for people juggling IVF treatment and careers; and regulating pedicabs — here's a round-up of my work over the past month. 

Meet John Fletcher - he's a Common Councillor and he has done some incredible work for the local community over many years. I met him at Aldgate Square for the latest in my Two Cities Heroes conversations.

MEET THE TWO CITIES HEROES! This year marks my 25th year of living in the Two Cities, and to celebrate this special anniversary, I am beginning a series of conversations with the local people who are doing incredible things and make it so special. We kick off the series with Jane Buttigieg. You may have seen Jane at The Cave in Pimlico, and she is a Pimlico legend. Thank you to Jane for everything...

Did you know 1 in 6 couples are affected by infertility and it cuts through all socio-economic backgrounds and ethnicities? Undergoing IVF treatment while juggling a career is tough - over 36% of staff undergoing treatment have considered leaving their job. We need to improve IVF support in the workplace. In my this episode I talk to Becky Kearns and Claire Ingle from Fertility Matters at Work - t...

We have got to take our online safety as seriously as our physical safety. I’m working with colleagues in government to make sure scams are included in the forthcoming Online Harms Bill. People are sadly losing thousands of pounds via fraudulent advertising, emails, texts and cloned websites. Some have lost their entire life savings, their mental health has suffered, and there have even been cases...

Short term lets on sites like  Booking.com , Tripadvisor and Airbnb have a big impact on our neighbourhoods in Westminster. I was joined by Cllr Ian Adams from Westminster City Council, and we got together some residents from the Hyde Park Estate to listen to their stories, discuss what more we can do to make the system work for them, and I updated them on my progress with Airbnb and governme...

If you’re worried about returning back to the office post-pandemic and leaving your pet at home alone then this podcast is essential listening! Pleased to be joined by Ryan Neile from Blue Cross animal hospital and Kit the Dutch Shepherd to discuss lockdown, impulse buying animals, separation anxiety and all things pets!

Did you know 12 million women in the UK are currently going through the menopause, I am one of them, and it can be very tough. We need much better awareness and support in society - especially in our workplaces. I got together Dr Wendy Denning (a private GP), Livia Francis (health and fitness expert), and Tanuj Kapilashrami (the global head of HR at Standard Chartered Bank) to discuss what more we...

Schools are now thankfully back in action, but I want to take a moment to thank every single teacher in The Two Cities who have done an amazing job over the challenging past few weeks in keeping our children learning. I recently joined Hampden Gurney pupils for a virtual Q&A - and boy did they put me through my paces! 

This Thursday (4th March 2021) is World Book Day - which is all about encouraging children (and adults) to read. In this episode I'm joined by Cassie Chadderton who is the Chief Executive of this important initiative, and David Shelley who heads up leading UK publishing group Hachette UK. We discuss our favourite reads, why it's never too late to pick up a book, and why the UK excels in publishing...

The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) recently published a report that found 57% of black, Asian and minority ethnic people said they would take a COVID-19 vaccine, compared with 79% of white people. One reasons for this is a number of rumours being spread about the vaccine within some BAME communities. I recently sat down with representatives from the Bengali community in Pimlico to discuss...