Make An Impact Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Dance can feel like a simple pleasure, but what if it is also one of the most underused tools we have for healthy ageing? I’m joined by Faye O’Connor, a registered dance movement psychotherapist and the founder of Xpress Yourself Dance CIC, to unpack what really happens when older adults move together and why it matters for prevention, connection, and quality of life.  We get into...

Send us Fan Mail Scaling a social enterprise can feel like the only way to prove you are “serious”, but that pressure can quietly push brilliant organisations into growth they are not ready for. I’m joined by Clodagh O’Reilly, an Irish social enterprise practitioner turned researcher, to unpack what scaling really involves and why slowing down can be the most strategic move you make. We get into t...

Send us Fan Mail Charles Rapson takes us on a fascinating journey through his accidental discovery of social enterprise and his current mission as Social Economy Growth Lead at West Midlands Combined Authority. With refreshing candour, he shares how he's leveraging his position to champion a sector that employs over 100,000 people and engages 200,000+ volunteers across the West Midlands. The...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when a spare bedroom becomes the solution to both loneliness and housing affordability? Lucie Cunningham reveals the life-changing power of intergenerational home sharing in this thought-provoking conversation. After witnessing elderly clients spending 21 hours alone each day in her home care work, Lucie founded THE HomeShare, a social enterprise that matches older ho...

Send us Fan Mail Are companies genuinely committed to creating social impact, or is it all just elaborate PR? In this thought-provoking conversation with Jimmy Cockerton, CEO of Impact Advantage, we cut through the noise surrounding social value measurement to reveal what's really happening beneath the surface. While headlines might suggest companies are retreating from ESG commitments, Jimmy...

Send us Fan Mail Your voice matters. Right now, significant changes to UK social value requirements are under consultation, and the proposals could fundamentally reshape how social value is delivered through public contracts. The proposed changes create a concerning two-tier system. For contracts over £5 million, social value would become mandatory with a 10% weighting focused primarily on jobs an...

Send us Fan Mail Emma Smith, founder of Nia Avanna consultancy, reveals why community engagement is the crucial missing link in creating genuine social value. Drawing from her experience working with police forces and later in the private sector, Emma shares practical insights that challenge businesses to move beyond fear and embrace meaningful dialogue with their communities. The conversation div...

Send us Fan Mail What if we stopped trying to "fix" the NHS and focused instead on releasing its untapped potential? This episode challenges conventional thinking about healthcare improvement through an eye-opening conversation with GP Ben Allen. Ben offers a refreshing perspective that moves beyond the binary notion of a "broken" NHS, suggesting we focus on continuous optimisa...

Send us Fan Mail Robert Campbell shares the journey of Aspire Media, a creative social enterprise based in Northern Ireland that specialises in photography, videography, and social media services to fund their community TV channel. • Launched in November 2022 after three years of development following a local charity project • Created as a response to negative media portrayals of the local Ballysa...

Send us Fan Mail Catherine Manning joins us for a paradigm-shifting conversation about how we define, measure, and create value in our world. As Head of Impact Practice at Impact Reporting and Programme Director of Measure Up, Catherine brings a wealth of expertise in translating abstract impact concepts into practical frameworks that organisations can actually implement. The episode challenges ou...

Send us Fan Mail Discover how Beacon Family Services is transforming children's mental health care in the latest episode of the Make an Impact podcast. Join me as I speak with Charlotte, the founder of this remarkable organisation dedicated to providing therapeutic family support in the West Midlands. With around 70% of children not receiving adequate mental health services, Charlotte shares...

Send us Fan Mail Gabriela Matouskova from Hope for the Community shares her inspiring journey from the initial challenges of the pandemic to embracing technology for transformative community care. Through innovative partnerships and focus on measurement of impact, Hope for the Community has supported over 30,000 individuals, navigating the delicate balance of emotional and social support alongside...

Send us Fan Mail Can social data revolutionise healthcare? Join us as we uncover the incredible journey of Miranda Mapleton, CEO of White Swan, a charity that's leveraging anonymised social data and AI to transform patient care. Discover how a personal story involving the a friend's sister's rare condition ignited a movement to improve health outcomes through innovative technology....

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Heidi Fisher is joined by Johnathan Parsons, Managing Director and Consultant Clinical Scientist at Chime Social Enterprise. Chime is an NHS Audiology Service that utilised the Government Right to Request scheme to spin out as a not-for-profit Social Enterprise, having spun out 12 years ago under the "right to request" legislation.  Owned by its staff, t...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Heidi Fisher sits down with Rhonda Lovell, founder of Wellington Counselling, to explore Rhonda's journey from her early career in gender studies to becoming a therapist and establishing a community-focused counselling centre. Highlights from the discussion include: Organic growth of Wellington Counselling Community support and collaboration Pandemic Challeng...

Send us Fan Mail The Parenting Apart Programme is an early intervention that prevents long-term negative impacts on children’s emotional health and well-being when their parents separate or divorce. In this episode, Managing Director Claire Field and Parenting Apart Consultant Kam Kaur share their insights into their innovative approach with Heidi. From organisational development to logistics and...

Send us Fan Mail What's the sign of an organisation that wants to realise the best for patients? It's something Dr. Linda Harris, a GP and the founding CEO of Spectrum Community Health CIC sees in droves everyday. And if you want to magnify your impact, whether in health and wellbeing, in working with vulnerable communities or across the gamut of social enterprises' outcomes, this e...

Send us Fan Mail Catch22 supports over 160,000 people every year. A social business, it has over 1,700 staff and volunteers and delivers services addressing child exploitation, children's social care, criminal justice, education, employment and training, and health and wellbeing. Naomi Hulston had worked in the organisation for 21 years before taking on her 15th role as its chief executive. ...

Send us Fan Mail Paul Zelizer is a social entrepreneur coach and the co-host of the Awarepreneurs Podcast. He spent 15 years working in community mental health and tells Heidi about his journey from "burned-out, broke social worker" through a reinvention 16 years ago. Now he offers consultancy and coaching for impact-focused leaders. In this episode he covers: Using large organisations t...

Send us Fan Mail Here's a rollicking, rip-roaring marketing 101 with Ayo Abbas. Ayo specialises in B2B (business to business) marketing for the built environment.  And she believes marketing shouldn't be a weird, mystical art. We hear: why you should always remember you're marketing to people the problem with customer avatars – "I hate them" says Ayo, and confusing funnels...

Send us Fan Mail Here's a horrifying statistic: 80% of toys are thrown away within two weeks, and they're packed with plastics and chemicals which damage the environment. Handmade wooden toys, so loved by so many, had been disappearing because of rapid industrialisation and the spread of cheap plastics. Arshad Khalid is the founder and director of Ethiqana, a social enterprise which work...

Send us Fan Mail Alessandra Alonso is the founder and managing director of Women in Travel CIC, a social enterprise which focuses on the economic empowerment of women through employability and entrepreneurship in travel, tourism and hospitality. It provides all women, but especially marginalised, vulnerable and under-represented women with visibility, confidence, access to training, mentoring and...

Send us Fan Mail Remi Ray is a neurodivergent high-performance coach and the founder of The Diverse Creative CIC. She describes how she came to launch her social enterprise, which supports disabled entrepreneurs, and the multi-faceted approach she takes to coaching. After struggling through education because she had "shied away from discussing" her dyslexia until the age of 28, Remi real...

Send us Fan Mail Doing good in the world? Then it is incumbent on you to build the foundations of a sustainable business, says Yinka Ewuola. Get those right and you can maximise your impact. This episode is about those foundations: cashflow and mindset. Plus Heidi is honest and open about common pricing mistakes and Yinka has ideas and solutions. And: Why "knowing your worth" can be the...

Send us Fan Mail "Everyone has had a financial bump in the road at some point in their life, but I don't think they should be punished for that," say Tim Rooney, CEO of "Fintech for Good" Award-winner, Salad Money. Salad is a social enterprise and community development finance institution (CDFI) which focuses on lending and tailored financial education, support and signpos...