Stories of Men: Beneath the Surface

The new season of Our Voices is almost here! Check out our website for the latest from Our Voices We're also on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram A Fascinate Production

  Do you remember that iconic moment the first UK vaccine was administered? Well, here we hear the story of the nurse who provided it, her name is May Parsons. May was originally born in the Philippines. She had a challenging childhood in which, at just 5 years old, she witnessed the brutal murder of her father during New Year’s Eve celebrations. Recovering from this loss became the challenge...

As a child, Steven describes having a violently negative reaction to the very concept of consuming almost all food: “There were only about 5 different foods I’d eat as a child” these included bread, cereals, french fries and ice cream. This hardly provided Steven with the basis for a healthy diet but he was genuinely worried that having a piece of chicken or steak would bring about a severe a...

Here we get the rare opportunity of hearing the voices of children who have been impacted by lockdown. Andrea has spoken previously on the podcast but this time she is accompanied by her eldest daughter, 9-year-old Ella, and her son, 7-year-old Luke. Listening to their reflections we are able to hear how these children have been impacted by lockdown restrictions and how they have found ways o...

Carlos is a single father of a 10-year-old daughter and a fifteen-year-old son. We hear about the struggles Carlos has faced trying to support his son in the midst of his son’s antisocial and violent behaviour. After threatening his mother with violence and being arrested by the police, it looked as if the situation had become completely untenable. Then lockdown intervened and became, possibly, th...

Phoebe is a nine-year-old girl who happens to have Down’s Syndrome. Her father, Matthew, describes how in so many ways she is just like any other little girl. Yet, he recounts the ways in which people often seem subconsciously conditioned to view his daughter as a condition rather than as a person. This is an attitude he is determined to challenge to provide the best possible future for his daught...

Chrissy is a woman who has many strings to her bow, including being a tutor, a coach and a poet. She was living on her own in London when the lockdown was announced and she found herself feeling particularly isolated. As a result, when there was a call for people to help at her local food bank, she answered that call immediately and discovered her help was very much needed. Check out our website f...

This episode looks at the heartbreaking struggle of Ross: a son, father and fiancé, who took his own life in the midst of lockdown at the age of 31. We hear from Ross’s father, Mike, who reflects on the challenges his son faced and how, as a society, we could do more to help those who are battling serious mental health challenges. If you've been affected by any of the issues highlighted in th...

The new season of Our Voices is almost here! Check out our website for the latest from Our Voices We're also on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram A Fascinate Production

Tony grew up as a “tall, skinny, freckled kid” in Sunderland and went from being picked on at school to boxing for Great Britain at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Much of Tony’s success was down to his father’s encouragement and insistence that he train and develop his boxing skills. When Tony eventually won his Olympic medal, the first person he would thank would be his father. Visit www.tonyjeffries...

Susie, a gold-medal winning former Paralympic swimmer, has overcome the odds on multiple occasions in order to achieve at the highest level. She was born with disabilities which have required her to wear prosthetic limbs since childhood. Rather than expressing regret, Susie articulates her gratitude to the support she received from the NHS. Right from her early years, it’s clear that Susie’s attit...

Tom is an Olympic race walker who holds three world best titles and six British records. Although Tom was involved in athletics from an early age, after his first race for Great Britain did not go well, he fell out of love with the sport and decided to follow his cousin’s suggestion to volunteer at a summer camp in America. This was a decision that would change his life. Check out our website for...

Holly’s story allows us to take a contemporary look at the Olympic experience. She is a pole vaulter who is preparing to compete in her 3rd Olympic Games in Tokyo. Holly talks about the anxieties she experienced as a child when doing sport for the first time and how these anxieties resurfaced as she was exposed to the challenges that come with being a high-profile athlete. Check out our website fo...

Frazer, a superheavyweight boxer, has spent 12 years on the Team GB Olympic boxing team. It is a record period of time. During previous tournaments, he has lost out on making the Olympics to illustrious GB competitors, such as current unified Heavyweight Champion: Anthony Joshua, and current WBO mandatory challenger: Joe Joyce. But, despite not achieving his dreams on those occasions, Frazer has r...

Garry Cook is a former Olympic athlete who won a silver medal in the 1984 Olympic Games relay race. He is the husband of Kathy, a former guest of the podcast who also achieved Olympic glory. Just like Kathy, Garry attributes much of his success to the people who supported him as he was growing up. Speaking about his Junior Coach, he says “90% of my success was down to him”. Check out our website f...

Kathy is a former Olympic sprinter. She is a three-time bronze medallist and competed for Great Britain at the 1980 and 1984 Olympic games. She recounts her journey into sprinting and the experiences that helped to shape her achievements. What is striking about Kathy’s story is hearing about the number of key individuals who were present at the right time to guide her towards her ultimate achievem...

A new season of Our Voices is here! This time featuring Team GB Olympics athletes past and present. Check out our website for the latest from Our Voices We're also on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram A Fascinate Production

Katie is a Kid’s Doctor who describes the challenges that working in the NHS can pose. To address this, she became involved in establishing a forum called “NHS Million”. As well as creating a marketing campaign for the NHS choir to beat Justin Beiber to the Christmas number 1 spot, this forum provides NHS workers with a space in which they can talk about the psychological issues that they are faci...

Helen has “one of the best jobs ever.” Her job is to recruit nurses from abroad to work in the NHS. She describes her job as being very busy, with a daughter and three step-sons, she also has an extremely busy home-life, yet, she describes herself as being blessed: “I get to meet people with so many wonderful stories to tell from all parts of the world.” Check out our website for the latest from O...

Ellie is an occupational therapist who began working for the NHS in July 2020 during the height of the pandemic. She describes her initial experiences as being a long way from what she had envisioned. She relates being confronted with ill patients who were ventilated on tubes and describes the psychological toll of having to deal with the death of both her patients and her own family members durin...

Sophie is an occupational therapist. During the height of the pandemic, she worked in an acute stroke ward where she was charged with caring for patients who had experienced significant cognitive, physical or sensory deficits. It was her role to help these patients attempt to regain independence in their lives. In this episode she reflects on the determination of a particular patient she cared for...

Andrea is a laboratory pathologist who suddenly finds herself on the other side of the doctor-patient divide. Specialising in analysing and detecting changes in cells and tissue in the body, her main role is to identify diseases, particularly cancer. She had previously been able to detach herself from the potentially life changing news that she would give. Her perspective changed dr...

Dr Waheed is a former refugee born in Afghanistan, whose journey to reach the UK was fraught with danger and difficulty. Afghanistan was in the midst of conflict when Dr Waheed was born. Soviet troops had entered the country making it necessary for him and his family to flee on multiple occasions. As a small boy, he found himself living in conditions of extreme poverty in a refugee...

Rich is a critical care nurse who is a proud member of the LGBTQ community and identifies as non-binary.  They begin by talking about the experience which encouraged them to join the NHS. Their grandmother had dementia and eventually it was necessary to admit their grandmother to hospital. Rich was struck by the way the nurses cared for her. They knew at that moment that t...

Rob is a paramedic who is now in his 20th year of service having started as a volunteer with St John’s Ambulance at the age of 13. He was clearly born to work in the healthcare profession. He describes having always wanted to “help people” and “be part of a community”. In his words: “very few things in life give you the return that helping somebody does”.  Check out our website...