The People First Podcast

In this weeks episode, we speak to Paige who is the Gaming Community Manager at SpecialEffect, a company that looks to make video games available to everyone. This often means working with game developers to make games more accessible, or working with people to create accessible gaming controllers and setups. We talk to Paige to find out more! Please rate our podcast and leave a review! It really...

After our week off doing podcast training, we interviewed Simone Aspis a passionate advocate for people with Learning Disabilities who has worked on numerous projects across her career. Simone talked about her life so far and about some of the projects she is currently working on.  The opinions expressed in this episode don't represent the views of the People First Podcast crew or the views o...

In this weeks episode, we talk to Ian from Bradford District Credit Union. Ian tells us about what a credit union can do to help people save money and gives us some more information about some of the community schemes that are available to people in the district.  You can find out more information and sign up yourself at https://www.bdcu.co.uk/.  Please rate our podcast and leave a review! It real...

In this weeks episode we spoke to David from the group Open Country. Open Country is an organisation that helps make the countryside more accessible for people with disabilities. They run walks, tandem cycling, audio walks and much more! We learn more about what David does with Open Country and how we can get more involved. Please rate our podcast and leave a review! It really helps tell our membe...

In this weeks episode we speak to Claire from the charity Cauda Equina Champions. We learn about what the charity does to help and support people who have been diagnosed with Cauda Equina as well as some of the symptoms and possible causes of the condition. Please visit the Cauda Equina Champions if you would like to learn more or support them in their work.  Please rate our podcast and leave a re...

In this episode, we were able to talk to the very accomplished author Lynne Reid Banks. Lynne has written such books like The Indian in the Cupboard and The L Shaped Room.  We spoke to Lynne about her career as an actress, news reporter and author and found out that she has a new book being released soon called The Red Red Dragon.   This was one of our favourite episodes to record so we hope you e...

In this weeks episode we speak to actor and artist Rachael Sparkes about her career and some of her work with people who have learning disabilities. Rachael was a part of a fantastic exhibition called '(Re)Acting to Romanticism: Disability and Women Writers' which explored the voices of some female writers with disabilities in the romantic period.  Our discussion then leads us to talk ab...

In this episode we talk to Lynne Murray from the organisation Don't Screen Us Out, a group that works to fight the discrimination faced by people with Down Syndrome. Recently they have been working with Heidi Crowter on her court case to have the abortion law changed for babies with Down Syndrome so that it is equal to babies who don't. If you want to get involved with our campaigning, o...

In this episode we welcome local musician Jon Gow who plays with the outfit 'Howlin' Jonny and the Devil's Rejects. We talk to him about the band and his experiences in music. If you manage to make it to the end, we also get a wee tune from Jon to see us out! Please rate our podcast and leave a review! It really helps tell our members how they are doing and helps our show grow and i...

This week on the People First Podcast, we were on location at the Mercure Hotel in Shipley to talk to the leaders of the Bradford Cooperative Partnership. The Co-op Partnership has been set up to increase the links between groups working with disabled people in the Bradford district, share ideas and improve the quality of work that can be offered to disabled people in the area. We asked some quest...

This week on the People First Podcast, we spoke to Allan Clarke from the Lion's Den Keighley. The Lion's Den is a peer to peer support group based at Cliffe Castle in Keighley.  People come to Lion's Den to do a wide range of activities such as woodworking, singing, 3D printing and much more. We find out more and ask about the new location which is being set up on Bracken Bank.  Ple...

In this episode of the People First Podcast, we were on location at Elland Road for the AccessAbility event which was run by the William Merritt Centre. We spoke to one of the organisers David Blythe about the event and also got the chance to talk to some of the stalls that were present.   Please rate our podcast and leave a review! It really helps tell our members how they are doing and helps our...

In this episode of the People First Podcast, we interviewed advocate and campaigner Heidi Crowter about her work. This episode was released in advance of the court appeal on July 13th, where Heidi is leading the campaign to have the laws on the abortion of babies with Down Syndrome changed to be the same as babies without Down Syndrome - 24 weeks. Currently, babies with Down Syndrome can be aborte...

The People First Podcast-Episode 17-I Can Dance   On the latest episode of our podcast, we spoke to Juliet Diener from ‘ICanDance’.    icandance is a creative, therapeutic dance community that caters for the needs of children and young people and their families with lived experience of disabilities.   Please rate our podcast and leave a review! It really helps tell our members how they are doing a...

Our UK listeners may be aware that there are some local elections coming up on May the 5th. So, on this episode of our podcast, you will hear our conversation with Megan Taylor and Hamza Madni from Promote the Vote, who answered our questions about all things voting and elections. Please rate our podcast and leave a review! It really helps tell our members how they are doing and helps our show gro...

For the latest episode of our podcast, we spoke to Dr Lucy Series from Cardiff University about the governments proposed changes to the human rights act, and the new Liberty Protection safeguards.   The proposed changes to the law could affect the way that almost 300,000 people in the UK receive care, so we felt it was important to learn more about these issues. Many thanks to Dr Lucy Series for a...

This week we had Simon Jarrett historian, author, and editor of Community Living magazine on the podcast to talk about his book and about the history of learning disabilities.  We also welcomed our local MP for Keighley and Ilkley Robbie Moore and asked him a few questions about the current state of affairs! Please rate our podcast and leave a review! It really helps tell our members how they are...

For the latest episode of our podcast, we spoke to Frazer Ormondroyd from Bradford Hate crime Alliance. We discuss all things hate crime, mate crime, and we talk about what to do if you are a victim or a witness of a hate crime. People First Keighley & Craven is an official Hate Crime reporting centre and is a safe space to report or discuss hate crimes in Keighley. Below are the links to some...

Here is the latest episode of The People First Podcast.   Many thanks to Iain MacBeath, Strategic Director of Health & Wellbeing for Bradford Council, for taking the time to answer our questions. We covered a lot of topics and discussed obesity, mental health, food poverty, fuel poverty, out of hours crisis help, levelling up, the anti-poverty strategy, vaccine mandates, the towns fund, Bradfo...

On the 11th episode of our podcast, we are talking about Covid vaccine boosters, flu jabs and annual health checks. The Modality partnership are running drop-in sessions all over Keighley during November for anyone eligible for their jabs. We attended an event and spoke to the organisers and the health care professionals about why it is important to get your jabs and health checks. Thanks for list...

On this episode of the podcast we spoke to Pantomime legend Billy Pearce about his acting career and his longstanding relationship with Pantos in Bradford. Many thanks to Billy for taking the time to talk to us, we hope you enjoy the show. Please rate our podcast and leave a review! It really helps tell our members how they are doing and helps our show grow and improve. You can also support us on...

On this episode of the podcast we visited the People First Learning Holiday to learn about what happens on one of our legendary learning holidays! If you want anyt information about attending a learning holiday in future, then please get in touch with People First Keighley & Craven. Please rate our podcast and leave a review! It really helps tell our members how they are doing and helps our sh...

On our 8th episode we talk to Rod Nicholls from Extinction Rebellion Bradford. Rod explains who Extinction Rebellion are and what they do. Our podcast crew have also put together a helpful guide to climate change, and some tips to help you do your bit for the environment.  Please rate our podcast and leave a review! It really helps tell our members how they are doing and helps our show grow and im...

On this episode of the podcast we hear all about hospital passports and annual health checks from learning disabilities nurse Vicky Donnelly. Have you got a hopspital passport? They can make a trip to the hospital much simpler! Please rate our podcast and leave a review! It really helps tell our members how they are doing and helps our show grow and improve. You can also support us on our social m...

Thank you for listening to the People First Podcast! People First is a self-advocacy group run by, and for, people with learning disabilities, and the People First Podcast is our platform to raise awareness about the real issues that affect people with learning disabilities in our community, and all over the world.  We aim to inform and entertain our listeners by interviewing interesting guests an...