The Positive News Podcast

What happens when artists can no longer afford to live and work in the cities they help shape? In the fifth episode of The Purpose Pioneers, the new podcast series from Positive News, we meet Eline van der Vlist, CEO of SPACE, the UK’s first social enterprise dedicated to providing affordable studio space for artists. Founded in London in 1968 by artists Bridget Riley and Peter Sedgley, SPACE was...

What if banks could actively make the world better – for people, communities and the planet – without sacrificing financial sustainability?   In the fourth episode of The Purpose Pioneers, a new podcast series from Positive News, we meet Mark Clayton, CEO of Triodos Bank UK, an ethical bank dedicated to funding positive social, environmental and cultural change.   Triodos is not just a bank, it is...

What if restoring nature also meant restoring communities, livelihoods and long-term economic resilience? In the third episode of The Purpose Pioneers, the new podcast series from Positive News, we meet Steve Micklewright, CEO of Trees for Life, one of the UK’s most ambitious nature restoration charities. Trees for Life works at scale to rewild the Scottish Highlands, regenerating the ancient Cale...

What if you never had to wait for a bus again? And what if that bus was comfortable, reliable and powered by clean electricity? In the second episode of The Purpose Pioneers, the new podcast series from Positive News, we meet Keith Bradbury, co-founder of Ember, the UK’s first all-electric intercity bus company. Ember is not just a public transport operator. It was built to tackle a familiar frust...

What if every child had the chance to move, play and thrive – no matter their ability?  In the first episode of The Purpose Pioneers, the new podcast series from Positive News, we meet Stephanie Wheen, CEO and founder of Gympanzees – a groundbreaking organisation creating the UK’s first fully inclusive exercise and play centre for disabled children and young people. More than one in 10 children in...

The Purpose Pioneers is a new podcast series from Positive News about the journey of turning ideals into action. Across five insightful conversations, host Sarah LaBrecque meets people at the forefront of some of the UK’s most inspiring organisations – from the charity leader bringing the joy of play to thousands of excluded disabled children, to the founder who is making coach travel cool again....

The final episode in our first series takes you to Zimbabwe to learn about a project that is beautifully simple, but whose impact is being felt far beyond Harare where it began. Seyi and Radha meet Professor Dixon Chibanda, a classically trained psychiatrist who, following the tragic death of a client by suicide, was inspired to take psychiatry out of the hospital and in to the community. There, a...

This week, Seyi and Radha take you to Lagos in Nigeria, where sharp increases in heat and flooding have put the city – the largest in Africa – on the frontline of the climate crisis. They discover the Zen Café, which has recently been set up to support those struggling with eco-anxiety, and hear how the project has created a space for concerned citizens to come together and make sense of what’s ha...

Radha and Seyi are taking you to Guatemala this week, a mountainous country in Central America where almost half of the population has Indigenous roots. They discover a project called Buena Semilla, which is using women’s circles to empower Indigenous groups and reconnect them with traditional Mayan concepts of wellbeing. They meet the founder, Anne Marie Chomat, and local project coordinator, Sad...

Radha and Seyi are back on the African continent this week, in Johannesburg. They travel to South Africa’s biggest city to learn about a narrative therapy technique called the Tree of Life, which has been so successful it’s now used in more than 40 countries. They meet the creator of the Tree of Life approach, Ncazelo Ncube-Mlilo, who founded an organisation called Phola, and a woman whose life sh...

Seyi and Radha are hopping over the Atlantic this week to meet a group of women in Peru, who are supporting the country’s neurodivergent community with their mental health challenges, through the simple act of hosting picnics.  They meet journalist and co-founder of the Peruvian Neurodivergent Coalition (CNP), Caro Díaz, team member Karina, and picnic attendee Alex. They ask the question: eve...

We’re kicking off this Developing Mental Wealth series with a trip to the Ivory Coast. We hear the incredible story of Marie-Alix de Putter, whose project Heal by Hair is training hairdressers as mental health first responders, making it easier for people to get support in a country where mental illness remains taboo. Seyi and Radha meet founder Marie-Alix and hairdresser Esmel Semou. They learn a...

The Positive News Podcast brings you the good news that matters. In our opening six-part series, Developing Mental Wealth, we uncover the fascinating ways that different communities are supporting people’s mental health in parts of the world where circumstances can be the most challenging. Hosted by medical doctor Radha Modgil and journalist Seyi Rhodes. Coming on June 7th. Producer: Anna Staufenb...