What happens when the school run becomes one of the hardest parts of your day and nobody seems to notice?

In this episode of Amplifying the Unseen, Kirsty Reed explores the realities behind the daily school run: the stress, isolation and struggles that can sit beneath the surface.

Drawing on nearly two decades of experience as a mum, Kirsty shares how her youngest child’s transition into school—and particularly from Reception to Year 1—became increasingly difficult. As a young, summer-born, neurodivergent child, the pressures of formal education led to escalating distress and school avoidance.

Kirsty also opens up about the loneliness parents can experience when their child’s needs don’t fit the norm, sharing honest stories of tearful school runs, school gates and moments when even well-meaning staff didn’t know how to help.

At the heart of the episode is a simple but powerful message: connection matters.

Sometimes a smile, a check-in or an honest conversation can be the lifeline someone needs.

Highlights:

00:00 Welcome to Amplifying the Unseen with Kirsty Reed

00:28 When the school run becomes tough

01:00 Two decades of school runs and different “mum” identities

02:15 The impact of the pandemic on the working parent’s school run

03:20 Craving community with her fourth child and new lessons learned

04:04 Disruption in schooling and unique joys/difficulties of her youngest

04:38 The rare luxury of a swimming pool at her child’s school

05:23 Early challenges in nursery and reception

05:42 Joining a mum group chatand drifting away from it

06:07 Strong views on homework, seasoned by 19 years of parenting

07:30 Changes in routine: walking, biking, and meeting her child’s needs

11:41 The gap between her child’s experience and the world sees it

12:00 On emotional school avoidance: a topic for future episodes

13:43 Longing for support at the school gate

16:10 A call to small acts to open connection

18:35 Change starts with listening and not looking away.

About Amplifying the Unseen:

Amplifying the Unseen with Kirsty is a podcast sharing honest social stories and elevating voices too often left unheard. Through conversations on social injustice, anti-racism, parenting, SEND, and inequality, Kirsty explores lived experience, advocacy, and the realities of pushing for change in systems not designed for everyone.

This podcast is for those who believe listening is a radical act and that real change starts by amplifying what has been unseen.

Amplifying the Unseen is also a storytelling, advocacy and leadership platform now proudly a Community Interest Company (CIC) for the people, experiences and truths that so often get overlooked, because everyone deserves to be seen, heard and included in the conversations that shape their lives.

About Kirsty Reed:

Kirsty is a voice amplifier, change catalyst, and system challenger with over 20 years’ experience driving social change rooted in advocacy, lived experience, and community leadership. She is both an expert by profession and an expert by experience, bringing these together to ensure that the voices and needs of local communities are embedded at the heart of decision-making.

As a mum of four and a grandmother of four, Kirsty’s work is deeply grounded in real life. She partners with individuals, community leaders, and organisations to foster equity, inclusion, and collective action, working alongside people rather than implementing change to them. Kirsty is the Founder and Director of Amplifying the Unseen CIC and Director of Magpie Collaborative Ltd.

Kirsty is highly experienced in working across all levels of organisations, providing insight, reflective space, and strategic support to develop joined-up approaches to change theory, strategic planning, and transformation. She is known for designing and delivering meaningful, engaging workshops tailored to each organisation, creating safe and courageous spaces for difficult conversations, collaboration, and innovation.

Through her facilitation and advisory work, Kirsty enables teams to move beyond intention into action, driving purposeful, people-centred social impact and sustainable change.

Connect with Kirsty:

LinkedIn: Kirsty Reed

Instagram: amplifying_the_unseen

Website: www.amplifyingtheunseen.org

What do we do with our anger when we see something that isn’t right?

In this second episode of Amplifying the Unseen, Kirsty explores the journey from rage and frustration towards hope, action and collective change.

Drawing on her experiences as a mother, grandmother and advocate, Kirsty reflects on a lifelong awareness of injustice—from childhood experiences and family debates to working within systems that often feel deeply flawed.

She explores how anger sparked by professional frustrations, systemic barriers in maternity and education, and the exhaustion of everyday advocacy can become a catalyst for change rather than something that leaves us feeling powerless.

Kirsty also considers the growing sense of numbness and disconnection in our communities, asking what happens when we stop responding to injustice and whether staying neutral is really possible when something is fundamentally wrong.

Ultimately, this is an episode about turning personal pain into collective empowerment, and finding small acts of hope, kindness and connection even when the world feels overwhelming.

Highlights:

00:00 Welcome to Amplifying the Unseen with Kirsty Reed

02:24 Working within systems and balancing rage and hope

04:04 Early signs of injustice and family stories from childhood

05:10 Politics at the dinner table and growing up in a monocultural community

06:12 The physical and emotional toll of witnessing injustice

07:24 Misunderstanding rage for anger and its impact on accessing services

09:22 Experiencing and advocating through maternity services

13:12 Being an empath and using lived experience to support others

14:31 Social media, vulnerability, and the importance of hope

17:23 Politics with a "small p" and focusing on people, not just policy

18:27 Acting as a bridge between communities and decision-makers

19:49 The challenge and importance of political neutrality for advocacy

20:22 Sacrifice, calling out injustice, and creating community through hope

26:09 Advice for turning rage or numbness into hope, starting small

29:47 Empathy for others struggling to access their rights

32:19 Encouraging hope, kindness, and small acts to uplift others.

About Amplifying the Unseen:

Amplifying the Unseen with Kirsty is a podcast sharing honest social stories and elevating voices too often left unheard. Through conversations on social injustice, anti-racism, parenting, SEND, and inequality, Kirsty explores lived experience, advocacy, and the realities of pushing for change in systems not designed for everyone.

This podcast is for those who believe listening is a radical act and that real change starts by amplifying what has been unseen.

Amplifying the Unseen is also a storytelling, advocacy and leadership platform now proudly a Community Interest Company (CIC) for the people, experiences and truths that so often get overlooked, because everyone deserves to be seen, heard and included in the conversations that shape their lives.

About Kirsty Reed:

Kirsty is a voice amplifier, change catalyst, and system challenger with over 20 years’ experience driving social change rooted in advocacy, lived experience, and community leadership. She is both an expert by profession and an expert by experience, bringing these together to ensure that the voices and needs of local communities are embedded at the heart of decision-making.

As a mum of four and a grandmother of four, Kirsty’s work is deeply grounded in real life. She partners with individuals, community leaders, and organisations to foster equity, inclusion, and collective action, working alongside people rather than implementing change to them. Kirsty is the Founder and Director of Amplifying the Unseen CIC and Director of Magpie Collaborative Ltd.

Kirsty is highly experienced in working across all levels of organisations, providing insight, reflective space, and strategic support to develop joined-up approaches to change theory, strategic planning, and transformation. She is known for designing and delivering meaningful, engaging workshops tailored to each organisation, creating safe and courageous spaces for difficult conversations, collaboration, and innovation.

Through her facilitation and advisory work, Kirsty enables teams to move beyond intention into action, driving purposeful, people-centred social impact and sustainable change.

Connect with Kirsty:

LinkedIn: Kirsty Reed

Instagram: amplifying_the_unseen

Website: www.amplifyingtheunseen.org

What happens when we start talking about the stories and experiences that are too often left unheard?

In the first episode of Amplifying the Unseen, host Kirsty Reed introduces a podcast dedicated to voices, experiences and stories that are often overlooked.

Kirsty explores subjects including parenting, SEND, anti-racism, allyship and social injustice through honest conversations and lived experience.

Drawing on her career in charities, public services and community work, she shares why authentic leadership, advocacy and creating space for different perspectives matter.

At the heart of the podcast is a simple belief: real change starts with conversation.

Kirsty invites listeners to approach difficult subjects with curiosity, kindness and openness—and to build a community where we can listen, learn and challenge our thinking together

Highlights:

00:00 Meet Kirsty Reed and Highlighting the Unseen

00:10 Introducing that the podcast focuses on parenting, SEND, community, racism & social justice

01:19 Transforming services for children and families

02:39 Giving unheard voices a platform

03:03 Calling out injustice with love and humour

04:04 Why "hard to reach" communities aren't hard to reach

05:20 Once you see inequality, you can't unsee it

06:03 Why community and connection matter

07:29 Navigating division with kindness

08:28 Challenging assumptions and seeing things differently

09:11 Breaking gender stereotypes and embracing choice

10:19 Privilege, racism and refusing to look away

15:54 Community anger, division and information bubbles

16:48 From education professional to challenging parent

17:44 Disagreeing well and having better conversations

About Amplifying the Unseen:

Amplifying the Unseen with Kirsty is a podcast sharing honest social stories and elevating voices too often left unheard. Through conversations on social injustice, anti-racism, parenting, SEND, and inequality, Kirsty explores lived experience, advocacy, and the realities of pushing for change in systems not designed for everyone.

This podcast is for those who believe listening is a radical act and that real change starts by amplifying what has been unseen.

Amplifying the Unseen is also a storytelling, advocacy and leadership platform now proudly a Community Interest Company (CIC) for the people, experiences and truths that so often get overlooked, because everyone deserves to be seen, heard and included in the conversations that shape their lives.

About Kirsty Reed:

Kirsty is a voice amplifier, change catalyst, and system challenger with over 20 years’ experience driving social change rooted in advocacy, lived experience, and community leadership. She is both an expert by profession and an expert by experience, bringing these together to ensure that the voices and needs of local communities are embedded at the heart of decision-making.

As a mum of four and a grandmother of four, Kirsty’s work is deeply grounded in real life. She partners with individuals, community leaders, and organisations to foster equity, inclusion, and collective action, working alongside people rather than implementing change to them. Kirsty is the Founder and Director of Amplifying the Unseen CIC and Director of Magpie Collaborative Ltd.

Kirsty is highly experienced in working across all levels of organisations, providing insight, reflective space, and strategic support to develop joined-up approaches to change theory, strategic planning, and transformation. She is known for designing and delivering meaningful, engaging workshops tailored to each organisation, creating safe and courageous spaces for difficult conversations, collaboration, and innovation.

Through her facilitation and advisory work, Kirsty enables teams to move beyond intention into action, driving purposeful, people-centred social impact and sustainable change.

Connect with Kirsty:

LinkedIn: Kirsty Reed

Instagram: amplifying_the_unseen

Website: www.amplifyingtheunseen.org

Some stories are everywhere. Others are quietly pushed to the edges.

Amplifying the Unseen with Kirsty Reed is a podcast that elevates the voices, experiences and perspectives that too often go unheard. Through honest conversations and powerful storytelling, Kirsty explores the realities of parenting, community, blended families, anti-racism, raising children with SEND, leadership, inequality and the systems that shape our lives.

You'll hear from parents, community members, professionals, community leaders and people with lived experience sharing stories that challenge assumptions, spark reflection and inspire change.

This isn't about quick fixes or neat conclusions. It's about creating space for meaningful conversations, listening deeply and exploring the experiences that shape who we are and how we connect with one another. Because when we truly hear each other's stories, we create the possibility for more inclusive communities, stronger relationships and positive change.

If you believe understanding starts with listening, and change starts with conversation, this podcast is for you.

Follow the show so you don't miss an episode.

About the podcast

Amplifying the Unseen shares honest social stories and elevates voices too often left unheard. Through conversations on social injustice, anti-racism, parenting, SEND and inequality, Kirsty explores lived experience, advocacy and the realities of pushing for change in systems not designed for everyone.

It's a podcast for those who believe listening is a radical act, and that real change starts by amplifying what has been unseen.

Amplifying the Unseen is also a storytelling, advocacy and leadership platform, now proudly a Community Interest Company (CIC), for the people, experiences and truths that so often get overlooked. Because everyone deserves to be seen, heard and included in the conversations that shape their lives.

About Kirsty Reed

Kirsty is a voice amplifier, change catalyst and system challenger with over 20 years' experience driving social change rooted in advocacy, lived experience and community leadership. She is both an expert by profession and an expert by experience, bringing the two together to ensure the voices and needs of local communities sit at the heart of decision-making.

As a mum of four and a grandmother of four, Kirsty's work is deeply grounded in real life. She partners with individuals, community leaders and organisations to foster equity, inclusion and collective action, working alongside people rather than implementing change to them. Kirsty is the Founder and Director of Amplifying the Unseen CIC and Director of Magpie Collaborative Ltd.

Known for designing and delivering meaningful, engaging workshops tailored to each organisation, she creates safe and courageous spaces for difficult conversations, collaboration and innovation. Through her facilitation and advisory work, Kirsty helps teams move beyond intention into action, driving purposeful, people-centred social impact and sustainable change.

Connect with Kirsty:

LinkedIn: Kirsty Reed

Instagram: amplifying_the_unseen

Website: www.amplifyingtheunseen.org