Kofi Smiles presents three conversations between strangers.

This week: teenagers Phyllis and Maya talk about the big passion in their lives – tackling climate change; Fay, who was born into an orthodox Muslim family but is no longer religious, and Haniya, who was raised a Sikh and converted to Islam, share their stories; and Kreena, a mother of four children born with the help of a surrogate, talks to Katie who has twice been a surrogate herself.

The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation lasts up to an hour and is then edited to extract the key moments of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in this decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject

Producer: Mohini Patel