Curious Chats & Kind Acts

Here is part 2 of the Chapel project episode, Joy, my wife, producer Jonah and I continue to chat about our journey of renovating a derelict Chapel and I chat to some of our lovely community along the way. I love this episode as Joy, Jonah and I are well into our second bottle of wine and we get a little bit silly, but hey, this whole project is a little bit silly so it fits… and no, Joy still does not have a new kitchen! We come in when we are discussing our favourite bits…

Well thanks for listening to this episode, and indeed this series, we wanted to finish series 2 with a bang, and I hope you have enjoyed it. Please do reach out if you would like to get involved in the Chapel project, and if you live locally, do come and visit us and join in the fun.

Thanks for sharing our journey with us by listening, and let's keep growing kindness together.

www.oldchapelcafe.com

It's here guys, I'm soooooo excited to share this one with you, we finally convinced Joy to sit down and share our story of The Chapel. A derelict building we bought 8 years ago and have created a fabulous community space and cafe on the outskirts of Chester. It was a Thursday evening, she arrived home to 3 mics and 2 bottles of wine on the table and off we went, we had our special guest host producer, Jonah taking us on the Chapels journey. And listening back, I’m not going to lie, it's like an episode of 2 halves! We are quite serious in the first half, recanting stories from how we bought the building, to getting the first grant, however as more wine was consumed the sillier it seems to get, so by the end I just can't stop giggling! A big thanks to Jonah and some rather excellent editing for this episode! Now as you know, The Chapel isn't just our story, so I have interviewed a few of our community along the way, and we share their perspectives too. Saying that, the episode starts with us hearing from Mike and Joan, who we met through The Chapel and are now key people in our lives, which just shows the power of community. I hope you enjoy this one as much as we enjoyed making it!!

I’m chatting to Vlad today, he shares a bit about his life growing up in Ukraine, falling in love with the lovely Albina, then wham, he has to make the impossible decision of should they flee from their country. He does, and what a journey, having to rely on the kindness of strangers all along the way. He chats about his 3 month stay in France, living on food vouchers, not speaking the language, trying to understand a complex system. 

We also chat about a Facebook post leading to them creating a home in the UK.  Vlad has a strong work ethic, and it has been so hard for him to not be able to contribute. He now runs an amazing little cafe called High Coffee in Chester, which is where I met him. He has worked so hard to make it a success, and is now building a community with other refugees on their own crazy journey to help them feel supported. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did.

I’m chatting to Mark today, he shares his journey of discovering he was gay as an adult and was very involved in his local church. He talks about those first feelings, of having to come out to his parents, and falling in love. We discuss kindness as a Christian and ‘tything’ or donating money, and how it isn't our wealth, we are just custodians of it. We then get a bit deep talking about having kids. Mark is so articulate, even when I ask some pretty challenging and personal questions. I have learnt loads, and it's quite simple really, you can’t stop being a Christian just because some people tell you it’s wrong to be gay. I hope you enjoy this one as much as me and a massive thanks to Mark for his honest reflections.

Today I chat to Nicola, I met Nicola as I was walking my dog, she was living in a tent in a field. I saw her every morning for nearly a month and we just smiled or said hello, so one day I plucked up the courage to ask if I could listen to her story, and here it is.

Nicola is a really resilient human, she has COPD, and needs a wheelchair and yes life is quite tricky for her, she is really open about how difficult it is, where she goes to the loo, has a shower, and how she has had to leave her son at her mums to give him a better chance.

Yet, despite her tricky circumstances, she still has made a community for herself, friends, a great GP, homeless services that help with laundry and foodbanks, she has even found some lovely people who give her flasks of hot water for a brew.

Nicola really cares what people think, and she thinks people see her as lower than them because she doesn’t work. I learnt that by having a chat to homeless people, taking the time is a way to build community that is inclusive and in fact everyone is part of our community, whether they live in a tent or a house.

I should point out, we recorded this in the pouring rain, she was in her home, the tent, and I was outside with a slightly broken brolly protecting the mike, so the sound may be a little glitchy at times, despite producer Jonah working his magic, it is well with bearing with though, to get a real insight of living in a tent, and dreaming of a place to call home.

Gaming is a whole new world to me, well except for an occasional dalliance with Pokemon Go. Atlantis gives me an introduction to this world, events where she won £10k, through to this huge world of online gaming where people can re-invent themselves and spend hours… even days getting lost in different worlds!

And why, well have a listen and find out! What I loved was that if you watch a film, you are an observer, whereas with gaming, you can go into the film and change the outcome whether for the good or bad, and that is interesting.

We cover friendship, how small talk doesn’t interest Atlantis, and how difficult it is to build genuine community in the real world, online, you can be who you want to be, look how you want to look, but equally, you can use it to build your relationships with family and friends.

So, can gaming be described as a beautiful thing, 2 strangers coming together to play a game, engaging in that moment, then logging off and carrying on with your day, where else in the world does that happen?

Have a listen and see if you agree.

In this episode I’m chatting to Dave, who I know from my day job. I’ve been learning just how complex the care system is, how stressful and scary it is for the person now needing care, losing their independence, having to trust strangers. And I wanted to understand who the professionals are, who are helping people move through to the next life stage.

So, we have got Dave today! He is a social worker, I certainly didn't realise how much responsibility social workers have, and the difficult decisions they have to make on a daily basis. I also feel this is a great advert if you are considering being a social worker, he has such purpose in life because of his job - I was nearly convinced to re-train! Well except I can barely make a decision about what to have for my tea!

We do talk about direct payments, see https://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/residents/health-and-social-care/adult-social-care/getting-support-from-adult-social-care/direct-payments#  for more information about these, we use the term micro enterprise, and personal assistant. These are usually self-employed carers going into your home to help. There is a link to small good stuff ( https://www.communitycatalysts.co.uk/smallgoodstuff/) which is a website where all of the self-employed carers who are part of the community catalysts program advertise their services.

A massive thanks to Dave for such an honest reflection on his role, and I hope you learn as much as I did.

Today we have Carly, and she is one of the bubbliest cheeriest people you're ever likely to meet, she's my Pilates teacher at the gym, but I'm not kidding. Guaranteed I'll go in feeling miserable, come out, feeling happy and I wanted to find out why.

And we cover lots of stuff, appreciating the simple things in life or having good mates and good community and for the first part of this episode it's all very positive. Then Carly drops a bomb that I really wasn't expecting. Do you know what, she has had some really difficult times and yet she still managers to be positive, still brings her very best to everything she does and I am truly inspired by her resilience - that she does even know she has!

So have a listen and have a practise “keeping it right” which will definitely make the world a kinder place.

Today I chat with Bettina, she now co-owns a contemporarydance company, and has had quite the journey to get there, countless auditions, global travel, lots of determination. There has been a bit of fun times along the way, although not in night clubs! I know I would have been using my skills to do a bit of showing off!

We discuss just how hard it is to make a living in the arts,and how kindness has kept her motivated and determined during the rejections.

I really liked this chat as she challenged me tobe more curious in the things I do, and not always take the safe option. I've since been to art galleries, and even listened to someone’s music performance created from his own body parts… I quite liked it actually, well maybe not theweeing section, however, I digress, Bettina will certainly inspire you to want to get out there and move your body!

We have a proper treat in store for you today. I’m chattingto Kate, who I know from my Macmillan days, I interviewed her for a job at Clatterbridge Cancer Centre. She blew me away with her passion, resilience and determination, and we have remained friends since. She talks so passionatelyabout her service, I have to say though it is a tricky listen and it’s not an easy job that she does.

She runs the MSCC team, I will let her explain, it’s amouthful, however, this is a rare and honest insight into the life of a healthcare professional, she discusses her amazing service, and how she supports patients to make impossible choices about their final months of life.

We then explore how Kate got to where she is now, she had adifficult childhood, caring for her dying mum, whilst holding down 4 jobs, through to her office romance, and meeting her soul mate. We really do cover it all, so sit back, listen, and enjoy Kate's very incredible story.

Trigger Warning. We do discuss cancer emergencies in depth, and the difficult choices people have to make.