Fi Glover presents four conversations between strangers about homelessness, obesity, career changes and toy shops.

This week: Lorraine and Louise share their stories about homelessness - to coincide with the launch of the Radio 4 Christmas Appeal today; airline industry workers Magdalena and Philip discuss the lasting effect of lockdown on their working lives; India and Rhys exchange experiences of obesity and dramatic weight loss; and Matt and Maggie share their passion for running toy shops.

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