Stratford Calling

Hello Stratford!

It's half-term! Hurray! And Week 3 of Stratford for Families. Hurray!

This week I speak to Caroline at the Parenting Project, Gemma at the NCT and Tara at Stratford Town Trust. 

Throughout the week I will also be posting local activities for families to enjoy over half term on Stratford Calling socials, including the Stratford Safari. I have created a safari with a difference, as you can use the map to discover the strange and wonderful creatures living amongst us! Visit SC socials to get your safari guide and next time you're on your walk, pack some binoculars and a camera, to see if you can spot the unusual creatures in our town. And see if you can find any I've missed!

Tonight (Monday 15th Feb) at 7.30pm Stratford Parent Champions are hosting a drop-in session for families, who have any questions they need help answering. Parent Champions are able to signpost families to services and support and get the answers they need to their family-related questions. So if you need some answers and don't know where to turn, come along to the session so you can speak 1-2-1 with a Parent Champion. Email me at [email protected] for the Zoom details. If you can't make the session, you can email me with your questions and either myself or another Parent Champion can get in touch with you.

Next week, I will be speaking to some mentors from LifeSpace, and putting some questions to them about how we can help our older children who might be struggling with lockdown. Email me with your questions and I will "Ask LifeSpace" next week, the final week of Stratford For Families. 

Phew! That's enough to be getting on with isn't it?! I hope you can all enjoy a rest this half-term. And do get in touch if you want to let me know about anything exciting happening!

Thanks for listening everyone. Speak soon.

Hello Stratford!

Week 2 of Stratford For Families sees me talking to Victoria from OneFitMama, Graham from Barnardo's and Claire from The Sticky Spoon Cakehouse.

OneFitMama is an exercise class specially designed for mums, and Victoria tells us all about how it came about and also about her free taster class tomorrow evening on Zoom. There are still spaces available so email me at [email protected] to book yours! 

Barnardo's runs the Children and Family Centres in Stratford and Graham tells me what they have on offer for families at the moment, as well as the community work he is involved in.

Finally, Claire from The Sticky Spoon Cakehouse, tells us about the amazing creations she has made for the birthdays and special occasions that have been a little different this last year, to say the least! I would really recommend checking out her website to see the Harley Davidson cake she talks about!

If you want to get in touch, if you have anything to share with Stratford or want to find out more about what's coming up on the podcast, you can email me at [email protected] or find and follow me on socials - Facebook, Twitter and Instagram now! You can also visit the YouTube channel to catch up on all the videos from the last few weeks, and subscribe to keep up-to-date with what's coming up next. 

Thanks for listening everyone.

Hello Stratford!

This month I launch Stratford For Families - a month of podcasts, online events and videos for families with children of all ages. I'm still finalising the programme so keep updated on Stratford Calling social media pages (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) or email me for more information at [email protected]. You can also subscribe to the Stratford Calling YouTube channel to make sure you never miss any videos on there.

This week I speak to Sue and Debbie from the Family Information Service, about how they can help families with all sorts of questions, from childcare and schooling, to housing and money management. 

I also speak to Frankie from Zest Dance, about her dance classes for children (and adults!) and the taster session she has created for the youngest members of the family to have a go at. Visit Stratford Calling on YouTube to have a wiggle!

This week is also children's mental health week. If your children are struggling at the moment, visit childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk to find tips, advice and activities to help support them. And you can also contact the Family Information Service to find out where you can access support in the area. 

Stay safe and well everyone. Speak again soon.

Hello Stratford!

This is the final week of Stratford Wellbeing Month. I hope you have found it interesting and helpful. I know I have!

This week I speak to Fleur and Stacey from The Recovery and Wellbeing Academy about anxiety and how we can manage it. Fleur will be running a live session tomorrow (Tuesday 26th Jan) at 7.30pm on Zoom to tell us more and give us some simple tips and techniques to help us manage our anxiety during this difficult time.  This session is open to all. To book a space email me at [email protected] with your name and postcode and I will send you all the details. 

In this episode I also speak to Barbara and Virginia from Stratford Samaritans. We speak about how important it is to talk about how we are feeling and how we can all become better listeners. 

I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has been involved with Stratford Wellbeing Month - Sarah at Stratford Time Bank, Jane the Time Bank member who taught us mindfulness, Tracey from Purple Hat Coaching, Miranda from PixieFit and Fleur and co from the Recovery and Wellbeing Academy - and everyone who has been on the podcast too. Don't forget you can catch all the sessions so far on the Stratford Calling YouTube channel too, so don't worry if you missed them!

And also a big thank you to all of you for listening and taking part. It's great to hear your feedback and if you have any ideas of of theme's you would me to focus on, or if you have a business, charity or story you want to let people know about, do get in touch, I love to hear from you. Email me at [email protected] or message me on social media. 

Next month I am launching Stratford For Families - a month of podcasts, events and videos for families of all ages. Keep updated on social media and the YouTube channel to find out what's happening, when. 

Hope you're all keeping safe, well and sane! If you are struggling, do reach out. Someone is always there to listen. 

Take care everyone.

Hello Stratford!

Been a difficult week here at Stratford Calling HQ. But it's great to hear such positive feedback and appreciative comments from you lovely listeners, so thank you for those.

This is Week 3 of Stratford Wellbeing Month and  we have a Zumba Gold session with Miranda from PixieFit. I speak to her in this episode about what Zumba Gold is and what we can expect from the session on Wednesday. If you want to come and give it a go, the session will be over Zoom at 7.30pm. Just email me at [email protected] with your name and postcode to book your space. If you can't make it, you can watch a recording of the session on the Stratford Calling YouTube channel shortly afterwards.

This week I also speak to Karen from Escape Arts, who have so many projects and exciting, creative things for you to get involved with to help your mental health right now. 

Thanks for listening everyone. If you have any thoughts or comments, or any ideas of future events you might want to see, or if you have a business, service or cause you want to tell people about, email me at [email protected] or get in touch on the socials - Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Take care Stratford, and speak soon.

Hello Stratford!

I hope you are all coping with the new lockdown. Such a shame we are in this position again, but hopefully the Stratford Wellbeing Month I've created with Stratford Time Bank can help you with the pressures and uncertainties surrounding us all.

The second week of the programme  is all about stress - quite apt, I'd say! I speak to Tracey from The Purple Hat Coaching Company about what stress is, why we need it and how, in her live session on Wednesday, we can find out more about ourselves to learn new ways to deal with our stress and become more resilient. To book your space, email me at [email protected] with your name and postcode and I will send you the details. Spaces are filling up. If you can't make it, you can watch a recording of the session on the new Stratford Calling YouTube channel. As with all things to do with mental health, if you have an existing condition, or are unsure about attending, please speak to your medical professional before signing up.

In this episode I also speak to Nick who started Laptops4Learners at the end of last year, to help reuse old laptops and computers by updating them and giving them to students who are unable to access online teaching during the lockdowns and self-isolation. It's a great initiative and if you have an old computer knocking around at home, you can donate it to them to help local pupils get the education they deserve.

Thanks for listening everyone. Enjoy! 

Take care and speak again soon.

Hello Stratford!

Happy New Year! I hope you have all been able to make the most of this festive period, in spite of everything that has been happening. It is such a very strange time still with lots going on and so much uncertainty.

Which is why I have teamed up with Stratford Time Bank to bring you Stratford Wellbeing Month this January. We will be bringing you a series of podcasts and live (all be it, online!) events, to support you and your mental health during this difficult time. 

This week is all about mindfulness. In today's podcast, I speak to Sarah Coxall, Manager of Stratford Time Bank, about how important looking after our mental health is, and to Jane Grafton, a retired Corporate Mindfulness Trainer, about mindfulness and the first of our live events, where she will tell us more about mindfulness and give us some techniques we can use to help with our mental health going forward.

If, after listening, you want to take part in the live Zoom session on Wednesday 6th January at 7.30pm, please email me at [email protected] with your name and postcode and I will send you all the details.

If you want to find out more about the session, you can do so on the Stratford Calling Facebook page, @stratfordcalling, or email me for more details. 

There will be more interviews and events throughout January about a range of topics such as stress, physical fitness and anxiety, which you can find out more about on the Facebook page, or email me for a full programme. 

I hope you find Stratford Wellbeing Month helpful and hope to see some of you at the live sessions over the coming weeks.

Keep going Stratford. And look after yourselves.

Thanks for listening.

Hello! Stratford Calling!

Here is the last episode of the year. And it's a cracker! I speak to Councillor Kate Rolfe about Stratford Town Support and the future of Stratford, Midsummer Garden the new licensed coffee house on Sheep Street (stay tuned for another exclusive listener offer!) and Hannah from Bordon Place about their community pom pom project. There are also Christmas messages from past interviewees who wanted to say thank you and merry Christmas to all you lovely listeners. 

I also wanted to say thank you (and manage to just about make it without crying!). 

I am also pleased to announce the plans for next month and Stratford Calling's 'Stratford Wellbeing Month', in collaboration with Stratford Time Bank. The details are still being finalised so stay tuned on Facebook to keep updated with developments as and when they are announced. We will be putting on a series of podcasts and virtual events around the theme of mental health and wellbeing, with guests and experts in the field and best of all, they are all local!

Thank you to all of you for all your support over the last few months. I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. 

Look after yourselves and each other, and I will speak to you again in 2021. 

Happy listening everyone.

With all my love,
Emma G

Shop local - Support local - Celebrate local

Hello! Stratford Calling!

This week I speak to Rio from Shakespaw Cat Cafe about what a cat cafe actually is and how they are doing their bit to help rescue cats find a new, loving home.

I also speak to Marie from HomeStart South Warwickshire, a new charity in the area, supporting families with young children with practical and emotional support when it's needed most.

I invited Councillor Tony Jefferson to speak this week, about his action of sending a Judicial Review to the government about Stratford being placed in Tier 3. Unfortunately no response, but it's good to see him standing up for the local businesses in the area! I will try and get him on for next week!

Next week will be the last episode of the year, so stay tuned for your usual fill of Stratford news as well as some other bits and bobs, plus exciting developments at Stratford Calling HQ. 

Stay tuned, and happy listening, Stratford!

Hello! Stratford Calling!

With the news that we will be entering Tier 3 in December, it is so important we continue to shop, support and celebrate local. Keep listening to the podcasts to hear from a variety of local businesses, and follow us on Facebook for regular updates about what this town has to offer.

If you have a business or something you want to promote, do get in touch. You can email me at [email protected] or message me on Facebook @stratfordcalling.

In this episode I speak to Richard from Bonds about how the lifestyle store came about and what they have been doing, and are planning on doing, to keep trading through this difficult period. There is also an exclusive listener offer for you, so keep listening to hear that!

I also mention a new virtual Christmas market that has been set up, to support local businesses, makers and creators. Well worth a look with over 120 stalls offering everything from beauty products to handmade gifts.

I hope you are all ok. Thanks for listening and I'll speak again soon.