The Backstory

This is Lee’s story of getting justice for his mother - Cherry Groce - who was shot in front of him by the police on 28th September 1985 when they raided his family home. She was shot through the spine and paralysed and the incident led to several days of rioting in Brixton. Lee was 11 at the time. Cherry died 26 years later from complications related to the injuries she sustained that night. This began Lee's search for justice for his Mum and their family. 29 years after the shooting, an inquest was finally held, but how would Lee ever come to terms with this traumatic incident at such a formative time in his life...

This programme does contain a short description of violence.

Our podcast recommendation of the week is BBC Sounds, Shreds: Murder in the dock.

Help and support:

https://www.inquest.org.uk - Inquest the charity, supported Lee in his legal battle.

Please support us with likes, shares and reviews.

Music credits:

Main theme:

Title: Nancy

Author: Grimo (http://www.gosoundtrack.com/the-team/)

Source: www.gosoundtrack.com

License: CC By 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Incidental music:

Title: Light Thought

Author: Kevin MacLeod

Source: incompetech.com

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In PART TWO we continue the shocking and compelling story of how Penny Farmer and her family tracked down her brother and his girlfriend’s killer; 38 years after they were murdered on a boat off the coast of Guatemala in 1978. After a eureka moment out walking with her mother, Penny suddenly realised that facebook may hold the key to finding the sons of the main suspect - Silas Boston - who were on board the boat when it happened. Penny finally found out exactly what happened to her brother and his girlfriend Peta on board the ship. Subsequently the police also caught up with Boston - although the story doesn’t even end there…

Heads up - this podcast does contain some graphic details.

Our podcast recommendation of the week is Love and Radio's 'The Living Room' and The Daily 'The Hunt for the Golden State Killer'.

Help and support:

https://www.gov.uk/world - Foreign Office overseas

Lucie Blackman Trust https://www.lbtrust.org/

Citizens' Advice https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/

Cruse Bereavement Care https://www.cruse.org.uk/

Samaritans https://www.samaritans.org/ 116 123 (UK and ROI - Free to call, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year)

Link to Penny's book

Dead in the Water - Bringing Down My Brother's Killer After His 39 Years On The Run - A True Story by Amazon.co.uk

Learn more: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1786069660/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_egzyCbVFHD1N3

You can support us with likes, shares and reviews.

Music credits:

Main theme:

Title: Nancy

Author: Grimo (http://www.gosoundtrack.com/the-team/)

Source: www.gosoundtrack.com

License: CC By 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Incidental music:

Title: Light Thought

Author: Kevin MacLeod

Source: incompetech.com

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

Title: Evening Fall

Author: Kevin MacLeod

Source: incompetech.com

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is part one of Penny Farmer's remarkable story about her brother Chris and his girlfriend Peta who went off travelling to South America in 1978. Peta wrote home detailed letters every week and then the letters suddenly stopped. In this two-parter Penny describes the pain of Chris and Peta not coming home and their slow realisation that something dreadful had happened to them in the sea off Guatemala at the hands of Silas Boston. In this first part we hear about how Penny experienced their disappearance as she prepared to go off to university and their discovery of the horrific fate the couple had come to which set Penny on a 40 year quest to find and convict their killer - one which facebook held the key to in 2015. 

Our podcast recommendation of the week is 'Love Stories with Dolly Alderton'.

Help and support:

https://www.gov.uk/world - Foreign Office overseas

Lucie Blackman Trust https://www.lbtrust.org/

Citizens' Advice https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/

Cruse Bereavement Care https://www.cruse.org.uk/

Samaritans https://www.samaritans.org/ 116 123 (UK and ROI - Free to call, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year)

Link to Penny's book

Dead in the Water - Bringing Down My Brother's Killer After His 39 Years On The Run - A True Story by Amazon.co.uk

Learn more: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1786069660/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_egzyCbVFHD1N3

You can support us with likes, shares and reviews.

Music credits:

Main theme:

Title: Nancy

Author: Grimo (http://www.gosoundtrack.com/the-team/)

Source: www.gosoundtrack.com

License: CC By 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Incidental music:

Title: Light Thought

Author: Kevin MacLeod

Source: incompetech.com

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

Title: Evening Fall

Author: Kevin MacLeod

Source: incompetech.com

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rounding up our season looking at the people whose job it is to help others, this week we’re heading to the gym to meet personal trainers Olly and Zane. Both have had their own struggles and have used exercise and fitness to help themselves out of a slump and maintain their mental well-being. For them, fitness isn’t about achieving the sort of image we’re all too familiar with - it’s about looking after yourself, valuing yourself and not expecting things to happen overnight.

Our podcast recommendation of the week is ‘Addicted to Sex’ by the BBC.

Trigger warnings for this episode: eating disorders, suicide, mental health.

Help and support:

Beat Eating Disorders 0808 801 0677

Samaritans Call free anytime: 116 123 (UK)

Links to weight diversity activists mentioned in the episode:

Marilyn Wann

Marianne Kirby

You can support us with likes, shares and reviews.

Music credits:

Main theme:

Title: Nancy

Author: Grimo (http://www.gosoundtrack.com/the-team/)

Source: www.gosoundtrack.com

License: CC By 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Incidental music:

Title: TeenQueens2

Composer: Stefan Netsman

Source: Epidemic Sound

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Claire went to meet Christie Watson who worked as a nurse for over twenty years. We hear about when she found herself on the other side of the fence watching Cheryl her Dad’s nurse - look after him when he became terminally ill with lung cancer. She describes the minute cues that Cheryl took from getting to knowing her Dad that helped her nurse him so effectively. She describes the pressures that nurses are under and what needs to change as we head towards a bed crisis which is actually a nursing shortage this winter. Christie has gone on to write two fictional books and most recently The language of Kindness: A Nurse's Story.

You can support us with likes, shares and reviews.

Music credits:

Main theme:

Title: Nancy

Author: Grimo (http://www.gosoundtrack.com/the-team/)

Source: www.gosoundtrack.com

License: CC By 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Continuing our season looking at the people whose job it is to help others, this week it’s Nicky and Alan from St. Martin’s Housing in Norwich. They tell us about their work with John, who has been an on/off client of St. Martin’s. John (not his real name) was a rough sleeper, a chaotic heroin user and supporting him was not easy. When people are batting with complex and entrenched problems, there are no quick fixes, no easy answers. It turns out, though, that good old-fashioned perseverance and compassion go a long way. Nicky and Alan tell us about their work and what it takes to help someone move from the streets to having their own front door.

Help and support:

St. Martins Housing (Norwich based)

Shelter

Crisis

Samaritans Call free anytime: 116 123 (UK)

You can support us with likes, shares and reviews.

Music credits:

Main theme:

Title: Nancy

Author: Grimo (http://www.gosoundtrack.com/the-team/)

Source: www.gosoundtrack.com

License: CC By 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Incidental music:

Title: Stand Still

Composer: Johannes Hager

Source: Epidemic Sound

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a new season of the backstory - this run of four has a particular theme - we are looking at people’s jobs which involve doing good. This week we hear from Nick Little who set up a social enterprise company called the Outsiders with close friend Oz Osbourne. They quickly realised that in the world of social enterprise community work their high standards were tricky to maintain or were often undermined, but they stuck to their guns. They ran some amazing projects together including a human library where you could borrow people instead of books and have a chat with them for half an hour - the idea was to chose someone who totally challenged your prejudices - so they had categories like transgender, muslim and disabled. They also run the 12th man which is a project training barbers to be mental health first aiders, able to spot the warning signs among customers and point them in the right direction if they need help.

But then this summer Oz died.

Nick Little explains how hard it is to do good and how it is even harder when you suddenly lose your best friend and business partner.

Help and support:

the-outsiders.org.uk/about-us - Nick's social enterprise

12th-man.org.uk - Nick's

Samaritans 116 123 (24 hours)

www.mind.org.uk

thecalmzone.net

You can support us with likes, shares and reviews.

Music credits:

Main theme:

Title: Nancy

Author: Grimo (http://www.gosoundtrack.com/the-team/)

Source: www.gosoundtrack.com

License CC By 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Incidental music:

Title: Eternal Hope

Author: Kevin MacLeod

Source: incompetech.com

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Title: Evening Fall Harp

Author: Kevin MacLeod

Source: incompetech.com

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Title:Quiet Contemplation 18

Author: Christian Andersen

Source: Epidemic Sound

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Season 5 Episode 8

Terry was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease when he was 59. 8 years after his diagnosis, he and daughter Vicki talk about how the illness has changed their lives, individually and as a family, the strains and losses that come with living with a progressive disease and how it also has the potential to bring people closer together.

Help and support:

Parkinson’s UK

Samaritans 116 123 (24 hours)

NHS information about Parkinson’s

Carers UK

You can support us with likes, shares and reviews.

Music credits:

Main theme:

Title: Nancy

Author: Grimo (http://www.gosoundtrack.com/the-team/)

Source: www.gosoundtrack.com

License CC By 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Incidental music:

Title: "Light Thought Variation 3"

Author: Kevin MacLeod

Source: incompetech.com

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Season 5 Episode 7

In part two of Jess and Matt's story we hear about the tough journey from Norfolk to London to get Jess and baby Albert in to a psychiatric Mother and Baby unit. Jess explains what it was like to get treatment there and how they all coped with hospital life and getting used to slowly go out again. We hear about how it was eventually coming back to Norfolk and getting used to being at home and eventually the big decision of whether to try for another child.

You can support us with likes, shares and reviews.

Help and support:

• Action on Postpartum Psychosis (APP) and APP forum
• Association for Post Natal Illness
• Mind: what is postpartum psychosis?
• PANDAS Foundation UK
• Royal College of Psychiatrists: postpartum psychosis

Music credits:

Main theme:

Title: Nancy

Author: Grimo (http://www.gosoundtrack.com/the-team/)

Source: www.gosoundtrack.com

License: CC By 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Incidental music

Title: Light Thought Var

Author: Kevin MacLeod

Source: incompetech.com

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

Title: Eternal

Author: Kevin MacLeod

Source: incompetech.com

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Season 5 Episode 6

Jess and Matt had an excellent birth but then things started to go a bit weird, Jess just wasn't herself. Matt had been warned that women can be very affected by hormones after the birth, but this was extreme. It turned out that Jess was suffering from postpartum psychosis a mental illness that comes on just after having a baby. When baby Albert was taken in to hospital with jaundice it became clear that he wasn't the only one that was ill and Jess needed very specialist care which wasn't readily available...

You can support us with likes, shares and reviews.

Help and support:

• Action on Postpartum Psychosis (APP) and APP forum
• Association for Post Natal Illness
• Mind: what is postpartum psychosis?
• PANDAS Foundation UK
• Royal College of Psychiatrists: postpartum psychosis

Music credits:

Main theme:

Title: Nancy

Author: Grimo (http://www.gosoundtrack.com/the-team/)

Source: www.gosoundtrack.com

License: CC By 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Incidental music

Title: Light Thought

Author: Kevin MacLeod

Source: incompetech.com

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

Title: Evening Fall

Author: Kevin MacLeod

Source: incompetech.com

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

Title: Marrakesch

Author: Phillip Gross

Source: http://freemusicarchive.org

License: CC By 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.