Sharon Aviva Jones is an applied drama practitioner.

Over the years as well as her own career on the stage and on television, she has run drama worships using the space and the art of drama for people to explore together something that was important to them.

It has proved to be a very powerful and expansive way for people to connect with themselves and one another, and to gain greater personal understanding and a deeper awareness of one another and the issue being expired at a more global level.

She has been fascinated by rites of passage and the transformation that occurs at these important juncture and her most recent project which she talked about with andy and I is the very high rite of passage of birth...

It was fascinating and illuminating exploring this subject with Sharon and she is starting pilot workshops for anyone involved intimately in the birth process, for instance midwifes and new mothers; but of course it extends to all people closely involved with the arrival of a new baby.

Please do contact me if you would like more information on Sharon's workshops

Kevin had just finished a nordic walking session with one of his groups win we spoke and he told us of the transformation that occurs through his clients getting fit and then finding that they can join a group of people and make friendships whilst positively changing their lives.

He has been fit all his life, more than fit! An exceptional ultra runner from a very young age and still competing in ultra events in his 50's and finding new challenges and stretching himself in every event he takes part in. I always enjoy talking with runners who have been running all their lives as I have - there is an instant recognition and understanding of what motivates and informs our life's journey!

In Kevin's words:

My view of the world sees the glass as half full and not half empty, and I apply this to everything I do, positive encouragement and realistic expectations help me to get the best out of those I work with.

I am passionate about health and fitness and have always enjoyed mentoring and coaching individuals, so decided to chase another dream and take the plunge and start a new career as a personal trainer, helping others to achieve their potential.

I was having a coffee in Beanzz with Amy; on the table beside us a lady was having a meeting with a gentleman. Amy and I were chatting away so we didn't hear their conversation much, but were simply aware it was a conversation of a business nature!

Amy left and I stayed! Now I couldn't help but overhear their conversation! I learnt a lot and gleaned that the lady, Iwona, was starting a business selling her T shirts which she hand painted. I was inspired by their conversation, by Iwona's enthusiasm and the gentleman's ideas and encouragement.

As they went to go, they apologised for their conversation affecting my peace! I assured them that I had enjoyed them being there and that I had learnt a lot!

Iwona and I continued to chat and she showed me her T shirts - it was a small leap to suggest that we met to record a podcast! It was such fun meeting Iwona, and her T shirt present I bought my niece is a huge success.

Mark is an incredible athlete. he has been competing for over 30 years and has taken part in over 100 triathlons, nearly a third of those over the ironman discipline - and further - double and triple!!

He ran in the first London marathon as a 20 year old and had Andy and I laughing so much telling us of his training regime and the 'kit' he wore to train in!

The years of experience, lead him very naturally to coach others with real empathy and understanding for all aspects of sport; physiological, psychological and emotional.

It was a pleasure to talk with Mark and Andy and I very much enjoyed hearing about his journey through the years from competing in the first ever triathlon in the UK, to being a leading voice in a sport that now has 500 events a year in the country.

His new book has just come out - 'the complete book of triathlon training' - It is a great book and this is how it is described :

The book is for all athletes who want to improve in or convert to the fascinating sport of triathlon. It shows among other things how to construct a training program, how to approach a competition and offers an Encyclopedia that covers all aspects of triathlon.

I have been friends with Haze for 19 years - we met because I (briefly) married her brother - our friendship has remained and from the day we met we laughed together!

Haze's reputation as a wonderful teacher - one that truly helps children to see and become the magnificent human being they can be - has echoed back to me and reverberated all around since I met her, she is an exptional teacher; and for me an exceptional friend and a wonderful person who genuinely cares about other people and wants to make a difference.

In this interview she talks about the innovative new teaching method she is involved with where there is team teaching and the opportunity for children to be really developed as human beings not simply academically.

We had fun talking to Haze as you will hear!

I met Andy aka doctorpod 6 years ago! He interviewed me for a mini podcast at the 'Starting over Show' which we were both involved with and I felt i had met a kindred spirit.

It was therefore him I turned to when I needed a 'post production podcast person'. The quality of his work took my podcasts to another level...

At around the same time, he had asked me some advice about getting fit - we mention the 'bursting stability ball' in the podcast ! Which somehow has naturally lead into me coaching him to run a marathon...

It is great fun to be involved in creative projects with Andy, whether that is making a podcast or making him into a marathon man. He is brilliant to work with; great fun and very open and honest - and the most important of all, I have found a true friend!

Kay is a site-specific artist specialising in architectural ceramics and glass and has 15 years of experience creating public art works with a wide number of community groups.

Her work is very tactile, employing relief techniques which make her pieces interactive and sensory.

It was great fun interviewing Kay. The description of her bathroom in her Ceramic house made me instantly want to take a bath, it sounded to me as if it would be like swimming in a lagoon on a hot summers day.

As Kay observed - I am an incurable romantic! The house is a representation of her journey through her art all over the country. Kay is a public artist and her projects always are created in collaboration with the people living in the areas; through her work she expresses for them all they would like to say and in her ceramic house she uses the tiles that she has made specially for her work throughout the land!

I am going to visit this magical house and garden on my birthday and I am looking forward to it very much!

Jerry Rothwell is an award winning documentary filmmaker. We met through a network of connections. He is next door neighbour to the artist Jane Churchill who we interviewed recently and he also has a link with Jim, my running friend who we also recorded a podcast with a few weeks ago.

Jerry has just made a documentary called Town of Runners. It premiers today April 10th in London. The film follows the fortunes of coach Sentayehu Eshetu and three of his young hopefuls from school to national level athletics. He is a coach with a difference, who has dedicated himself to coaching runners, with great success and has literally turned the town into a 'town of runners'. 200 runners appear at dawn each day to take part in a hill session.

Sentayehu will be over in the UK with the three girls and will be speaking at the brighton Marathon. The film will be shown at the Duke of Yorks and then appears in the Tribeck film festival in New York on April 19th and from April 20th will be appearing in UK cinemas.

It was fascinating talking with Jerry about the process of making a documentary and the relationships that develop over time as the documentary progresses and reveals intimacies that are being openly explored maybe for the first time. We could have carried on talking all afternoon...

I was invited as guest of honour to the 25th anniversary of Seaford striders which is where I met Tom. He said very nice things about my 'few words' at the dinner in his blog and in an e mail exchange following this arranged to meet to record a podcast. Tom is amongst other things an observer and commentator on life. He writes an excellent blog which had made Andy aka 'doctorpod' and I laugh out loud. The day that he was coming for our 'podcast philosophique' as it transpired to be, Tom had been enjoying and writing about 'The spirit of Schubert' which was a series on radio 3 and on our podcast day it was Schubert the Wanderer, which was very fitting way to herald a podcast on running and the bigger 'wandering journey' therein.

It was very enjoyable interviewing Tom, his dry self effacing humour only slightly hid his intense curiosity and passion for life which appears to inform his desire to connect through the written word and as a social media voice for both the running and sailing club. Sharing himself through his own running journey connects us all, because if we run we know that it is a journey that never ends keeping us engaged wondering where it will lead us to next? Tom's blog reflects this perfectly...

It was a joy to talk with Cas. We had never met, but she had heard the podcast we recorded with Jane and got in touch. Something that struck me about Cas, apart from her wonderful art made from things that she has found, was her peaceful energy and how very present she was in the dialogue, every bit of her connected. She doesn't own a car and so walking and noticing is part of who she is and has always been.

Her love of people shines through and her desire to help others access their own creativity whatever that may be.

In her own words:

I am a mixed media artist who works with textiles, paper and found materials. My particular interest is the link between the built and natural environment (Urban/Nature) and issues relating to sustainable practice.

I create [works to commission for public and private settings](http://www.casholmes.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/7.html) and have pieces in collections around the world, including the Museum of Art and Design in New York, Arts Council England and the Sir Leonard Cheshire Foundation. The often overlooked things of daily life and observations of the land inform my work. Connecting paint, mark and image I reflect the 'hidden edges' of our landscape, verges, field edges and wild spaces, 'stitch sketching' to capture a moment before it is gone.

I exhibit in the U.K and abroad and enjoy working on collaborations and installations with other artists. This includes a recent installation, Curiouser and Curiouser at Tunbridge Wells Museum and Art Gallery and workshops in Europe and Australia. My book [The Found Object in Textile Art](http://www.casholmes.textilearts.net/page158.html), (published by Batsford 2010), looks at some of the processes I use. I will be a guest artist at the Knitting and Stitching Show 2012.

For [details of my exhibitions](http://www.casholmes.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/9.html), purchase or commission a piece of work, or look at my collaborations and teaching please browse through my on-line presence or contact me direct via email.