Episode 16: Louise D'Costa chats with Andy Mac from RIDGE RADIO (from November 2020)

The Caterham & District Independent interview with Any Mac, manager of local radio station, Ridge Radio.

Andy Mac’s career began way back in 1972, you can find out more information by visiting www.andymac.net

Andy is also on the Management Team for the station and looks after Presenters, New Presenters and Training, and various other duties which keep the Ridge family going.

Episode 15: Louise D'Costa chats with Zoe from ZAP PILATES

Recorded in November 2020 - Louise talks to Zoe McCready. Zoe was originally a professional dancer and took up pilates after a bad back injury.  Pilates has changed her life and is now passionate about helping others experience the same benefits she has. Her studio is based on Caterham on the hill.

Episode 14: Louise D'Costa chats with Louise from EQUILIBRIUM HOLISTICS last October.

Louise is a Complementary Therapist based in Oxted, Surrey. Louise is a fully qualified and insured in several therapies including; Pregnancy Massage,Pre Conception and Pregnancy Reflexology, Reflexology, Swedish Massage, Reiki, Hot Stone Massage and Indian Head Massage. I am also a registered IAIM (International Association of Infant Massage) Baby Massage Instructor (www.iaim.org.uk). she has also volunteered for 2 years at St Catherine’s hospice, offering the patients Reflexology.

Her aim is to help you get your body and mind back into balance using tailor made holistic Massages, Reflexology and Reiki. Relieving physical aches and pains whilst ensuring you feel revitalised, relaxed and rejuvenated mentally.

https://www.caterhamindependent.com/

http://www.equilibriumholistics.co.uk/

Before Christmas some of The Caterham and District Independent team and I met with David and Victoria from Perryley Craft Gin.  Perryley Craft Gin are based in Old Coulsdon and pride themselves on supporting small businesses which we all know has been extremely important over the past year.

The team spent the evening there and sat under a gazebo outside their local distillery.  We learnt lots about gin while they served us their six unique flavoured gins. Elderflower, Rose, Violet, Rhubarb, Lavender and Winter Spiced were all tried along with a range of garnishes, tonic water, lemonade and an array of nibbles, their signature metal straws and that must have ingredient to accompany gin…ice!

It was a fun evening and one we would like to share with our listeners!

A few months ago Louise D’Costa spoke to Mark Harrington (who is one of the Trustees of ‘The Breck Foundation’) about the SEN books which he has created and which are due to be released early this year. The books are aimed at SEN children and lower ability primary students and tell the tell the story of Breck Bednars story (a 14 year old boy from Caterham who tragically lost his life in 2014 due to online grooming).

I am extremely passionate about the safety of computing and gaming and also became a trustee of the foundation last year. The Breck Foundation is founded by Lorin LaFave and her son Breck was groomed and exploited while enjoying his passion for gaming. The Foundation aim to ensure that no chid is harmed through gaming and that prevention is ensured by educating children of the foundations ‘play virtual, live real’ motto. The motto reminds everyone to never meet up alone in a private place with someone they have met only online.

I spoke to Mark about the reasons why he felt that the books who be an ideal platform to convey Breck story to vulnerable children.

He explained to me that they are aimed at low level and SEN students with a cognitive age of between 6-10 years. They  have also been created in order to make the reader feel as though they're reading a fairy tale which has a few twists that reveal the truth behind the Breck story.

I hope that you find my chat with Mark informative and educating. If you would like to find out more about the foundation or about the books you can visit www.breckfoundation.org.

Louise D’Costa and Rosalind Brookman (one of our reporters for The Caterham and district independent ) went to visit the winner of our ‘Festive Writing Competition’ last month. We were extremely impressed with Akash’s entry and we met him at his school to present him with his certificate and prizes.

Akash is just 8 years old and we really enjoyed reading his story.

One of his prizes was to record his own podcast recording of his festive story. We hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we have and please look out for his story in print  in the January issue of the paper.

A few weeks ago I was very excited to meet with Joe Morutzi who is the founder of the delicious and innovative brand ‘Pleesecakes’.‘Pleesecakes’ are based in neighbouring Redhill and the business was founded in 2017.

Joes passion for making cheesecakes gave him the idea for the business and the past few years have seen the brand develop, expand and grow with his cheesecakes now being supplied to Selfridges and his recipe book having recently being released.

I spoke to him about his journey to where he is today including his adventure in the ‘Dragons Den’.

I am also very excited to announce that Joe has exclusively donated one of his fabulous ‘Christmas Pudding’ cheesecakes to us for one of our lucky subscribers. All you have to do is subscribe to our podcast library but also follow our insta page @caterhamindependent by Wednesday 23rd December!

Good Luck!

Last month I met with Renee Canter aka The Girl who Gardens. We went for a walk in Chaldon and Renee shared her gardening expertise with me. She has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the outdoors and  and I hope that you enjoy listening to our podcast interview as much as I enjoyed speaking to her.

Appreciating our gardens is something many of us will have learnt to do this year and whether you’d like your garden to be a place where  you can relax with the family and friends, add emotional and financial value to your home, realise the potential of your garden or simply make your garden manageable Renee can help.

Last week Louise D'Costa met with Dan and James from the 'Oakhall Community Church'. We  chatted to them about the church, it's history, it's prayer services, opportunities and ways in which the community can be involved and of course Christmas! It was incredibly moving to listen to the boys passion for the church  and what it has to offer.

www.caterhamindependent.com

Louise D'Costa recently interviewed Laura Hamilton who lives in nearby Purley. Laura has presents ‘A Place in the Sun’ and cane second in ‘Dancing on Ice’ in recent years. She also owns the ‘Lord Roberts on the Green’ coffee shop which she bought and renovated in 2017 and we had a chat about her career to date, the coffee shop and the local community and what it means to her..

www.caterhamindependent.com