Ian Carter was 57 when he noticed something was wrong. The anxiety about seeing his golf mates. The mistakes at work he'd never made before. The arguments he couldn't stop starting. By 2024 it was confirmed: frontal temporal dementia. A condition, as Ian puts it, that doesn't kill you. It changes you.

He fell into the void between diagnosis and deterioration — a gap the NHS has almost nothing to fill. He didn't want triangle sandwiches and a tambourine. So he started his own group.

No Tier Snooker began with three members and one loved one in January 2025. It now has a sold-out event at Congleton Town Hall with Steve Davis and Dennis Taylor recreating the most watched frame of snooker in television history — 220 tickets gone in eight days — raising money for dementia charities.

This is a conversation about digging yourself out of the trench and finding something to build. And what it means to build something you know, one day, you'll have to leave.

Listen as we discuss...
(1:00) "I was a normal 57 year old. I thought I was just getting old."(2:00) The early signs — anxiety, behavioural changes, work mistakes(4:50) The diagnosis: frontal temporal dementia(6:45) Why he left a successful business to become a lorry driver(9:20) How FTD flips familiarity — strangers feel safer than old friends(12:55) The prognosis — FTD doesn't kill you. It changes you.(18:20) His wife — and how to care for someone who may not care back(21:00) The decision not to tell the kids yet(25:45) In the trench — and what pulled him out(27:30) Starting No Tier Snooker(31:05) "I won't have the word carer in the club. They're loved ones."(33:20) Steve Davis, Dennis Taylor, and the 1985 final(44:20) Steve and Dennis — one more time, for Ian's club(46:20) 220 tickets. Sold out in eight days.(52:50) The NHS and social prescribing(54:00) "Understanding is the most powerful tool."(58:05) "At some point I'm going to leave my own club."

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The void between diagnosis and deterioration is the gap nobody fills — The NHS has provision for when dementia progresses. It has almost nothing for the period in between. That's where No Tier Snooker lives, and where the most important support work happens.

FTD doesn't kill you — it changes you — Understanding the specific condition is what makes a difference. Not generic dementia awareness. The anxiety, the familiarity problem, the impulsive decisions — these aren't personality flaws. They're the condition.

Understanding is the most powerful medicine — Not love, not sympathy. If the people around you understand the condition, they become your strongest support. If they don't, even love can't bridge the gap.

Build something you'll have to leave anyway — Ian knows the condition will progress. He's building No Tier Snooker knowing it will keep going without him. That's not sad to him. That's the whole point.

THE GUEST

Ian Carter - Founder, No Tier Snooker

Tim Heatley was fired from every retail job he ever had, failed at being a lawyer, and sold his mates' artwork at university rather than get a part-time job. Then he bought a derelict house for less than it would cost to rebuild — and something clicked.

Tim is co-founder of Capital & Centric. They spend £3–4 million a week repurposing abandoned buildings and forgotten town centres — and unlike most developers, they never sell what they build. They stay, operate, and build communities from the inside out.

This conversation covers where the drive came from — free school meals, a dad who lost his job, Irish immigrant grandparents who grafted — and how that became a philosophy built entirely around things other people had written off. Plus working with councils, why the doubters always go quiet when the building fills up, and the nonprofit getting 2,000 young people a year into well-paid built environment careers.

🎧 Listen as we discuss…

(0:00) Introduction — Tim Heatley, failed lawyer, property developer(4:15) From free school meals to spending £3–4 million a week(7:17) Why the outsider sees potential the locals can't(13:46) How communities heal themselves from the inside out(17:00) The reality of working with councils (20:44) The danger of maintain the status quo (23:51) Why Capital & Centric never sells what it builds(26:40) Favourite and worst parts of the job(33:27) Favourite project (33:49) Why social impact is non-negotiable(37:59) Regeneration Brainery — inspiring young people(38:16) Inspirational not educational(40:33) What graft means to Tim Heatley

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The overlooked thing is always the opportunity — From student artwork to derelict cars to abandoned town centres, Tim's entire career has been built on the same instinct: find what other people have written off and see what it could become.

Maintain the status quo means going backwards without realising it — Towns and councils that focus purely on not making mistakes are quietly declining. Progress requires someone willing to take political or commercial risk.

Never selling what you build changes everything — Capital & Centric retains and operates everything they create. When you have to live with the thing you built, you build it differently.

The doubters always go quiet — Scepticism, then denial, then silence once the building is full. They never come back and say they were wrong.

Diversity of background isn't a nice-to-have in regeneration, it's the whole point — If your team can't relate to the community you're trying to regenerate, you can't do the job.

Tim Heatley — Co-Founder, Capital & Centric🌐 capitalandcentric.com📸 Instagram: @timheatley / @capitalandcentric

Dar Barrow was back on Graft to talk about chapter two: chemotherapy. The surgery was hard. What came after it was something else entirely.

This conversation covers the side effects nobody prepares you for - frozen eyes, fizzy hands, the complete collapse of taste - the worst mental health day of his life arriving on an ordinary dog walk, the NHS helpline he used more than once, and what recovery actually looks and feels like when you're 80% of the physical version and 60% of the mental version of who you were before.

He's also running 107km around the Isle of Wight for Bowel Cancer UK. His second book is out now.

⏱ CHAPTERS

0:00 Introduction - Dar Barrow returns3:37 Where Dar is now6:07 First day of chemo and the anxiety that arrived the night before7:07 Being hooked up to the matrix10:29 Walking home after treatment — when the side effects kicked in11:41 Like the 90s but without any of the fun12:13 Fizzy hands, frozen eyes and lockjaw13:49 Surgery vs chemotherapy — which is harder14:36 The NHS 24/7 helpline and why he ignored it until he needed it18:47 The ctDNA test: trying to find a medical way out of chemo22:16 The Creamy Curse and never touching pizza again24:03 The worst mental health day — and the front door breakdown29:02 The helpline call that helped, and why he started writing31:29 Never once getting used to it32:49 The scan in October that finally cleared him34:46 Emma and the relationship through the fog35:28 The shocking statistic of men vs women 37:47 Why Dar keeps talking publicly about all of it39:04 The neighbour: "it just gets a little bit less every day"40:55 Recovery: 80% physically, 60% mentally43:31 107km Isle of Wight challenge for Bowel Cancer UK45:55 What the watch says vs what the body felt like a year ago46:17 Book two out now

📚 DAR'S BOOKS

Oh Shit I've Got Bowel Cancer - Amazon / Kindle / Apple Books
The Fog of Chemotherapy: The April Shits and the Creamy Curse - out now
Profits to Bowel Cancer UK

🏃 ISLE OF WIGHT CHALLENGE - 107km for Bowel Cancer UK
Link to Fundraising page

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🎙 GRAFT PODCAST

New episodes every other week.Instagram: @graft_podcast

GIVEAWAY TIME...

😴 Comment "SLEEP" below to be in with a chance to win a Leep ring

Winner will be announce on Tuesday 16th June at 7pm GMT on our Instagram page - @graft.podcast

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Simon Neave spent 36 years building other people's brands — from Morrisons shelf floors to six-figure salaries in mobile tech, turning distressed products into £60 million exits and fighting to keep a company alive through a pandemic that eventually swallowed it whole.

When the company he worked for went into administration in 2024, he was 54, out of a job, and facing a question he'd spent his whole career avoiding: now or never?

He chose now.

Leep is a sleep and activity tracking ring built to do what no British brand had done — bring serious health wearables to a mainstream price point.

This conversation covers the whole arc: the comfort that kept Simon employed for decades, the market gap he spotted while watching his employer slowly die, the brutal reality of fundraising, and what 36 years of building for other people actually teaches you when it's finally yours.

If you've ever been comfortable enough to stay but curious enough to wonder what you could build — this one's for you.

🎧 Listen as we discuss…

(00:00) From Morrisons to mobile: 36 years building other people's brands(07:12) The "now or never" moment(08:51) Why sleep became the overlooked gap in the healthtech market(12:32) The drunk driving stat — what 17 hours without sleep actually does to you(14:52) The £169 bet: making sleep tech accessible when everyone else charged £400(22:59) "Execution is everything" — why most startups fail before they launch(24:45) Fundraising is a full-time job (and the thing Simon underestimated most)(29:02) The power of not giving up (31:28) The personal cost: savings gone, gym gone, holidays in Whitby with a laptop(36:11) What Simon would tell anyone thinking about starting their own thing(41:59) The Jonny Wilkinson principle — fear of failure as a driver(44:39) Vision and delusion: where Simon wants Leep to be in five years(47:40) Why British wearables could help prevent suicide, anxiety and depression

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The Comfort Trap — A good salary and a well-run company are the most effective things for killing your own ambition. If you're waiting for the right moment, recognise that comfort is the reason most people never find one.

Every line of code is a liability — Simon's rule for building the Leep app: assume everything takes twice as long and costs twice as much, then cut it down to the absolute minimum you can launch with.

Don't give up is a double-edged sword — Simon's greatest strength is his refusal to quit. But persistence without self-awareness is just stubbornness. Know which one you're doing at any given moment.

Fundraising is a full-time job — The single most underestimated part of building a product business. Simon raised money in between building, selling and running the company — and believes that if he'd treated fundraising as a dedicated full-time focus earlier, the timeline would have been different.

Sleep is the metric most people are ignoring — After 17–19 hours without sleep, cognitive performance matches someone over the drink-drive limit. The data is already in your pocket — it's time to start looking at it.

Simon Neave — CEO & Founder, Leep (sleep and activity tracking ring)

In 2017, Darren Edwards was three-quarters of the way up a 500ft rock face in North Wales when the ground beneath his feet gave way. A four-foot chunk of limestone collapsed. He fell with it. His best friend Matt - stood 50ft below - threw himself on top of Darren with an 80% chance they'd both go. They didn't.

What followed - the hospital, the diagnosis, the losses he hadn't seen coming - is one of the most honest accounts of starting over we've heard on this show.

From a 25-metre pool on Christmas Eve to Land's End to John O'Groats by sea. From a hospital bed to 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days. And through it all, one question that changed everything.

🎧 Listen as we discuss…

(08:24) The Bear Grylls DVD that started everything 

(10:03) "My only competition was myself" - finding identity in the mountains 

(14:37) World's End: the moment the rock face collapsed 

(21:02) Matt: the friend who dove on him with an 80% chance they'd both go 

(22:58) The promise on the ledge: "Whatever happens next - don't let me give up" 

(31:19) Waking up in intensive care: "Look ahead, not behind" 

(38:10) Kate the physio and the four-year question 

(39:07) Buying a kayak from a hospital car park

(44:15) Missing Paralympic selection

(47:06) Land's End to John O'Groats - 1,000km, disabled veterans, everyone wrote them off

(56:31) Day one of the 777: Antarctica, -30°C, 60mph winds 

(01:03:07) Losing his dad - and why it made him a speaker 

(01:09:33) "What do you want to stand for - and why can't you still?"

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Courage is a commitment, not a feeling. Resilience isn't something you feel - it's a decision you make before you know if you can keep it.

The four-year question. When you're at your lowest, don't ask what to do next. Ask who you want to be in four years - then take the first step, however small or absurd it looks.

Asking for help is the first move. Not figuring it out alone. Calling someone and saying "I need you to come with me." That's where everything starts.

Be the Mohamed. We don't succeed alone. Sometimes the person who gets you through the hardest part isn't even supposed to be there.

GUEST 

Darren Edwards - World record-breaking adaptive adventurer, keynote speaker, author, and founder of a charity supporting newly injured people through adventure.

Matt Cowell's relationship with gambling began with a Simpsons fruit machine in a hotel games room in Newquay, aged ten or eleven. He'd saved up fifty pounds from his paper round. By the end of the holiday, he had £2.56 left - and already knew he needed to hide it.

What followed was twenty-five years. By eighteen he was thousands in debt through Fixed Odds Betting Terminals. By twenty-five, bankrupt with £68,000 of unsecured debt - every penny from gambling, nothing to show for it. He was suspended from his bank job for cycling money between accounts to fund his habit, and spent the weeks afterwards putting on his suit every morning, driving to the high street to gamble, so his family wouldn't know.

But this episode isn't just Matt's story. Ben comes into it too - discovering mid-conversation that he'd staked nearly £21,000 on betting apps in twelve months. Technically up £900. No idea.

That moment is the heart of why this conversation matters: gambling has become so frictionless, so invisible, that most people don't know where "casual" ends and "problem" begins - and the 16–24 generation are being targeted harder than anyone.

🎧 Listen as we discuss…

(01:15) The Simpsons machine: where it started - and the shame that came with it 

(07:18) FOBTs, debt at eighteen, and the logic that kept him going back 

(14:37) "Just to play, just to play" - the core loop of addiction 

(15:02) Bankrupt at 25: £68,000 with nothing to show 

(17:24) The suit he wore every day to nowhere 

(20:31) Ben's reveal: £21,000 staked in twelve months without knowing 

(23:23) The invisible addiction: why no one sees it coming 

(24:36) More betting shops in the UK than Tesco, Sainsbury's and Morrisons combined 

(26:41) "One in every group is hiding it": the crisis targeting teenagers 

(35:44) No clocks in casinos - the psychology of keeping you in 

(39:35) Day one of 508: the panic attacks that finally broke the cycle 

(42:13) Addicted to Growth: starting a recovery platform from a Tesco car park 

(47:49) The "crack in the dam": how to help someone who won't admit they have a problem

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The Invisible Addiction: No smell, no visible change - you can do it from anywhere, at any time. That invisibility is precisely what makes it escalate, and why the people closest to a problem gambler are often the last to find out.

Abstinence is not recovery: Matt spent almost four years not gambling and still relapsed. The shift came when he accepted - out loud, to everyone - that he is a compulsive gambler and life becomes unmanageable when he plays. That acceptance ends the wrestling.

The crack in the dam: Accusations close the door. Matt's advice for anyone worried about a loved one: find a softer entry point, share content, ask a question. People accept help more readily when they feel like it was their decision to ask for it.

GUEST 

Matt Cowell - Recovering compulsive gambler and founder of Addicted to Growth (@addictedtogrowth).

Sara Davison is a five-time best-selling author and the UK’s leading divorce coach, but her expertise wasn’t born in a classroom - it was forged on her bathroom floor.

Overnight, Sara’s life as she knew it was annihilated. She discovered her husband - her business partner and the father of her one-year-old son - was not only leaving her but was "madly in love" with a woman 12 years younger who was already pregnant.

The trauma was compounded when the new couple moved into the same apartment development, forcing Sara to watch her "soulmate" move on in front of her eyes every day.

In this raw and deeply practical conversation, Sara sits down with Ben to share the "Balmoral Beach" moment that changed everything. They discuss the physical pain of heartbreak, the "Functionally Friendly" toolkit for navigating toxic exes, and why divorce - if handled with conscious parenting - can actually be a valuable life lesson for children.

This is an operating manual for anyone who has ever felt powerless and decided to say: "screw you, watch this."

🎧 Listen as we discuss…

(01:55) How a personal betrayal created "The Divorce Coach" (02:49) The "Ugly Cry": Dealing with a life that changes in 24 hours

(04:33) The "Elephant in the Room": Why friends don't know what to say

(05:36) The Cockatoo Moment: Choosing to no longer be defined by pain

(06:56) Using yourself as a "guinea pig" to build a recovery toolkit

(09:15) Conscious Coping: Why we aren't taught resilience in school

(12:50) The Fear of Never Being Loved Again: Addressing the #1 human need

(14:14) The Loneliness Trap: Why being alone is better than being in the wrong relationship

(16:15) Learning to trust yourself instead of searching for someone to trust

(21:00) The "Waitress Test": Identifying red flags on a second date

(31:35) Why high-performing men prefer coaching over traditional therapy

(32:49) Controversial Parenting: Turning divorce into a toolkit for your children

(46:25) Post-Separation Abuse: Navigating the "Casino" of the family court system

(51:52) The "Functionally Friendly" Tool: How to attend events with a toxic ex

KEY TAKEAWAYS

"Functionally Friendly." You don't have to be a saint, but you must be a role model. Use visualization to "run the movie" of a successful interaction with an ex before you step into the room.

Trust Yourself, Not Them. Recovery isn't about learning to trust other people again; it’s about rebuilding the internal trust that you can make better decisions for your own future.

Loneliness is Relative. You will always feel lonelier being rejected by a partner in the same house than you will ever feel alone on your sofa. Intimacy is a human need, but a toxic connection is a debt you can't afford.

The "Screw You" Leverage. Use the anger and the pain as fuel. When you hit the bottom, the most powerful decision you can make is to refuse to stay a victim and instead say, "Watch this."

GUEST

Sara Davison - Globally acclaimed Divorce Coach, best-selling author of Uncoupling and Screw You, Watch This, and founder of the International Divorce Coach Centre of Excellence.

Matt Wing spent 32 years as a high-performing, "functional" drinker. To the outside world, he had it all—a successful career, a loving family, and a rigorous fitness regime.

But inside, he was living in a state of "double stress," using alcohol to quiet the noise of undiagnosed ADHD while pushing his body to the brink of a stroke.

In this raw conversation, Matt and Ben dismantle the myth of the "social drinker". They explore the physiological trap of the reward-based drink, the reality of "selfish drinking," and why sobriety in your 50s is the ultimate investment in your "health pension".

Quitting alcohol takes courage - and a commitment to the messy, disciplined process of starting over.

Listen as we discuss...

(01:30) Chasing the reward vs. social drinking

(03:30) Quieting the noise: Undiagnosed ADHD and a 30-year habit

(06:30) The "Double Stress": Why training hard and drinking hard is lethal

(11:00) The Hilton Sign: How one drink after eight months led back to square one

(13:30) Building the "Health Pension": Why sobriety is an investment for your 60s

(24:00) The Blueprint: Replacing the 4 PM ritual with non-negotiable habits

(40:30) Identifying the "Why": Drinking to change how you feel

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Invest in your Health Pension: Sobriety in your 50s isn't about restriction; it's about putting work into a "pension pot" that allows you to be strong and present in your 60s.

The "Double Stress" Trap: You cannot "balance the scales" by exercising to offset heavy drinking. This creates a catastrophic physical collision that drastically increases stroke risk.

Play the Tape Forward: When the "4 PM voice" romanticizes a drink, visualize the 24-hour fallout instead of the 10-minute buzz

Stop at the First Drink: If you lose control after the first glass, the only battle you need to win is not picking up the first one.

David Smith MBE is a Paralympic Gold Medallist, former British athlete across multiple disciplines, and a man now living with brain and spinal tumours.

From representing Great Britain across karate, sprinting, bobsleigh and rowing - to standing on top of the podium at London 2012 - David built his life on performance, discipline and identity.

Then everything changed.

Multiple brain tumours. Paralysis. Emergency surgery. Years spent in oncology wards.

And yet - David doesn’t see cancer as the end of his story.

He sees it as his greatest teacher.

In this powerful and deeply philosophical conversation, David sits down with Ben to share what nearly dying taught him about identity, fear, presence, and what actually matters when everything else is stripped away.

This isn’t about medals.

It’s about meaning.

It’s about learning how to live - fully.

🎧 Listen as we discuss…(00:00) Growing up in Scotland and building identity through sport(04:00) Ego, identity, and why athletes struggle after success(08:00) Paralysis and losing everything he thought defined him(10:00) Brain surgery and reliving his entire life(12:00) Why no medals appeared in his life flashback(16:00) Discovering the tumour and pushing through to Paralympic gold(20:00) London 2012, fame, and walking away from the spotlight(28:00) Life inside cancer wards and facing mortality(35:00) What NOT to say to someone with cancer(38:00) Toxic positivity vs real compassion(46:00) Fear, death, and mastering the inner voice(51:00) “Be where your feet are” - David’s philosophy(56:00) Writing his book and giving 100% to charity

KEY TAKEAWAYS

You are not your achievements. Identity built on performance alone will eventually fall apart.

Life is made of moments, not milestones. When David nearly died, only people and experiences mattered - not medals.

Fear is part of the process. You don’t remove it - you learn to sit with it.

Don’t try to fix people. Listening and presence matter more than advice.

Be where your feet are. Presence is the most powerful way to live.

Health is everything. Most people don’t realise it until it’s gone.

GUEST

David Smith MBE - Paralympic Gold Medallist (Rowing, London 2012), former British athlete across multiple sports, and speaker on resilience, mindset, and living with purpose.

David is currently writing his book Be Where Your Feet Are, with all profits going to charity.

TRIGGER WARNING: talk of a physical attack that resulted in a death.

On 4 April 2012, Jane Openshaw’s husband, Phil Sheriff, attended a corporate event in London. Hours later, he was fighting for his life after being attacked. Four days after that, he was gone.
What followed was chaos, shock, the Old Bailey, a national campaign, a brutal appeal, and the daily reality of raising two children while navigating grief in its rawest form.

In this powerful conversation, Jane sits down with Ben to share the truth of that week, the courtroom battle, the online abuse, the Bottle Stop campaign, antidepressants, parenting through trauma, and eventually — years later — finding love again with someone who understood loss the way she did.
This is a story about survival, anger, resilience, rebuilding, and choosing to move forward, not “on.”

🎧 Listen as we discuss…
(00:05) The night of the corporate event — and the first calls that didn’t feel right(00:06:30) Searching hospitals, calling colleagues, and piecing everything together alone(00:13:36) The final moments (00:16:10) Facing telling their children (00:19:06) The Old Bailey trial(00:25:11) The appeal, the crash afterwards, and the year she was “on her knees”(00:28:50) Parenting two kids with two entirely different grief responses(00:30:30) What actually helped with her grief(00:35:30) Online cruelty and the moments that cut deepest(00:38:15) Bottle Stop: the campaign to remove late-night glass in bars and clubs(00:44:19) Meeting someone new and learning to love again(00:48:42) Letting go of anger without ever letting go of Phil(00:51:06) Jane’s advice for anyone frozen at the kitchen table with no idea how to continue

KEY TAKEAWAYS

You don’t move on — you move forward. Grief leaves scars, not blank spaces.
Shock carries you, but it drops you hard. The crash after the trial was the darkest point.
Two kids, two griefs. Children don’t grieve the same way — and that’s okay.
Campaigning can heal — and wound. Bottle Stop gave Jane purpose, but also backlash.
Love doesn’t replace love. You can love the person you lost and love the person you meet.
Take life an hour at a time. On the worst days, an hour is enough.

GUEST

Jane Openshaw - mother, campaigner, and founder of Bottle Stop, a grassroots movement calling for the removal of glass in late-night venues after her husband, Phil, was killed in an unprovoked attack with a broken bottle in 2012.

Jane now speaks openly about grief, trauma, justice, and rebuilding life while keeping Phil’s memory alive.