The Untold

Grace Dent presents the story of a Hastings high street in the run-up to Christmas, and three shops fighting for survival.

For many years, businesses on Queens Road came and went. Many windows were boarded up, shop faces were rundown. So a few years ago it was seen as a sign of successful regeneration when new independent businesses began to move in and shop fronts were repainted. It became known as a destination for people wanting independent shops, run by people with a passion for what they're selling. But in the last year, the retail environment has become subdued. It has been an uncertain and difficult twelve months, and the final weeks of the year are looking no easier.

This is the story of three shops on one street, in the run down to a vital shopping period which they need to go well to survive into 2019.

Vicky opened White Rhino in 2014, and used to specialise in furniture from independent designers. But demand dropped and now she must earn a living from smaller, less lucrative products like loose leaf tea and trinkets.

Lee opened Printed Matter bookshop in 2017. Hastings was set to be a university town but as soon as he opened the shop, that fell through. He hopes to get 1% of the town's population as regular customers, but he's got tough competition.

Jez opened Queen's Deli in 2017. He's taken a big risk in opening on this street, and has everything on the line for it.

By the time their shop doors shut on Christmas Eve, Jez, Vicky and Lee need to know there is enough money in the till to see them into the new year. And it's looking very uncertain.

Presenter: Grace Dent

The recordings follow Anoushka as she tours the Cambridge colleges and debates what she should do. It's a difficult choice and one that is made all the harder by the University's poor record in relation to black students, who make up just 2.2 per cent of the under-graduate population.

In talking to her friends she discovers that some of the more able students are clearly put off from even applying to Oxbridge because of the compromises they would have to make. They talk to her about concerns over what they say is a lack of racial diversity and worries about so many students coming from fee paying schools.

Anoushka's parents, Anjula and Roy, are patient and supportive as she debates the merits of her top choices, including the London School of Economics, Queens’ College Cambridge and Kings College London. They feel that an Oxbridge degree would set her up for life and that she would also flourish within the small teaching groups offered in the history department. But this is her decision and it's one she's determined to get right.

Producer: Sue Mitchell

For Steph, family comes first. As a self-described 'dance mum' she frequently drives the youngest of her three children around the country for classes and competitions. Steph was adopted, and although her own upbringing was a happy one she has always wanted to know more about her birth mother and blood relatives. Now for the first time she has decided to try to find them and contact them. She has no idea whether her mother's relatives know of her existence, and what effect her search for them may have on their lives - or her own. Presented by Grace Dent.

Producer: Viv Jones

Roni never got to learn to ride a bike as a child. Her dad died when she was nearly six years old, and her Mum was left to bring up five children on her own so there was no-one to teach Roni or help her. As Roni grew older, it just became embarrassing to talk about it, and it made her feel inadequate, so she stopped even mentioning it to anyone. But the longing for the freedom and independence she thought cycling would bring has never left her. So, when her friend Clare bought her a second-hand pink bike, she decided it was time to turn her dream into action.

James is 24 and dreams of being a farmer. He’s got sheep, but nowhere to keep them. A sought-after farm in Cornwall is open for applicants. Will he find a home for his flock?

But if you’re a first-time farmer without the money to buy, even finding a farm is difficult. James has been trying for years and has applied to 6 farms. He’s recently heard about a farm to rent in Cornwall. He and his fiancé, Isobel, have visited it and fallen in love with it. So they’ve decided to throw their heart into this one last application and if they don’t get it, they’re going to sell their 400 sheep and their sheep dogs and buy a house. They'll stop chasing their dream.

And there’s one more complication: alongside tending to his sheep, James is also running a family business with his brother and father. He’s farming insects to feed fish. It’s a business with international growth potential and great career prospects but James has found that spending all day in a workshop doing experiments is not what he wants to do for the rest of his life.

James’ Dad Andrew isn’t very enthusiastic about James dream to be a livestock farmer. He wonders what will happen to the family business. And he worries that there’s not much money in farming. James’ Dad worked in the oil and gas industry for 40 years and has helped James set up the insect-farming venture. He feels that farming livestock on a small scale in Cornwall is not a viable business for his son. James meanwhile is determined to pursue the outdoor farming life. "If it pays off, our children will have an amazing life. We’ve got one chance and we have to make the most of it.”

When Kirsty's youngest son goes to university, she decides to go in search of adventure. At the age of 47 she buys an old plasterer's van, and moves into it - knowing nothing about vehicles or DIY, and with a fear of heights so strong she gets scared of big hills.

She starts a Youtube channel to record her journey, and over the next eighteen months goes through a radical change. But through the story of this change, we hear about her past - and what she's left behind.

Produced in Bristol by Polly Weston.

Min is determined to only marry a Sikh who wears a turban. But after a decade of looking her family and friends want her to widen her search by the time she turns 38. As the only daughter, her mum and dad just want her to be happy but also married and settled with her own family and they don’t mind who she marries. Min’s mum thinks not only should her daughter abandon her search for a turban-wearing Sikh but she should widen her search further to include non–Sikhs.

Grace Dent presents the story of Amanda and her fight to get 24 hour care for her 96 year old dad who has dementia - before it's too late.

Alan calls his daughter Amanda up to twenty times a day, confused and paranoid. But he's adamant he doesn't want to go into a care home.

We follow Amanda's struggle to get him the care she feels he needs.

Producer: Laurence Grissell

This is the 100th episode of The Untold.

Grace Dent follows the story of an unidentified woman found washed up on a beach in East Sussex in 2017. Who was she? And why has no one come forward to claim her body? Despite the best efforts of the police and a long-running missing persons appeal, she has never been identified.

A year on, Christina, an employee of the Rother District Council’s Environmental Health team has been given the task of organising a funeral for the woman. She is determined to solve the mystery of the woman's identity and to track down her relatives. And to ensure that, even though no loved ones have come forward, her passing will not go unmarked.

Produced by Mair Bosworth

Office Ambience Copyright 2013 Iwan Gabovitch, CC-BY3 license.

The town of Corby faces a rough-sleeping crisis, but the community is strongly divided over a proposed solution. Does a homeless shelter belong by the side of a care home?

Nicola is the manager of Corby's homelessness charity Nightlight. For several years they have been helping the growing number of homeless people in the small town by arranging temporary night shelters and paying visits to the homeless community in the woods.

The volunteers believe they have found what they need: an unused public building big enough for 35 guests. A permanent home and a warm place for the coming winter. Yet in other ways the site is not ideal, it lies just feet away from a care home and sheltered housing complex.

Despite this, Nicola and the other volunteers have decided to push on with obtaining planning permission to develop the building. They have faced stern opposition from a community of residents and relatives who fear a rise in crime, anti-social behaviour and a risk to their security.

Nicola has given up paid work in order focus full time succeeding in this application. If approved, they will be a considerable step closer to obtaining funding and employing full time staff, including herself, at the shelter. After months of consultation, the decision comes down to one council meeting and a vote of 8 councillors.

Both sides are seeking to protect the vulnerable, but whose voice will the council listen to?

Produced by Sam Peach