Welcome to the 'This Is The North Podcast, your source of transformative conversations. An intentional challenge to the systems holding back the North of England. Hosted by Alison Dunn.

In this episode, Alison is joined by Dominic Wills, who shares his experience of addiction and how recovery as a young person can look different to the stereotypes. Dominic explains how drugs were readily available through friends and later via social media, and how his use progressed from cannabis and MDMA to "anything" he could access. Despite continuing to achieve at school and maintaining an outward appearance of coping, he describes being rarely sober in school, the impact of ADHD, and how addiction fuelled deception, debt, and serious strains on family relationships, including fears for his safety and missing person reports.

Dominic reflects on seeking support from around the age of 14 through local authority drug and alcohol services and later adult services, but feeling that services often didn't reflect his situation as a young person who wasn't injecting or involved in the criminal justice system.

He describes how leaving school removed structure and led to escalation, and how in late 2019 he first encountered peer-led recovery models that showed him people, especially young people, can get clean and live well. After a severe spiral over Christmas 2019, he went to rehab for two months and says that's when he began taking recovery seriously.

The conversation also explores stigma, why visible recovery matters, and Dominic's view that alcohol and drugs are often treated inconsistently in policy and public attitudes.

He discusses decriminalisation vs legalisation, the risks of street drugs, and argues that criminalising personal possession is unproductive. Dominic shares how peer support and different recovery models helped him rebuild responsibility and trust, and what he would say to someone "functioning" but quietly struggling.

Dominic closes by describing what recovery has enabled for him as a young person, going to uni, living with students, DJing, going on holiday, and still spending time with friends in pubs, emphasising that recovery should be a tool to reclaim life rather than a boundary that keeps people trapped.

Timestamps:

00:00 Drugs at 14

00:33 A young voice changing the recovery narrative

01:07 How it started

01:43 Seeking it out and why he kept using

04:23 Functioning addiction

06:39 Trying to stop early and not being ready

08:08 ADHD and addiction

08:52 Why recovery felt impossible

10:14 Turning point: Peer-led recovery, rehab, and taking it seriously

11:04 When systems miss you: Age, privilege, and not being 'the right kind' of addict

12:25 Alcohol vs drugs: Generational divide and why the comparison matters

14:56 The damage to family & rebuilding trust through responsibility

16:59 What helped

19:07 Drug policy in the UK

28:19 Advice for 'functioning' addiction

29:39 Recovery

This conversation is a challenge to every assumption we hold about what addiction looks like, who it affects, and what recovery can be. Dominic is honest, sharp, and proof that young people deserve to be heard and not fitted into a system that wasn't built for them.

Host: Alison Dunn 

Guest: Dominic Wills

This podcast is produced by Purpose Made.

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

Welcome to 'This Is The North' Podcast, your source of transformative conversations. An intentional challenge to the systems holding back the North of England. Hosted by Alison Dunn, an award-winning charity chief executive and former solicitor. This podcast is supported by the Society Matters Foundation and is dedicated to curating and sharing knowledge, powering the change we need for a more equal and inclusive society.

In this episode, Alison sits down with Richard O'Neill MBE - storyteller, author, playwright, and Professor in Practice at Durham University. For centuries, Richard's Romani traveller ancestors were story keepers in the Northeast, travelling from Newcastle to Yorkshire to Carlisle, listening to stories in villages and towns, then carrying them forward. They were, as Richard puts it, "illiterate in reading and writing, but incredibly literate in communication."

But this conversation isn't just about oral tradition. It's about discovering that words Alison has spoken her entire life - "gadji," "chav," "chavi" - come from Romani. Evidence of centuries woven into the Geordie dialect itself. It's about why Richard's musician friend couldn't grasp the concept of chatting to a stranger at a Morrisons checkout. "We are story people here," Richard explains. And it's about why Richard refused a million pounds to appear on reality TV that embeds stereotypes rather than documents real lives.

Richard and Alison explore why the Northeast has a rhythm to its speech that makes storytelling natural, how a 3-year-old and 103-year-old laughed at the same things during a care home storytelling session, and why teaching children how narrative works is our defense against misinformation. They discuss AI as "the new steam," Richard's accidental career that started with one phone call, and the most powerful story Richard tells, a beautiful story about empathy and individual decency. A reminder that when stories are told from the heart, they change how we see each other. Those are the stories we keep.

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction

01:30 Traveller Identity and Story Keeping

04:20 Storytelling in Education

07:26 The Traveller Community

10:47 Media Stereotypes

16:47 Storytelling in the Age of AI

21:16 Richard's Journey as a Storyteller

27:37 The Most Powerful Story

2026 is the National Year of Reading, and Richard's work at Seven Stories reminds us why that matters.

Host: Alison Dunn

Guest: Richard O'Neill MBE

Learn more: Seven Stories, Newcastle - sevenstories.org.uk

This podcast is produced by Purpose Made.

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

Welcome to 'This Is The North' Podcast, your source of transformative conversations. An intentional challenge to the systems holding back the North of England. Hosted by Alison Dunn, an award-winning charity chief executive and former solicitor. This podcast is supported by the Society Matters Foundation and is dedicated to curating and sharing knowledge, powering the change we need for a more equal and inclusive society.

One in 29 children in every classroom have been bereaved of a parent or sibling, carrying grief that most adults struggle to talk about. Meanwhile, in medical training, there's a belief that "as healthcare professionals, we all feel a profound sense of failure when one of our patients dies." Over the last hundred years, death moved from homes to hospitals. We handed it to professionals. In doing so, we lost the language, the confidence, and the community knowledge that once made dying something we did together.

In this episode, Alison sits down with Julian Prior from Compassionate Gateshead, Dr. Elizabeth Woods, a palliative care consultant, and Karen Perry, an end-of-life doula, to have the conversation we're often too scared to have: what happens when we lose the ability to talk about death? Their conversation reveals families who no longer recognise the signs of dying. People told their loved one is dying four, five, six times, each time treatment works, feeding a cycle that says you can fix this.

The conversation captures what policy discussions miss. Death cafes in Newcastle that fill up every month, where strangers cut through small talk in minutes to discuss what they lack in their daily lives: depth, meaning, honest conversation about mortality. Community knowledge that used to exist on every street, now having to be taught by consultants walking families through what normal dying actually looks like.

Alison and her guests explore what happens when we can't say the word "died," why medication struggles to control what fear is doing, and how communities are remembering that dying isn't something we fear alone but something we face together. They discuss the inequalities that compound at end of life—the cost of wills, lasting powers of attorney, funerals arriving when families are already struggling. Why teachers need resources to support that one child in every classroom carrying grief.

The conversation examines what Compassionate Gateshead is building: a network connecting organisations supporting asylum seekers, people with dementia, young people who've lost loved ones, workplaces trying to support bereaved employees. The Festival of Compassion running all February with workshops, films, and death cafes creating permission and space to talk.

Death will happen to us all. The question is whether we'll face it alone, unprepared, fearful and silent, or whether we'll face it together, with language, with confidence, with community.

Timestamps: 

00:00 Introduction

01:00 Understanding End-of-Life Doulas

03:38 Building Compassionate Communities

07:02 The Medicalisation of Death

10:34 What Families Actually Fear

13:01 What Normal Dying Looks Like

18:18 Death Cafes and Community Spaces

26:56 Inequalities That Compound

40:12 The Festival of Compassion

41:49 Final Reflections

Host: Alison Dunn

Guests: Julian Prior, Dr. Elizabeth Woods, Karen Perry

Learn more about Compassionate Gateshead and the Festival of Compassion here.

This podcast is produced by Purpose Made.

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

Welcome to 'This Is The North' Podcast, your source of transformative conversations. An intentional challenge to the systems holding back the North of England. Hosted by Alison Dunn, an award-winning charity chief executive and former solicitor. This podcast is supported by the Society Matters Foundation and is dedicated to curating and sharing knowledge, powering the change we need for a more equal and inclusive society.

109 children are pulled into poverty every single day by the two-child benefit cap. That's three primary school classes. Daily. In November's Autumn Budget, that policy was scrapped, lifting 350,000 children out of poverty, including 70,000 in the Northeast. But scrapping the cap doesn't fix the childcare infrastructure that's still broken.

In this episode, Alison sits down with Amanda Bailey of the Northeast Child Poverty Commission, Ang Broadbridge of Ways to Wellness, and Dr. Steph Scott from Newcastle University to discuss their new research on childcare in the Northeast. What they found reveals a system that traps families: you need to be employed to access childcare, but you need childcare to be employed. For families on low incomes, there's no way out.

The research captures stories that policy discussions often miss. A mother who gave up work, relying on her own mum for childcare, describing her mum "moaning all the time", not about inconvenience, but about a relationship fraying when something is both a favour and a financial necessity. Parents who feel "punished for wanting to work," guilty no matter which choice they make. Childcare providers running food banks for their own staff. As one participant put it: "We pay people more to care for our coffee than we do to care for our children."

Alison and her guests explore what happens when childcare doesn't exist for children with complex medical needs, why holiday provision creates impossible choices for working parents, and how informal childcare arrangements (grandparents, family members), hold the system together while fraying under the weight. They discuss the mental health toll on parents, the workforce crisis facing childcare providers, and why this isn't just about the early years but extends through school age.

The conversation examines what regional leadership can do, why current support schemes feel impossibly complicated to navigate, and what it means to view childcare as essential infrastructure, not a luxury, but a foundation for family incomes, children's development, and economic stability.

Child poverty costs this country £39bn annually. The cap cost £3bn to scrap. The question isn't whether we can afford to invest in children and families. It's whether we can afford not to.

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction

01:00 The Impact and Challenges in Childcare

12:56 Complexities of the Childcare System

26:56 Policy Implications and Recommendations

Host: Alison Dunn

Guests: Amanda Bailey, Ang Broadbridge, Dr. Steph Scott

Read the full research report here.

This podcast is produced by Purpose Made.

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

Welcome to 'This Is The North' Podcast, your source of transformative conversations. An intentional challenge to the systems holding back the North of England. Hosted by Alison Dunn, an award-winning charity chief executive and former solicitor. This podcast is supported by the Society Matters Foundation and is dedicated to curating and sharing knowledge, powering the change we need for a more equal and inclusive society.

In this episode, Alison sits down with Ray Laidlaw, founding drummer of Lindisfarne, the band whose songs became anthems of the Northeast. In 1971, their album Fog on the Tyne became the biggest-selling record in the UK. Success brought tours across Germany, Scandinavia, Australia, and America. But it also brought tension about what came next. Ray's story reveals the complexity at the heart of Lindisfarne's journey, the creative process that made their music work and how, in 1973, they split, not through acrimony, but through different priorities and how they would ultimately be brought back together.

But this conversation isn't just about rock and roll. It's about what Ray helped build after the tours: Sunday for Sammy, named for Sammy Johnson, a working-class lad from Gateshead and actor who sadly died aged just 49 whilst training for the Great North Run. What started as a one-off tribute in 1999 is now a variety show that sells 6,000 tickets at the Utilita Arena. Since 2006, Ray has produced every show, keeping ticket prices affordable because, as he says, "we've always seen it as a working-class people's show." The charity has also given away over £700,000, not in massive grants, but in the amounts that actually matter: bus fare to London auditions, a decent bow for a cello, three months' rent to finish writing a play.

Ray and Alison discuss why the show nearly died, how the first tribute brought Auf Wiedersehen Pet's Dennis, Oz, and Neville to the stage for the first time ever (and convinced the BBC to bring the series back), and what it means to create what Oscar Wilde called "the nightly miracle". They explore how a grant to finish one play about Category D villages created a touring circuit that didn't exist before, why working-class kids face impossible barriers, and what happened when Lindisfarne returned to Newcastle City Hall in 1976 after splitting up.

Timestamps:

00:45 Introducing Ray Laidlaw

03:52 The Rise of Lindisfarne: From Blues Covers to Anthems

05:39 Touring the World

10:12 Band Breakups, Reunions, and Staying Friends

13:09 Sunday for Sammy: From Tribute to Movement

17:08 Why the Arts Need Support More Than Ever

17:38 Success Stories: Rosie Ramsey, Emily Hoyle, Jason Cook

22:33 The Ripple Effect

24:23 The Bottom Rung of the Ladder

28:05 Advice for Young Performers

After five decades in music, Ray's conviction remains clear: resilience, kindness, and community matter more than fame. When the bottom rung of the ladder is missing, someone has to build it back. Sunday for Sammy returns February 15th, 2026. Tickets available here.

Host: Alison Dunn

Guest: Ray Laidlaw

This podcast is produced by Purpose Made.

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

Welcome to 'This Is The North' Podcast, your source of transformative conversations. An intentional challenge to the systems holding back the North of England. Hosted by Alison Dunn, an award-winning charity chief executive and former solicitor. This podcast is supported by the Society Matters Foundation and is dedicated to curating and sharing knowledge, powering the change we need for a more equal and inclusive society.

In this episode, Alison sits down with Juliet Sanders, founder and CEO of Feeding Families, a charity born from a single act of kindness in 2016 that has grown into a regional lifeline feeding tens of thousands across the Northeast.

It started with two unwanted sofas. When Juliet delivered them to a house in Gateshead, what she found stopped her in her tracks: five children under seven, no furniture, and a mother who wrapped empty boxes for Christmas because she had nothing to give them. "We came out of the house and thought, what do we do? We can't just walk away."

When Juliet posted on social media asking if anyone needed help, 200 people responded within an hour. Crucially, it wasn't just people asking for help, it was people saying "If I knew who to help, I would help." She thought maybe they could support 50 families that first Christmas. They supported 719.

Today, Feeding Families works with 366 partner organisations, providing food, toiletries, and culturally appropriate provisions to families who fall through every other safety net. A Newcastle school discovered children weren't attending because they couldn't maintain basic hygiene. When Feeding Families provided soap and deodorant, attendance improved.

Juliet opens up about her own challenging experiences, living on a bag of pasta, surviving domestic violence, and discovering ten siblings she never knew existed through Ancestry. "When you've been in really difficult situations, there's nothing really left to fear."

They explore systemic issues driving food insecurity, including the two-child benefit cap, and why many struggling families are actually in work. Juliet articulates her vision for policy changes but is brutally honest about the limits of charity: "I can only put a sticking plaster on a gaping wound."

As Juliet prepares to retire, she reflects on founder syndrome with remarkable self-awareness: "The work matters more than ego."

Timestamps: 

00:00 A Chance Encounter Sparks a Movement

01:18 Introducing Juliet Sanders and Feeding Families

01:55 The Birth of Feeding Families

06:24 The First Christmas Miracle

07:44 Scaling Up: From One Family to Thousands

10:01 Challenges and Changes in the Northeast

13:24 The Unique Model of Feeding Families

17:03 Addressing Cultural Needs and Inclusivity

20:49 Juliet's Personal Journey: Adoption and Family

24:54 A Tragic Loss and a New Hope

25:18 Reuniting with Siblings

26:54 Discovering More Family

31:03 Leading an Organisation

37:00 A Unique Qualification

39:04 Challenges and Resilience

41:49 Addressing Food Insecurity

47:59 A Call to Action

Host: Alison Dunn

Guest: Juliet Sanders

This podcast is produced by Purpose Made.

How You Can Help: Visit feedingfamilies.org.uk

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

Welcome to the 'This Is The North' Podcast, your source of transformative conversations. An intentional challenge to the systems holding back the North of England. Hosted by Alison Dunn, an award-winning charity chief executive and former solicitor. This podcast is supported by the Society Matters Foundation and is dedicated to curating and sharing knowledge, powering the change we need for a more equal and inclusive society.

In this episode, Alison sits down with Jimmy McLaughlin OBE on the fifth anniversary of his podcast 'Jimmy's Jobs of the Future' - a show that went from stay-at-home dad project to interviewing prime ministers about the question Westminster struggles to answer: where are all these new jobs actually coming from?

When Jimmy worked at Number 10, he'd get calls at 10 to 8 in the morning. Debenhams collapsing. Wilkinson's going under. Ten thousand jobs gone. He'd brief Theresa May, who kept asking: "We're at record employment. You only tell me about losses. Where's the growth?" The answer was one or two people hired every week by companies like Gym Shark in Birmingham or Double 11 in Middlesbrough. Businesses creating seven out of every eight jobs in Britain but never making announcements because they're too busy building.

Five years and millions of listeners later, Jimmy walked back into Number 10 to interview Sir Keir Starmer. Same building. Same question. Different answer: nearly a million young people under 25 now aren't in education or work.

Jimmy and Alison discuss why businesses won't hire graduates this year, how AI might devastate middle-class professionals while skilled trades see wages double, and why we're asking 16-year-olds to choose careers before they're ready. They explore the Northern golden triangle, what devolution delivers, and what five years taught Jimmy about why work matters not just for income, but for dignity, purpose, and possibility.

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction to Jimmy McLaughlin 

00:40 The Genesis of Jimmy's Jobs of the Future 

01:45 Insights from Number 10 

03:02 Highlighting Northern Companies 

10:44 Impact of AI on Jobs 

18:44 Opportunities and Challenges in the North 

22:56 Collaborating in Politics 

23:49 The Future of Education and Jobs 

26:44 AI and Social Inequality 

32:11 Challenges for the Younger Generation 

35:58 Podcasting Insights and Evolution 

42:37 Reflections and Motivations

After five years and millions of listeners, Jimmy's conviction remains clear: work isn't just about income. It's about dignity, purpose, and possibility. A million young people need not just jobs, but futures.

Host: Alison Dunn 

Guest: Jimmy McLaughlin OBE 

This podcast is produced by Purpose Made.

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

Welcome to the 'This Is The North' Podcast, your source of transformative conversations. An intentional challenge to the systems holding back the North of England. Hosted by Alison Dunn, an award-winning charity chief executive and former solicitor. This podcast is supported by the Society Matters Foundation and is dedicated to curating and sharing knowledge, powering the change we need for a more equal and inclusive society.

In this episode, Alison sits down with Sir Andy Street, a Conservative who spent seven years proving something Westminster insists is impossible: that cross-party collaboration actually works. Street never had a Conservative majority on his board. Fourteen Conservative MPs, fourteen Labour MPs, and for seven years every single financial decision was taken cross-party. When his own government tried to cancel HS2, he held a press conference outside then-PM Rishi Sunak's hotel and led the 10 o'clock news. Region first, party second.

From being rejected by Birmingham City Council and Marks & Spencer to spending 30 years rising to CEO of John Lewis, Street's path wasn't conventional. He joined John Lewis because they hired "mavericks." He became mayor because it was "an executive job rooted in a place."

Street speaks candidly about "the Rubicon moment", fiscal devolution, holding taxes locally and what he learnt from those seven years. Now chairing Birmingham Rep, he draws parallels with the North: "Newcastle has its proud tradition. You had shipbuilding, coal mining. We didn't. But the stories are basically the same. You need to understand your past to be able to plan your future."

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction

01:23 Sir Andy Street's Early Career and Aspirations

02:15 Joining and Growing within John Lewis

02:46 The Mutual Model of John Lewis

03:33 Challenges and Successes in Retail

07:11 Transition from Retail to Politics

09:43 The Role and Impact of a Mayor

11:25 HS2 and Infrastructure Challenges

16:53 Reflections on Mayoral Achievements

18:23 Integrity in Leadership

19:21 Challenges of National Collaboration

20:37 The Evolution of Devolution

21:57 Fiscal Devolution and Political Regrets

23:12 Conservative Party Conference Insights

31:05 The Role of Arts and Culture

35:05 Future Prospects and Personal Reflections

36:40 Advice for the Next Generation

In an era when frustration is rising and voices offering complaints without solutions are gaining ground, Street's story reminds us what leadership should look like. Values-led leaders who put people and place before party, who understand that serious problems require serious answers, and who refuse to compromise their integrity for political convenience. Seven years proved what's possible when leaders refuse to compromise their values. The question now is whether we're ready to demand that kind of leadership everywhere.

Host: Alison Dunn

Guest: Sir Andy Street

This podcast is produced by  Purpose Made.

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

Welcome to the 'This Is The North' Podcast, your source of transformative conversations. An intentional challenge to the systems holding back the North of England. Hosted by Alison Dunn, an award-winning charity chief executive and former solicitor. This podcast is supported by the Society Matters Foundation and is dedicated to curating and sharing knowledge, powering the change we need for a more equal and inclusive society.

In this episode, Alison speaks with Dr. Mark Deeks — a North East musician whose work spans atmospheric doom metal, community choirs, and wellbeing retreats. Mark shares his personal journey through loss, including the heartbreak of losing his daughter Laurie at 20 weeks, and how music became both a memorial and a tool for survival. At 3am one morning, a star chart in Lori’s name became a melody — hidden on his album as Only Three Shall Know, but known at home as Laurie’s Theme.

From early influences and teaching experiences to founding Sing United, which has raised over £48,000 for Northern causes, Deeks shows how music works as connection, healing, and community. He challenges clichés about “soothing” genres, champions intentional playlists as mental health interventions, and explains why place — from colliery sites to Holy Island — can shape the way we heal.

00:00 A Heartbreaking Beginning

01:19 Meet Dr. Mark Deeks: Musician and Healer

01:53 Early Musical Influences

03:37 The Impact of Teaching and Online Lessons

08:11 Music as a Tool for Wellbeing

11:32 The Power of Community Singing

15:22 Exploring Diverse Musical Styles

21:09 Personal Loss and Musical Tribute (Laurie’s Theme)

29:08 Future Projects and Final Reflections

Deeks reminds us that grief isn’t just private sorrow, it’s a public health crisis often left unspoken, especially for men. His story is proof that the North already holds the tools we need: community, creativity, and the courage to listen.

Host: Alison Dunn

Guest: Dr. Mark Deeks

This podcast is produced by Purpose Made.

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

Welcome to the 'This Is The North' Podcast, your source of transformative conversations. An intentional challenge to the systems holding back the North of England. Hosted by Alison Dunn, an award-winning charity chief executive and former solicitor. This podcast is supported by the Society Matters Foundation and is dedicated to curating and sharing knowledge, powering the change we need for a more equal and inclusive society.

In this episode, Alison speaks with Eileen Ferguson, co-founder of Ad Gefrin, Northumberland's first whiskey distillery, who turned a derelict family transport depot into a £4million+ cultural destination that employs 60 people in a town where young adults typically plan their escape.

Ferguson's story begins with her great-grandmother, widowed at 36 with three children already buried and pregnant with her sixth. Standing at the graveside with no inheritance or support, she started taking in washing, then bought a corn mill, then owned the farm. Four generations later, Ferguson faced a similar choice with the family's abandoned depot: sell it for housing or build something that could regenerate Wooler.

The numbers reveal what traditional rural development misses. During public consultation, 4,000 people walked through the doors —double Wooler's population—because someone finally asked what they wanted. One hundred percent community support. Not for a distillery, but for what a distillery made possible: five interconnected businesses including tourism, hospitality, retail, and a museum celebrating the Anglo-Saxon palace that once stood nearby.

Timestamps: 

00:00 A Legacy of Resilience 

02:30 Introducing Eileen Ferguson and Ad Gefrin

04:29 Transforming a Family Site 

07:47 The Importance of People and Community 

11:48 Community Response and Impact 

16:42 Environmental Considerations 

18:28 Challenges and Achievements 

24:46 Future Vision and Legacy

Ferguson accidentally proved that rural areas don't need saving, they need someone who refuses to accept that they deserve less. When a place has been "forgotten by successive governments," the choice is simple: wait for systems to save you, or build the system you need.

Host: Alison Dunn

Guest: Eileen Ferguson

This podcast is produced by Purpose Made.

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