In this episode of the Bristol Distinguished Address Series, we explore the powerful role music can play in creating belonging, dignity and human connection. What is it about making music together that can instantly bring people closer? And how can this be used to support people who have been displaced from their homes?

We’re joined by Dr Jonathan James, Artistic Director of Dovetail Orchestra, a charity working across Bristol, Cardiff and London with musicians from displaced communities around the world. Through conversation and live demonstrations with members of the orchestra, this session offers unique practical insights into how collective music-making can foster connection, creativity and community.

This event is delivered in collaboration with the Centre for Music (CFM) at UWE Bristol, an organisation championing accessible and diverse musical practice, as part of their Festival of Sound programme.

Listen more from the Bristol Distinguished Address Series: soundcloud.com/uwebristol/sets/bristol-distinguished-address

Watch the Bristol Distinguished Address Series: www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLr…2D-Bo_EtA47W6vG-T

Learn more about the Bristol Distinguished Address Series: www.uwe.ac.uk/events/bristol-dis…hed-address-series

In this episode of Let’s Talk Health and Care, Marc Griffiths and Peter Briddle explore the hidden complexities of the blood supply chain and the radical innovations that could transform it.

Our guests in this episode, Professor Wendy Phillips, Dean for Research and Enterprise, and Dr Helen Sanderson, Senior Research Fellow, both from the College of Business and Law at UWE Bristol, share insights drawn from a decade of pioneering research into redistributed manufacturing and next‑generation blood products.

Together, they discuss:

- Why the blood supply chain is far more vulnerable and complex than most people realise

- Their work to address battlefield blood supply challenges

- Emerging innovations including walk‑in blood banks, freeze‑dried plasma, and lab‑grown red blood cells

- Ethical and cultural questions around artificial versus donated blood

- How military‑driven innovation could strengthen resilience across the NHS and civilian healthcare

- What the next 5–10 years could look like as technology reshapes how and where we manufacture blood

This episode offers a fascinating look at the future of life‑saving care, from regulation to innovation pipelines to the possibility of “better‑than‑natural” blood.

The Redistributed Manufacturing in Healthcare Network: ⁠www.RiHN.org.uk

What to succeed in business without selling out? Join three inspiring UWE alumni for a panel discussion on how to carve out a successful career that aligns with your personal values.

In this episode of the Bristol Distinguished Address Series, we explore how ideas of what was considered “natural” had been shaped, challenged, reclaimed, and mobilised for social change. It examined how concepts of “natural” had been constructed, contested, and transformed into fuel for activism. Through science, storytelling, activism, and lived experience, the panel discussed Pride as a living movement of resistance, visibility, and community.

Held during LGBTQ+ History Month, the panel was hosted by Louise Ndibwirende and featured Daryn Carter and Antonia Forster, inviting audiences to rethink what “natural” really meant — and how that understanding could be mobilised to build a more liberated future.

LGBT+ History Month

LGBT+ History Month (UK) was celebrated every February to honour the lives, culture, and achievements of LGBT+ people. Launched by Schools OUT UK in 2004, it promoted visibility, education, and inclusion across schools, workplaces, and communities. The 2026 theme was Science & Innovation.

Listen more from the Bristol Distinguished Address Series: https://soundcloud.com/uwebristol/sets/bristol-distinguished-address

Watch the Bristol Distinguished Address Series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrOzUDjo8U6JTeJ02D-Bo_EtA47W6vG-T

Learn more about the Bristol Distinguished Address Series: https://www.uwe.ac.uk/events/bristol-distinguished-address-series

Join Karen Wallace, CEO of Right Way Credit Union, as she shares her journey from volunteer to leader and explores how design thinking is transforming financial services. In this episode, Karen discusses embracing technology on a shoestring budget, tackling challenges like automation and AI, and keeping human-centred values at the heart of innovation. Discover how a simple design thinking approach helped her team streamline processes, free up time for member care, and build confidence to tackle future challenges.

In this powerful episode of Let’s Talk Health and Care, Marc Griffiths and Peter Brindle take listeners inside Empire Fighting Chance, a Bristol-based organisation transforming the lives of young people who have been, in their own words, “knocked down by life.” Through boxing-inspired therapy, culturally competent support, and deep community connection, Empire Fighting Chance is reshaping how we think about mental health, violence prevention and youth engagement.

Marc and Peter speak with Co-Founder Martin Bisp, who shares the origins of their unique model, the evidence behind their impact, and what traditional services can learn from meeting young people where they truly are. Together, they explore the challenges of working with young people affected by trauma, the urgent need for systemic change—including calls for an Office of Violence Prevention—and the importance of empowering local communities rather than replicating top-down interventions.

Listeners will also hear from a box therapist, who brings to life what therapy looks like in the gym environment, and a young person turned staff member, who shares their journey through adversity and how this approach helped them rewrite their story.

Marc and Peter close this episode with reflections on what health and care professionals can take from the Empire model: the value of culturally relevant support, the power of safe non-clinical spaces, and the need to be braver in commissioning innovative approaches for those who need them most.

A compelling episode that challenges assumptions, highlights community-led innovation, and offers a hopeful look at what’s possible when we design services with young people, not for them.

Links:

Empire Fighting Chance - https://empirefightingchance.org/

Uncovered: Identity-Based Mass Violence in Urban Contexts | IBMV - https://ibmv.org/

Episode 3 welcomes Steven Wright from GR Finance with the conversation focusing on using customer insight to inform inclusive language.

Episode 2 welcomes Jo Price from Darlington Credit Union with the conversation focusing on clear communication and empathy in customer messaging.

Episode 1 welcomes David Henderson from Penny with the conversation focusing on internal culture and inclusive strategy.

In this special reflective episode, hosts Dr Peter Brindle and Professor Marc Griffiths look back over a remarkable year of Let’s Talk Health and Care, exploring the themes, insights, and powerful human stories uncovered across 10 episodes and 15 inspiring guests.

From 3D-printed food and smart socks to social enterprise, restorative justice, and community-led health innovation, this episode weaves together the key patterns that have emerged across conversations, technology with purpose, research with impact, and people at the heart of everything.

Peter and Marc revisit:

- The transformative potential of low-cost, high-impact tech, including web-based stroke rehab, 3D-printed prosthetics, and digital continence tools.

- The vital role of community-driven care, with reflections on Caafi Health, the For All Healthy Living Centre, and the shift towards neighbourhood-based health models.

- Tough but necessary conversations, including confronting racism in healthcare and exploring the sensitive realities of child sexual abuse through restorative justice.

- Entrepreneurship with social purpose, spotlighting innovators driven by personal experience and their determination to create fairer, more accessible solutions.

- What it means to build a truly modern, civic-facing university, connecting research, education, tech and community partners in ways that shape healthier futures.