Armagh I Podcast

armaghi
Armagh I Podcast

A podcast dedicated to telling stories of people from in and around County Armagh.

  1. Martin Carvill’s mindful philosophy helps cancer recovery and return to the top of his game

    18/06/2022

    Martin Carvill’s mindful philosophy helps cancer recovery and return to the top of his game

    In 2019 Martin Carvill was on a life support machine battling for survival against oesophageal cancer. Three years later, almost to the day, since Martin underwent surgery, he won the singles championship title in the Banbridge and District Darts League. During the previous decade the world-class dart thrower was at the top of his game - a regular on the World Darts circuit and competing well in events like the Dutch, Belgium and Czech Opens, along with winning countless tournaments and trophies around Ireland as well as in Newry, with whichever team was lucky enough to have him. One of the only people who believed he would ever play darts again – especially at the level he had done – was Martin himself. Martin has been practising Mindfulness for 20-odd years and in the last 10 of those he developed a keen interest in Buddhism. It’s an on-going long and painful road back from the cancer that ravaged his body, but there’s no better man to overcome that obstacle than Martin, as the two words that fuel his life are ‘belief’ and ‘fear’ – the former a force that he says has helped him succeed in the darts world and in his recovery, and the latter the thing that he feels holds people back from reaching their goals. For this week’s podcast, Martin talks about his journey, since his cancer diagnosis and after the miraculous surgeries that couldn’t have been done a few years earlier. He battled through the doubts both from within and from fellow darts players when he decided to give up drink in 2016… But the biggest battle was still to come. Martin explains how Mindfulness and Buddhism has helped him through the  challenges he has overcome. He tells us all about his darts career and how he and other top dart players really need sponsors to come on board for the little it costs them in relative terms.

    52 min
  2. Therese Hughes MBE – a compassionate hairdresser who knows her wigs

    21/05/2022

    Therese Hughes MBE – a compassionate hairdresser who knows her wigs

    In 2008 Therese Hughes stayed in the Ritz, had afternoon tea at the House of Commons and was invited to to Buckingham Palace where HRH  Prince Charles awarded her an MBE as a recipient in the Queen’s Honours list for her work with the Health Services in Northern Ireland. That work included a compassionate practical solution to people suffering from hair loss - often due to the side effects of chemotherapy. Sometimes it’s the little things that help when a person is seriousl ill, and sometimes, in cases like the non-life-threatening condition alopecia, the service provided by Tresses Wig and Hairpiece Boutique can also be life-changing. Therese comes from a large family of 14 children and began her hairdressing career as a young teenager when she learned her trade in Scissors hairdressers in Newry. She opened her very own salon at the tender age of nineteen and 17 years later, when a client was in need of a wig, Therese went on a mission to find one in London. With the help of an Orthodox Jew she did, and with that the seed was sown to fulfil a want deep in her soul. In 1998 Therese opened Tresses, the first wig and hairpiece boutique in the country, and the business went from strength to strength. She opened another boutique in Belfast and Therese established a relationship with the NHS, cementing that collaboration when she and a psychologist Professor Davidson in Belvoir Park Hospital set up the first dedicated  room that provided wigs and counselling services to patients suffering from hair loss, which was rolled out to hospitals all around the UK and Ireland. For this week’s podcast Therese tells Armagh I how she got where she is today and why she feels compelled to do what she does. She tells us all about that memorable weekend when she was handed her MBE by HRH Prince Charles. A story that includes a fake Chanel handbag, a secret handshake and a very famous celebrity she met on the day…

    51 min

Ratings & Reviews

4.3
out of 5
6 Ratings

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A podcast dedicated to telling stories of people from in and around County Armagh.

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