The Just Checking In Podcast The Just Checking In Podcast by VENT

In episode 241 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Russell Payne.

Russ is a qualified painter and decorator and the Founder of 'The Talking Tradesman' (TTT) podcast. TTT aims to entertain, connect and raise mental health awareness for tradespeople throughout the UK.

Russ set up the podcast in November 2023 where he interviews tradesman from across the sector about their mental health journeys, as well as non-tradesman from all walks of life who can provide valuable insight for his audience.

Russ started the podcast after studying for a BSC degree in Psychology and volunteering on the phonelines for The Samaritans charity.

His conception of his own mental health began after his divorce from his first wife, which culminated in his children being moved to the other end of the country and a family court case which dragged on for several years.

From that moment, he began investing in himself and that was, in his words, his own form of ‘self-therapy’.

In this episode we discuss: the genesis of The Talking Tradesman, the stigmas in the trades sector and how we as a society need to be better at listening to these men's needs, social class and how that plays into the way tradesmen's mental health is perceived and supported in society.

For Russ’s mental health, we discuss that divorce he went through and his experience of the family court system, which triggered him to have anxiety and panic attacks.

We also discuss his parents' own divorce when he was 8 years old. As a result of the divorce, Russ's father experienced mental health difficulties and it forced Russ to raise himself in many areas of his life.

We then discuss the positive impact his mother’s grandparents had on him, whom he viewed as surrogate parents for him and the impact the death of his grandfather had on him when he was 24/25 years old.

We finish by discussing his own experience of fatherhood, self-development and his goal of one day becoming a therapist in the future.

As always, #itsokaytovent

Listen to The Talking Tradesman on streaming platforms below:

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-talking-tradesman/id1723229824
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7kgT8QKfW4xzBG8U6XC57m?si=CIhHMUewTU2EFxg0Tkayaw&nd=1&dlsi=7da0237d8a5b4459
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheTalkingTradesman

You can follow The Talking Tradesman on social media below:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_talking_tradesman/

Support Us:

Patreon: www.patreon.com/venthelpuk
GoFundMe: www.gofundme.com/f/help-vent-supp…ir-mental-health
Merchandise: www.redbubble.com/people/VentUK/shop

Music: @patawawa - Strange: www.youtube.com/watch?v=d70wfeJSEvk

In episode 240 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Amelia Wrighton.

Amelia is the co-founder of mental health charity, Suicide & Co, a charity which supports those bereaved by suicide.

Amelia started Suicide & Co with her friend Emma Morrisoe, who she met whilst working in her media and marketing career and she discovered they had both lost parents to suicide.

Amelia lost her mother when she was just 19 years old and it hugely impacted her mental health and even caused her to have grief and stress-induced alopecia.

Amelia’s mother had lived and struggled with Bipolar Disorder (BD) for the time Amelia was alive.

In this episode we discuss: the journey of Suicide & Co and how she saw a gap in the mental health conversation five years ago around suicide loss, the counselling service and other services the charity provide to people.

We also discuss the importance of language around suicide in the mainstream conversation, as well as how we support others who have been affected by it.

For Amelia’s mental health, we discuss the grief of losing her mum and what it was like to live with someone with Bipolar and the differences between how it affects men and women.

We finish by discussing burnout, medication and how she manages her self-care when her full-time job is dealing with suicide and intense mental health conversations on a daily basis.

As always, #itsokaytovent

You can find out more about Suicide & Co here: https://www.suicideandco.org/

Follow Suicide & Co on social media below:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suicideandco/

Support Us:

Patreon: www.patreon.com/venthelpuk
GoFundMe: www.gofundme.com/f/help-vent-supp…ir-mental-health
Merchandise: www.redbubble.com/people/VentUK/shop

Music: @patawawa - Strange: www.youtube.com/watch?v=d70wfeJSEvk

In episode 239 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Gary Hayes.

Gary is the Co-Founder and CEO of PTSD999, which is a charity that was set up in 2015 to support those in the emergency services, and their families, living with Post Traumatic Stress.

Gary lives with Complex PTSD himself and was undiagnosed for many years when he worked in the British Transport Police (BTP) as a Police Officer.

Gary’s journey began when he joined the Army in the mid-1980s and spent many years in non-active service. He then met his wife, who was joining the police force and he was growing tired of military life.

He was encouraged to join himself and he did in 2003, passing through the recruitment process and joining the BTP.

He started by policing football matches in London, largely for West Ham United before then joining a specialist counter-terrorist policing team.

The year is 2005 and sadly, Gary’s policing work coincided with 7/7, which is the biggest and most deadly terrorist attack that has hit London in recent memory.

52 people were killed in bombings on London tubes and buses, with a second failed attack coming on 21/7.

Gary was seconded to the temporary mortuary that had been set up at Charing Cross to identify the victims and spent two harrowing months going through hundreds of body parts, identifying people and notifying their families.

This work had a huge impact on Gary’s mental health and he began to go off the rails, drinking heavily to cope with the horrors of what he saw.

Fast forward to the 2012 Olympics and at this point, Gary felt ‘broken’.

He got into an altercation with a member of the public whilst off-duty and he was suspended from work and given the ultimatum of either resigning or going to a tribunal and risk losing his pension.

Sadly, after 11 years of policing, he made the decision to resign and his mental health spiralled further.

He made a plan to take his own life and came extremely close to doing it. Thankfully, something stopped him from doing it. He told his wife and that moment of rock bottom was the start of his journey to recovery to where he is now and the work he does with PTSD999.

In this episode we discuss his career in the military, police to the work he does with PTSD999 now, PTSD and the mental health state of men like him in the emergency services.

For Gary’s mental health, he was sexually abused by two men in his childhood, firstly a babysitter when he was just six years old and the second was a football coach when he was eight years old.

This abuse had a monumental impact on Gary and were suppressed memories for many years. We discuss this, the suicide attempt he made after resigning from the British Transport Police, the dark and ugly side of mental illness and the recovery journey to where he is now.

As always, #itsokaytovent

You can find out more about PTSD999 here: https://www.ptsd-999.com/

You can follow PTSD999 on social media below:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ptsd999official/

Support Us:

Patreon: www.patreon.com/venthelpuk
GoFundMe: www.gofundme.com/f/help-vent-supp…ir-mental-health
Merchandise: www.redbubble.com/people/VentUK/shop

Music: @patawawa - Strange: www.youtube.com/watch?v=d70wfeJSEvk

TRIGGER WARNING: this podcast contains a deep discussion about suicide, sexual abuse and the terrorist attack of 7/7, which some listeners may find distressing or upsetting, so please listen with caution.

In episode 238 of The Just Checking In Podcast, we checked back in with previous guests Claudia Van-Nimwegen and Tobiah Frei for a special episode.

Claudia is a a teacher, photographer and creative. Tobiah Frei is an artist and sound engineer. They both met each other through the London church, Liberty London.

In this episode we discuss their friendship, faith, creative commonalities and how our Founder Freddie and Tobi supported Claudia through a very serious mental health crisis she had in December 2022.

Claudia was hospitalised from a Stroke and was struggling with her finances at the time due to the low paying role she was in at the time and not being able to work.

Tobi set up a crowdfunder through the church to give Claudia the support she needed to get back on her feet and begin her recovery properly when she was discharged from hospital.

In this episode we have an honest and open conversation about how a crisis like Claudia's doesn't just affect the person but everyone around them, how you can support someone in your life who might be going through their own crisis and encourage that person to take ownership of their mental health, at the right time.

We also discuss the uncomfortable conversations around detachment if a person's mental health crisis becomes too difficult for you to sustain.

Claudia and Tobi are two of our favourite guests and have been on the podcast a combined seven times!

We're very proud of how far they have both come and are a shining example of the power of the community that we have tried to build here at Vent.

As always, #itsokaytovent

You can listen to all of Claudia's previous episodes here: https://soundcloud.com/venthelpuk/sets/claudia

You can listen to all of Tobi's previous episodes below:

Behind The Mic - Tobiah Frei: https://soundcloud.com/venthelpuk/behind-the-mic-tobiah-frei
Behind The Mic - Tobiah Frei - Part 2: https://soundcloud.com/venthelpuk/behind-the-mic-tobiah-frei-part-2

You can find out more about Claudia's photography through 'The LDN Perspective' on social media below:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.ldn.perspective/

Listen to Tobiah Frei on streaming platforms below:

Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/1hqQ69Hma…e019cc4d139c4ac8
Apple Music: music.apple.com/gb/artist/tobiah-frei/1099190702
YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCfJd3FlQOgWfoyKvR_WVPtw

You can follow Tobiah Frei on social media below:

Instagram: www.instagram.com/tobiahfreimusic/?hl=en

Support Us:

Patreon: www.patreon.com/venthelpuk
GoFundMe: www.gofundme.com/f/help-vent-supp…ir-mental-health
Merchandise: www.redbubble.com/people/VentUK/shop

Music: @patawawa - Strange: www.youtube.com/watch?v=d70wfeJSEvk

In episode 237 of The Just Checking In Podcast, we checked in with Jordan Nimmo.

Jordan is the Founder of men's mental health platform, 'Men Behind The Masc' (MBTM), which he started in 2018.

MBTM aims to promote positive mental health in men and change the conversation around men’s mental health more generally.

Jordan became a father aged 19 years old with his childhood sweetheart Ashley and went onto have three children together.

Two years ago, Jordan lost his grandfather, who was a father figure to Jordan as his own father was absent during his childhood.

Losing his grandfather and Jordan’s father’s refusal to have a relationship with him was, in Jordan’s words ‘like losing two dads’ and it had a big impact on his mental health.

Tragically, the grief was not to end here as in April 2023, Jordan’s wife Ashleigh was taken to hospital suddenly and without warning.
Within a day, Ashleigh was in a coma and then died, rocking Jordan’s world in the blink of an eye.

Ashleigh’s official cause of death is encephalitis, which is colloquially known as 'meningitis of the brain'.

Since that moment, Jordan has been forced into a grief he could never prepare for, become a single dad to his three boys and give them the stability and love they need to stop the death of their mother derailing their entire life.

In this episode we discuss the story of Men Behind The Masc, the impact of growing up without his father and how it created a desire in him to start a family and be a good and present father for his own children.

We also discuss the important roles that his grandfather and his step-father have played in his life.

We then dive deep into the grief of his grandfather’s death and for his wife Ashleigh respectively.

We discuss the health anxiety he now has in himself and his children after Ashleigh’s death, the decision he made to move house to the countryside to give him and his kids a fresh start and how he manages his children’s grief on a daily basis.

We also explore the conversation around paternal grief and the taboos that exist for single dads like Jordan.

We finish by talking about the strength his children give him, resilience vs antifragility, the concept of ‘The Wounded Healer’, why men evolutionarily take on a support role for others during times of grief and trauma and how he keeps moving forward day-by-day.

As always, #itsokaytovent

You can follow Men Behind The Masc on social media below:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/menbehindthemasc/

You can read the 2018 Vent article we discussed in full here: https://vent.org.uk/men-behind-masc-breaking-boundaries-smashing-stigmas-unlocking-potential

Support Us:

Patreon: www.patreon.com/venthelpuk
GoFundMe: www.gofundme.com/f/help-vent-supp…ir-mental-health
Merchandise: www.redbubble.com/people/VentUK/shop

Music: @patawawa - Strange: www.youtube.com/watch?v=d70wfeJSEvk

In episode 236 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Oliver Tennant.

Ollie is an actor and the Founder of Run4Hope, a campaign he has created where he is running 12 marathons in 12 months to raise money for men's mental health charity, James’ Place UK.

In this episode we discuss how and why he started Run4Hope and his fitness journey into getting ready for the marathons.

We then explore how his skills as an actor have helped him promote the campaign and why he allowed other runners to join him on the marathons if they want to.

For Ollie’s mental health, we discuss bullying he experienced whilst at boarding school from his peers, suicidality, how acting gave him a tool to develop his self-confidence and self-esteem and the fresh start which acting school provided for him.

We also discuss how he came to terms with his bisexuality, accepting it and embracing it as he entered adulthood.

We finish by discussing perfectionism which the bullying gave Ollie as a scar, how he manages it and harnesses it as well.

As always, #itsokaytovent

Find out how you can donate to Run4Hope or take part in one of their marathons here: https://linkin.bio/runforhope2024/

You can follow Run4Hope on social media below:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_run4hope/

You can listen to our previous episode with Andy Noon from James' Place UK here: https://soundcloud.com/venthelpuk/jcip-224-andy-noon

Support Us:

Patreon: www.patreon.com/venthelpuk
GoFundMe: www.gofundme.com/f/help-vent-supp…ir-mental-health
Merchandise: www.redbubble.com/people/VentUK/shop

Music: @patawawa - Strange: www.youtube.com/watch?v=d70wfeJSEvk