Hello You with Jim Hawkins

Jim Hawkins
Hello You with Jim Hawkins

I’m trying to give you something a little different. Hello You is about stuff, and things. People, and stories. Shrewsbury, and Shropshire. Mental health and well-being. History and heritage. Arts, culture and music. Faith, belief and the complexities of life. I’m a good listener. It’s what I do. And for Hello You, I’m listening to (and talking with) fascinating people, mostly but not always from Shropshire, so that you can hear what they have to say. It's public-service local journalism that cares about people. Audio that brings you the voices of people you might not hear from otherwise. Interviews conducted with compassion and empathy. Thoughtful, positive, good-humoured conversations, informed local storytelling, and commentary that’s not afraid to get righteously angry on occasion. jimallthetime.substack.com

  1. 2 DAYS AGO

    Hello You 88: Speed Dating, Slow Dancing

    ‘When you’re in person, the way someone laughs, the way they move, that can be really attractive’ Pixie Greatorex wants Shropshire to find love. That’s why she set up Speed Dating Shropshire. Single people are ‘quite a forgotten community’, says Pixie, and older single people in particular. So what’s she doing about it? Find out in this episode of Hello You the Shropshire podcast, in which Pixie introduces me to the notion of ‘kitten-fishing’! Check out Speed Dating Shropshire’s events on the website or on Facebook. ‘Dance is good for you!’ Not all children get the chance to dance, however much they want to. So how great is it that, later in life, those would-be dancers get the opportunity to learn, practice and perform for the public? That’s what Philippa Price’s Maeflower Dance group is all about. Their current show is called Moonbeam Magic (apologies for getting the title wrong when recording this episode!) and you can see it - for free! - over the next couple of weekends. The return of the bench! Now the sun’s out again, I’m taking my recorder and my helpful signs from Battlefield Printing to sit on some benches and record some random conversations, which you’ll hear on future episodes of Hello You the Shropshire podcast. Telford Samaritans in Wellington had a bench very kindly donated to them, and it’s been placed at their premises at 100 King Street. I’ll be on that bench on Monday (March 3rd) at 4pm. The following day (Tuesday, March 4th) I’ll be sitting on a bench in The Square in Shrewsbury about 12noon. I’ll record chats with whoever shares the benches with me. If you want to come along, it would be great to see you and hear what you have to say. I’ve already scheduled future bench sessions in Ludlow and elsewhere in Shrewsbury, but I’ll tell you more about them nearer the time. News with fewer nightmares? If you want to stay informed about the big stories in the news, but not get overwhelmed, try this? As mentioned in this episode: the Guardian’s First Edition newsletter comes out every morning. I find it’s all I need to know about what’s happening, without crashing my mental health. Try it and see how you get on with it? Care and share? If you enjoy what I do, why not become a member of the Hello You family by subscribing here on Substack? And if you enjoy these podcasts, you probably know someone else who’d enjoy them too. It could be a friend or a colleague, a family member or someone you know online. Share Hello You with them? Think of it as an act of kindness! Thank you for being there Have the best weekend you possibly can. Enjoy the sunshine, and take care of yourself? Hello You - the Shropshire podcast from Jim Hawkins is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Hello You - the Shropshire podcast from Jim Hawkins at jimallthetime.substack.com/subscribe

    49 min

  2. FEB 21

    Hello You 87: Exercise and mental health at Oswestry's Soma Space

    If, like me, you’ve ever sought help with your mental health, you’ve probably been told that exercise and physical activity can boost your mood and aid your recovery. The problem is, when your mental health’s not great, often the last thing you feel like doing is any exercise or physical activity. Jo Hazell-Watkins and Kevin Braddock learned how helpful fitness and strength training can be when people’s mental health isn’t great, from their own personal experiences. They also realised that people who could really benefit from being more active were often finding it hard to access the support they need in a way that suited them. That led them to set up The Soma Space, in Oswestry’s Memorial Hall. In the short time they’ve been operating, they’ve attracted national press attention as well as building a community of people around their approach. In this episode of Hello You the Shropshire podcast, you can hear Jo and Kevin’s stories, and find out what the Soma Space has to offer. What did we do before? A question raised a couple of weeks back by Hello You family member Georgy: How did we spread the word about local events, needs or campaigns around our neighbours, before Facebook and Nextdoor? I’ve been trying to remember, and I really can’t! And would those methods still work now? Remind me? And tell me what you think? Hello You Too I asked last week how you’d feel about having two episodes of Hello You the Shropshire podcast a week, rather than just the one. Everyone who got in touch about this said they’d really like a second weekly episode. So, I’m going to move towards that over the next few weeks. I’ll have an episode for you every Wednesday, as well as every Friday. And, of course, there’ll still be the Hello You Sunday Supplement on Sunday mornings, too. I need to find out if it’s sustainable, if I have the time and mental energy to maintain the two-episodes schedule, but I really hope that it’ll take off. Two things you can do to help: Share Hello You with your friends, and encourage them to listen? And if you value what I do, could you consider taking out a paid subscription? Thank you for being there Take care of yourself. Take care of the people around you. And tell those people from me, they’d better be taking care of you, too! Hello You - the Shropshire podcast from Jim Hawkins is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Hello You - the Shropshire podcast from Jim Hawkins at jimallthetime.substack.com/subscribe

    41 min

  3. FEB 14

    Hello You 86: You've Just Got To Follow the Thing You Love

    From teacher to actor, from Shropshire to Ireland and India Shropshire native Joanna Purslow spent twenty years as a primary school teacher in Shrewsbury. Then she decided to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a professional actor. Hear her story in this episode of Hello You. ‘A lot of people in our society don’t feel like they’re respected or valued’ Joanna’s taken a one-woman show to Edinburgh and to a remote area of India, where the action of the play takes place. She works with Hotbuckle Productions, touring stage adaptations of classic novels. Saving the planet, one baby step at a time As well as her theatre work, Joanna runs a Shrewsbury-based charity Baby Stop. It aims to support families and reduce waste by collecting and sharing baby products. Baby Stop’s next baby share is this weekend: Hello You - the Shropshire podcast from Jim Hawkins is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. ‘I’m incredibly proud of Shropshire’ So am I, for so many reasons. One is that there are so many amazing people here. I’ve got an ever-growing list of them, all of whom I hope to introduce to you on Hello You over the coming weeks. Also, lots of people - particularly on Facebook - have suggested places I can go to sit on benches and record random conversations for future episodes of Hello You. My ideas notebook is absolutely bulging. Trouble is, if I bring you one episode of Hello You the Shropshire podcast every week, I’ve already got enough ideas and prospects to keep me going until the summer. So I’d like to know what you think of this idea: Two episodes of Hello You the Shropshire podcast every week How would you feel about that? You’d also get the weekly Sunday Supplement newsletter, and (because someone said they felt short-changed when a Hello You episode turned out to be just a soundscape!) additional soundscape episodes from time to time. If you’re already as excited by the idea of more Hello You as I am, why not subscribe right now? And tell your friends about it, too? There are people who really love the soundscapes, I could make them available to paid subscribers only. Would you be interested in that idea? Think of it as an investment in your emotional wellbeing … Tell me what you think? Leave a comment, or message me direct? Thank you for being there Have the best weekend you possibly can. Take care of yourself, and the people around you. And those people had better be taking care of you, too! Thanks for reading Hello You - the Shropshire podcast from Jim Hawkins! This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Hello You - the Shropshire podcast from Jim Hawkins at jimallthetime.substack.com/subscribe

    42 min

  4. FEB 7

    Hello You 85: Paths, Power Cuts, Pantomimes

    Shropshire is a welcoming place … and it’s also home to hundreds of Places of Welcome. Places of Welcome is a national network of more than six hundred local spaces. Each offers an unconditional welcome to local people to meet for few hours each week. They’re places where everyone can go for a friendly face, a cup of tea and a conversation if and when they need it. Places where all people can feel safe to connect, belong and get involved. The network is growing too. There are now more two hundred Places of Welcome in Shropshire. I visited a Place of Welcome last year in Hello You 28: Margaret’s Monocle and other stories from Harlescott and Sundorne, Shrewsbury. Ever since, I’ve wanted to drop in on other places in the network, and when I heard the story about why Buildwas’ Place of Welcome had been forced to relocate, I decided to take myself off there. Hear some of what happened in this episode of Hello You the Shropshire podcast! Among the things we talk about: * a sandy beach called Sandy Beach * waymarking the historic old paths * places to meet in villages * meet the Madame Cholet of Buildwas * how does a village make three thousand new people feel welcome? If you’d like to find your nearest Place of Welcome, go to this website and scroll down until you find the map. Search for your town or village, or just zoom in! Meantime, here’s a list of some of the Places in Shropshire: I hope you enjoy this episode of Hello You. Why not share it with your friends, family and colleagues? Soon, I’ll return to sitting on benches in Shropshire, recording random conversations with whomsoever sits alongside me, and sharing those conversations with you here on Hello You, the Shropshire podcast. But where should I go? If you can think of a bench in a public location in Shropshire where people might stop and have a chat with me, let me know where that bench is? It might be a bench on a street, in a park, at an event or a special attraction. It might not even be a bench, just a spot or a monument or somewhere people gather. Tell me about it, and I’ll go along to record whoever’s there. All suggestions welcome! Thank you for being there I’m so glad you’re a member of the Hello You family. Why not subscribe to Hello You the Shropshire podcast, to make sure you never miss anything from Hello You World Headquarters? And if you enjoy Hello You, I’m damn sure you know at least one other person who’d enjoy it, too. Be a good friend, and share it with them? Have the best weekend you possibly can And watch out for the Hello You Sunday Supplement! Hello You - the Shropshire podcast from Jim Hawkins is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Hello You - the Shropshire podcast from Jim Hawkins at jimallthetime.substack.com/subscribe

    42 min

  5. JAN 31

    Hello You 84: Life is a Learning Curve

    ‘Anything that’s big and frightening, I’ll be there’ Jacqueline Porteous left school as soon as she could, with no qualifications … but with an unshakable belief in herself, and in the power of believing that what you want and need can be yours. That’s taken her around the country, and back to her native Shropshire. It’s taken her from cleaning and factory work to the construction industry, driving huge vehicles, and onto Dragons’ Den. And in her mid-sixties, she’s not finished yet! Take a listen to this episode of Hello You the Shropshire podcast. I hope you enjoy Jacqueline’s story … and if you’re looking to book a motivational speaker, maybe you can help her into the next chapter of her life? ‘It’s all about loving yourself first. You have to love yourself, and then go out and love other people too, by helping them’ You can find Jacqueline Porteous on Facebook. I’d love it if her first motivational-speaker gig came from a fellow member of the Hello You family. If you’ve enjoyed this episode of Hello You the Shropshire podcast, please share it with someone else who might enjoy it too? And I’d love to know what you think about what you’ve heard, and any ideas you might have for future topics to talk about, other interesting people (perhaps you?) who could make good guests for Hello You, perhaps places or events I could go to, to listen to what you or others have to say? It’ll soon be warm enough for me to return to sitting on benches recording random conversations. Where should I go first? Please, leave a comment or send me a message? You’ve found your tribe. Become a family member? There’s plenty of space around the Hello You table, and I’d love it if you pulled up a chair and joined us. Hit this button, and your place will be set. Thank you for being there. It means a lot Take care of yourself, and take care of the people around you. In times like these, it’s what we need to do. How else are we going to get through everything? Hello You - the Shropshire podcast from Jim Hawkins is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Hello You - the Shropshire podcast from Jim Hawkins at jimallthetime.substack.com/subscribe

    38 min

  6. JAN 24

    Hello You 83: 'Are you a secretary?'

    More of my conversation with Shropshire-based executive coach Sarah Clein. The first part can be found in Hello You 81: Getting Off the SAD List, and if you - like me - find the darker time of the year difficult to deal with, I hope you’ll check it out. Sarah helps, as she puts it, ‘knackered mid-life women in public service’ to have a better life, either in their current job or elsewhere. As you’ll hear, she brings a lot of related life experience to her work. She and I found quite a lot of common ground, too. Topics covered include: * navigating a toxic work environment * what it means to be a public servant * Sarah’s ‘Good Wife’ era * neurodivergence, especially in the workplace * growing up in an orthodox Jewish household * mid-life women as role models * how to reply when someone asks if you’re a secretary! Find out more about Sarah Clein and her work via her LinkedIn page, where she posts daily nuggets of advice on getting through. Let’s stay connected I’d love it if you subscribed to Hello You, if you haven’t already. Just click this button … and you’ll get the podcast in your inbox every Friday, plus the Hello You Sunday Supplement on Sunday mornings too. If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please share it with your friends, family or maybe a colleague or two? And I’d love to know what you think of what you’ve heard. Leave a comment … or if you have more thoughts, and perhaps suggestions for other people I can hear from on Hello You, or topics you think we could talk about, send me a message? Take care of yourself Have the best possible weekend, and I’ll be in touch soon. Hello You - Jim Hawkins’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Hello You - the Shropshire podcast from Jim Hawkins at jimallthetime.substack.com/subscribe

    34 min

  7. JAN 17

    Hello You 82: Shropshire's Music Heroes

    Anyone who brings other people into an understanding and enjoyment of music is, to my mind, a hero. And anyone who does that whilst teaching them to play an instrument is a superhero. So Gayle chose the right name for her organisation: Shropshire’s Music Heroes. In this episode of my Shropshire podcast Hello You, recorded in their Shrewsbury base, Gayle tells me how Music Heroes came to be, and the surprising career change that led to it. Find out more about Music Heroes at their website and on Facebook and YouTube, where you can see the Music Heroes Band covering Son Of A Preacher Man in concert, and this adorable video from their students’ Christmas piano recital in Shrewsbury’s St Mary’s Church! And if the phrase ‘school music assemblies’ conjures up an out-of-tune upright piano played with more enthusiasm than finesse while primary-age conscripts make an attempt on the life of Purcell’s ‘Nymphs and Shepherds’, check out this video. Special mention to the school with the light-blue uniform where the kids are absolutely losing it in the most joyful way! Spread the word? If you’ve enjoyed this episode of Hello You, you probably know someone else who’d also enjoy it. It might be a friend or family member. It could be someone who could do with hearing about Music Heroes, maybe even a local school. Perhaps one of your colleagues would be interested in Hello You. In which case, please hit these buttons above and below this line? And while you’re about it, could you hit Like at the top or bottom of this email, too? As always, I’d love to know what you’re thinking and feeling about this episode. The Hello You Sunday Supplement I’m not sure quite why, but readership of the Hello You Sunday Supplement has had something of a boost recently. More of the people who read it are clicking on more of the links, too. Obviously, I’m chuffed about this. If you’ve not yet seen the Sunday Supplement - a weekly pull-together of links to articles that I think you’ll enjoy reading, along with a bunch of recommendations for other good stuff too - then make sure you subscribe by clicking the button just below, and it’ll land it your inbox on Sunday morning. Simple as that. And you’ll get a heads-up about every new episode of the Hello You podcast, too. All for free! Hello You - Jim Hawkins’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. That having been said, I have now introduced paid subscriptions, but don’t worry, the Hello You podcast and the Sunday Supplement will remain free. If you want to access a few extra rewards, or support me so I can keep doing this, it would be wonderful if you joined the ranks of paid subscribers. If that’s beyond your reach, and in times like these I can totally understand that, you could always buy me a coffee instead? Thanks for being there Have a groovy weekend, and if you’re subscribed I’ll send you something fun on Sunday morning! Thanks for reading Hello You - Jim Hawkins’s Substack! This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Hello You - the Shropshire podcast from Jim Hawkins at jimallthetime.substack.com/subscribe

    41 min

  8. JAN 10

    Hello You 81: Getting off the SAD list

    Do you find it difficult, plodding on through the dark and cold of winter? Your mood plummets, and you struggle to cope with life? You sleep more, you eat more, and you do less, particularly of the things you usually enjoy? You’re not alone. This is Seasonal Affective Disorder, and it clobbers a lot of us, pretty much from Halloween through until the start of spring. ‘Where’s the joy? Find the glimmers’ Shropshire-based executive coach Sarah Clein posted a list of the ways she copes with her SAD, on LinkedIn a couple of months ago. When we met for a chat in an Oswestry café just before Christmas, we talked through it. So if you struggle at this time of year, take a listen to Sarah explaining how each item on the list helps her, and you might find some of them help you, too. Some examples: * fitting work around life, not vice versa * not saving things just for best * sometimes ‘done’ is better than ‘perfect’ * the careful consumption of content ‘We don’t have to be consumed by the constant battle for self-improvement’ I really enjoyed listening to Sarah, and was uplifted and excited by so much of what she had to say. This is only the first half of the conversation that we recorded. We went on to talk about: * who she works with, and how she came to do what she does * navigating a toxic work environment * Sarah’s upbringing in an Orthodox Jewish household * what it means to be a public servant * neurodivergence, and feelings of separateness You’ll be able to hear the second part of the interview on Hello You in a couple of weeks’ time. Subscribe to make sure you don’t miss it! Sharing. It’s caring If you enjoy this episode of Hello You, you probably know someone else who’d find it interesting too. So please, share it with them? Look, here’s a button: And I’d love to know what you think of what you hear. Look, more buttons: Take care of yourself Stay warm, stay wise, stay wonderful. Get full access to Hello You - the Shropshire podcast from Jim Hawkins at jimallthetime.substack.com/subscribe

    50 min
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About

I’m trying to give you something a little different. Hello You is about stuff, and things. People, and stories. Shrewsbury, and Shropshire. Mental health and well-being. History and heritage. Arts, culture and music. Faith, belief and the complexities of life. I’m a good listener. It’s what I do. And for Hello You, I’m listening to (and talking with) fascinating people, mostly but not always from Shropshire, so that you can hear what they have to say. It's public-service local journalism that cares about people. Audio that brings you the voices of people you might not hear from otherwise. Interviews conducted with compassion and empathy. Thoughtful, positive, good-humoured conversations, informed local storytelling, and commentary that’s not afraid to get righteously angry on occasion. jimallthetime.substack.com

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