The Change Makers

Lydia Parkin and Clare Edwards

A podcast celebrating the remarkable not for profit people dedicating their careers to making positive change. We'll be talking to society's fixers, menders, mopper-uppers and fighters about why they do their job, what they see in their work and why it matters. 

Episodes

  1. 12/25/2023

    Karen Delin, Saint Francis Hospice, on nursing at Christmas, myths about hospices and her love of caring for others.

    Caring and making change at Christmas.  Karen Delin is a ward sister at Saint Francis Hospice, based just outside Romford in East London. She knew she wanted to be a nurse from the age of 5, and during the early years of the career she had dreamd of, she quickly realised palliative care was her passion.  Our Christmas episode is a beautiful listen. Karen works every Christmas Day, so she shares what they do at Saint Francis Hospice to make the day as special as it can be for the patients on her ward and their loved ones.  She also explains what it is about caring for people that she loves, she tackles a few of the common misconceptions about hospices (that they are scary and only for the end of life), how she deals with the highs and lows of a job that people assume is always sad, and why hospices offer so much value to the medical world.  We recommend you listen to this whether you've experienced hospice care and you know how fabulous they are, if you have always wondered how the incredible staff do their jobs, or whether you believe hospices are sad, dingy places where nobody wants to be (because Karen will prove you wrong). Find out more about Saint Francis Hospice.Learn more about Hospices in the UK. If you would like to get in touch with The Change Makers team, email thechangemakerspod@gmail.com or find us on Instagram @thechangemakerspod.

    1h 7m
  2. 06/07/2023

    Pt 2: Katrina Moffat, Girlguiding, on leadership, role modelling and the King.

    How many of you can remember reciting your Girlguiding promise, earning badges or singing songs by the campfire? Girlguiding is so popular in the UK that in some areas it’s recommended that you register your daughters from birth to guarantee a place in Rainbows when they’re four.  It’s mission? To help all girls know they can do anything.  To do this, the organisation relies on nearly 100,000 volunteers to run the thousands of packs of Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Rangers, as well as training their young leaders to achieve their qualification. One of those volunteers is Katrina Moffat. In addition to her work for North Tyneside Learning Trust tackling social mobility and inequality in education, she gives hours a week to Girlguiding – running a group, supporting new leaders county wide, and on a national level, contributing to a major overhaul to its young leaders qualification.   We talk about why she gives so much of her time to Girlguiding, the modern day relevance of the organisation and its role in influencing positive change in young women. We reflect on her nomination for a British Empire Medal and how she, a mere ‘girl from Cumbria’ ended up in Westminster Abbey on the day of the King’s Coronation.   Find out more about Girlguiding. Learn more about their Girls Attitudes Survey.If you’d like to get in touch with The Change Makers team, email thechangemakerspod@gmal.com or find us on Instagram: @thechangemakerspod.

    37 min
  3. 05/25/2023

    Pt 1: Katrina Moffat, North Tyneside Learning Trust on supporting young people to thrive in the face of inequality.

    It is a fact that in the UK, if you are born to wealthy parents you are more likely to do better at school, progress to university and secure higher paid jobs.  A country that is socially mobile offers equal opportunities to everyone, regardless of whether your parents are rich or poor, but the UK has one of the lowest social mobility rates compared to most major EU countries. Recent data shows that inequality is worsening. Katrina Moffat is working to change this. She is a project manager at North Tyneside Learning Trust, working with schools across the region to improve education and life chances for the young people that attend. The North East has some of the worst outcomes for young people, with typically lower higher education entry rate and last year, exam results reflected a widening gap between the north and the south. After being exposed to this unfair reality in her early career, Katrina has supported hundreds, if not thousands, of young people to thrive in the face of inequality. And if that isn’t enough, she has also volunteered for Girlguiding for nearly 20 years. So, we’ve split this meaty conversation in two. In part one we’ll be delving into social mobility, what it means, what challenges young people are facing – through no fault of their own – and what work Katrina is doing to change this incredibly complex issue. Find out more about North Tyneside Learning Trust Find out more about Villiers Park Educational TrustYou can find out more about research into social mobility from the State of the Nation Report published by the Social Mobility Commission. If you'd like to get in touch with The Change Makers team, email thechangemakerspod@gmail.com or find us on Instagram: @thechangemakerspod.

    50 min
  4. 05/11/2023

    Jeanette Farrow, Compassionate Neighbours, on the realities of a lonely life, and having purpose.

    Loneliness and isolation is thought to be one of the most serious health issues we face. It's as bad for your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day,  it is linked with an increased risk of multiple health conditions including stroke and heart disease, and it affects millions of people in the UK.  Jeanette Farrow is the project manager for Compassionate Neighbours, a social movement which is tackling loneliness and isolation by training volunteers and matching them with those on their own, so they can build new connections and form friendships. Started by the hospice movement, Jeanette's branch of Compassionate Neighbours is based at Garden House Hospice Care in Letchworth Garden City.  A former social worker, it was down to the illness of a child in her care that Jeanette was introduced to the world of hospices and subsequently, to those facing loneliness and social isolation. In this episode, we delve into the realities being faced by the people Jeanette is meeting, the power of the connections she and her team are driving, why she feels she can never do enough and how loneliness may be being felt by those closer than you think. Find out more about Compassionate Neighbours in North Hertfordshire: https://www.ghhospicecare.org.uk/compassionate-neighboursYou can find out more about research into loneliness, including the facts stated above, on the Campaign to End Loneliness website.If you'd like to get in touch with The Change Makers team, email thechangemakerspod@gmail.com or find us on Instagram: @thechangemakerspod.

    49 min
  5. 04/27/2023

    Dom Smithies, Student Minds on the need to remember the mental health of students.

    In the UK, around half of young people go to university, and 1 in 3 of those people report poor mental wellbeing. The same number say their mental health has worsened since beginning university.  Enter Dom Smithies, Influencing and Advocacy lead at Student Minds, the UK’s student mental health charity. By listening to the needs and concerns of students, understanding the issues affecting them, responding to Government consultations and campaigning on the topics that aren’t being picked up, Dom is dedicated to improving these mental health outcomes and encouraging this competitive and complex industry to change.    We chat to Dom about his route into student mental health, the reasons students may struggle with their mental health and the multiple ways he and his team are working to tackle these issues. We discuss how the government could do better by young people and reflect on the third sector more broadly – including the sense of never being able to do enough.  If you are a student, parent or carer of a student or simply interested in mental health – this episode will leave you confident that brilliant people are fighting to make things better. ·      Find out more about Student Minds at: https://www.studentminds.org.uk/ ·      Details of the statistics quoted can be found in this Student Minds insight briefing.  ·      If you’d like to get in touch with the Change Makers team, email thechangemakerspod@gmail.com or find us on Instagram @thechangemakerspod.  Content warning: We discuss the topic of suicide in this episode, so please take care listening. If you are affected by this or any of our conversation, please visit the Samaritans website.

    47 min
  6. 04/12/2023

    Sophie Durlacher, Uttlesford Foodbank, on increasing demand, challenging stereotypes and tackling poverty.

    Welcome to the first episode of The Change Makers, a new podcast shining a light on remarkable not for profit people, each making positive change. In this episode we chat to Sophie Durlacher. Sophie is the director of Uttlesford foodbank, which is the branch of Trussell Trust’s network situated in a rural spot of north west Essex. Sophie oversees a team of mostly volunteers who produce emergency food parcels for people in crisis. A volunteer herself, Sophie opted out of being paid for her role. She is responsible for managing the rising demand for the foodbank's services, the logistics, raising awareness and fundraising. The need for foodbanks has never been greater, with research by Independent Food Aid Network (Ifan) revealing that 90% of foodbanks  have reported an increased demand in December 2022 and January 2023 compared with a year earlier.  In a powerful and moving conversation, we chat to Sophie about the reasons behind this increased demand, what more we can do to help people in need, and Sophie's personal reflections on her role and the positive change she is making.  You can find out more about the work of Uttlesford Foodbank and how you can get involved at https://uttlesford.foodbank.org.uk. Find out about The Trussell Trust at https://www.trusselltrust.org. If you'd like to get in touch with The Change Makers team, email thechangemakerspod@gmail.com, or DM us on Instagram @thechangemakerspod.

    47 min

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About

A podcast celebrating the remarkable not for profit people dedicating their careers to making positive change. We'll be talking to society's fixers, menders, mopper-uppers and fighters about why they do their job, what they see in their work and why it matters.