The Just Checking In Podcast

The Just Checking In Podcast by VENT
  • 5.0 (3)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
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The Just Checking In Podcast is another step in VENT’s mission to give people a voice, change the conversation around mental health and provide an outlet where everyone, but especially men and boys, can express themselves.Each pod we check in with a special guest. We have a natter and a chat about all things mental health as well as anything and everything else they're passionate about. If it helps that person with their mental health, we'll discuss it!

  1. Reel Stories - Jude Vause-Walsh

    10H AGO

    Reel Stories - Jude Vause-Walsh

    In this episode of our Reel Stories series, we checked in with Jude Vause-Walsh.  Jude is a voiceover actor and coach. Jude’s career started out after she completed her university degree, where she began carving out an acting career.  She landed some roles in small films and TV work and then she saw an advert looking for traffic and travel radio presenters. She applied and became a radio presenter for 15 years, working at Virgin Radio, Real Radio and Century Radio, in what is now known as Greatest Hits Radio.  She mainly worked on the Breakfast Show so had to have a regular 3am alarm clock set. However, she had plans to start a family, and wanted to adjust her work life to match her new life as a working mum, and voiceover work seemed like a natural fit. In this episode we chart that journey, her favourite roles she’s done and ones she’s seen others perform, the stigma that can exist around voiceover work compared to on-screen work, the art of being a voiceover artist and the creative process behind inhabiting a character that no one can ‘see’. We also talk about the mental health impact of seeing her clients thrive after working with her and landing voiceover work themselves.  For Jude’s mental health journey, we discuss the solitary life that comes with being a voiceover artist, her mother’s dementia which she was diagnosed with three years ago at time of recording, and Jude’s diagnosis of breast cancer five years ago, which was thankfully caught early, treated with surgery and she has recovered from it.  We discuss how the breast cancer has shaped her attitude towards gratitude and given her greater perspective on life, career and family.  As always, #itsokaytovent You can find out more about Jude's work here: https://www.voiceovercoach.uk/. You can follow Jude on social media below:  InstagramSupport Us: PatreonPayPalMerchandise

    1h 2m
  2. JCIP #348 - Nick Isles

    4D AGO

    JCIP #348 - Nick Isles

    In episode 348 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Nick Isles.  Nick is the Director of the Centre for Policy Research on Men and Boys (CPMRB). The Centre was established in May 2025 and is a research organisation and charity dedicated to understanding and addressing issues that uniquely affect men and boys in the UK. Their vision is a world where men and boys of all backgrounds can thrive in their families and communities, and one where the sexes can rise together by supporting each other. CPRMB focus on seven key policy areas as their focus: Health (suicide, mental and physical); Education, Fatherhood and Family, Economy, Employment and Skills, Criminal Justice, and the Portrayal of Men in Media and Culture.  In this episode we do a deep dive into the work of the Centre and how Nick came to be its Director, the work they do across these seven areas, their impact, where they aim to sit within the men’s space and the wider conversation around men's mental health.  For Nick’s mental health journey, we discuss his upbringing and how it shaped his early attitude towards mental health, fatherhood as he is the father of five daughters, 4 of which are biological and he is the stepfather of one as well.  We also discuss what turned him towards the space of men’s mental health and how this helps fuel his mission at CPRMB now and going forward. As always, #itsokaytovent You can find out more about CPRMB's work here: https://www.menandboys.org.uk/. You can follow CPRMB on social media below:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cprmenandboys/ Support Us: PatreonPayPalMerchandise

    1h 3m
  3. JCIP #347 - Karen Sykes

    6D AGO

    JCIP #347 - Karen Sykes

    In episode 347 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Karen Sykes.  Karen is the Co-Founder of the Yorkshire branch of suicide grief awareness charity, Speak Their Name.  Karen co-founded the Yorkshire Speak Their Name Community Interest Company alongside a woman called Anna Scott. Both of them connected as they have both lost family members to suicide.  SInce its inception, the Yorkshire Speak Their Name Suicide Memorial Quilt has toured across the region of Yorkshire in a variety of settings, including sporting venues, hospitals and conferences to raise awareness about suicide grief. In this episode we first chart Karen’s mental health journey, where we discuss three periods of grief. The first was the death of her father in 2001. Then, on October 3rd 2015, her husband Ian tragically took his own life. Four years later, on 22nd April 2019, Karen’s youngest daughter Beth, also tragically took her own life. Beth was just 26 years old at the time.  We dive into these periods of grief, how Ian’s and Beth’s deaths turned Karen's world upside down, how she tried to carve out a new life alongside the grief and her recovery.  We also explore how she's connected with other mums who have gone through suicide grief, including friend of the pod and Bags for Strife Founder Angela Allen, and how Karen's channelled the grief into this new world of suicide grief awareness and post-vention support. As always, #itsokaytovent You can find out more about Speak Their Name and submit your own Memorial Quilt here: https://speaktheirname.org/. TRIGGER WARNING: this podcast contains a deep discussion about grief, loss and the impact that losing a loved one to suicide can have, so please listen with caution. Support Us: PatreonPayPalMerchandise

    1h 25m
  4. JCIP #346 - Sophie Temple

    APR 9

    JCIP #346 - Sophie Temple

    In episode 346 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with academic Sophie Temple. Sophie is currently Doctoral Researcher in the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences at Loughborough University, specialising in eating disorders, disordered eating and body image pathology during the menopausal transition. She is also part-time Research Fellow in the School of Education, Department of Disability, Inclusion and Special Needs, College of Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Birmingham. Sophie's academic expertise is in the subject of menopausal disordered eating, and how it affects women during all stages of the menopause.  In this episode, we discuss Sophie’s academic journey, how and why she landed on this subject within EDs, the lack of research on these women and why, and the work she is doing to shine a light on it and give medical professionals better tools to treat these women too.  We also talk about the comparison between how EDs manifest in teenagers and young women vs menopausal women and the different internal and external factors which may contribute to these women developing one.  For Sophie’s mental health, we discuss her own experience of disordered eating traits during her undergraduate university degree when she was a sprinter at Loughborough University, the factors in her childhood and adolescence which contributed to those traits, and how her own perception of what someone with an ED looks like changed over time and education. As always, #itsokaytovent You can follow Sophie's work on social media here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophie-h-temple/. Support Us: PatreonPayPalMerchandise

    1 hr
  5. JCIP #345 - Richard Pomfrett

    APR 8

    JCIP #345 - Richard Pomfrett

    In episode 345 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Richard Pomfrett.  Richard is the Founder and CEO of Boyz-2-Men, an organisation which is dedicated to supporting boys and young men through their journey into adulthood. They offer a supportive environment where they can learn, grow, and navigate the complexities of masculinity with confidence. B2M believe every young person has the potential to become a role model, so their programmes are tailored to help boys and young men understand and overcome the challenges posed by gender stereotypes and societal expectations.  By engaging with primary and secondary school students, they provide the tools they need to develop into healthy, thoughtful, and responsible individuals.  In this episode we discuss Richard’s professional journey, how he came to found B2M, the programs they offer to young men and the work they do and the impact they have on the young men they work with. We also have a wider conversation about where men and boys are right now in the UK, the importance of reaching in and listening to them, and how we move forward with a unifying message in this space.  For Richard’s mental health journey, we discuss his diagnosis of Dyslexia, and how it shaped his education and adolescence growing up in the 1970s and 80s, how society’s education of it has changed and how he felt when he was diagnosed at 40 years old.  We also talk about how getting into martial arts and combat sports was pivotal to his life path, the life skills it gave him and why it gave him a solid foundation for the rest of his life going forward. As always, #itsokaytovent You can find out more about Boyz-2-Men here: https://boyz-2-men.org.uk/. You can find out more about The Stay Safe Initiative here: https://thestaysafeinitiative.org.uk/. You can follow Richard on social media here: https://www.instagram.com/thestaysafeinitiative/. Support Us: PatreonPayPalMerchandise

    1h 22m
  6. JCIP #344 - Chris Hemmings

    APR 4

    JCIP #344 - Chris Hemmings

    In episode 344 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Chris Hemmings.  Chris is a published author and mental health advocate. Chris is the Founder of two organisations in the men’s mental health space: M-Path and Men’s Therapy Hub.  Chris set up M-Path first in 2019, which is an organisation designed to actively and compassionately engage men and boys in their own experience of existence and encourage them to take charge of their well-being.  After several years, Chris stepped away from the day-to-day running of M-Path to set up Men’s Therapy Hub in 2025, which connects men with male therapists in the UK who are passionate about working with male clients, ensuring those men receive tailored support from professionals who understand the unique challenges men face. M-Path are an organisation we came across through an article by a young man called Josh Sargent in The Guardian called ‘I’m a teenager who was lured into the manosphere. Here’s how to reach young men like me’. Josh referenced M-Path amongst several other organisations who are doing great work in the men’s space.  M-Path provides men’s mental health, emotional wellbeing & masculinity programmes designed to drive inclusion and allyship within organisations of all sizes. In this episode we discuss the work M-Path and MTH do in the men’s space, Chris’s journey to entering this space and the impact those organisations have had in the years since their inception.  For Chris’s mental health journey, we focus on several parts of his life which provided severe mental health difficulties.  The first was when his father died when Chris was in his early 20s. After a 3-4 month period, he came close to addiction, and he left his job as a BBC journalist and embarked on a recovery journey.  It was around this time that he also discovered the statistics around male suicide in the UK. We then talk about another period of grief when one of his best friends died from cancer in 2019, and how he navigated that alongside his mental health. We discuss all of this, his recovery, and how he turned these experiences into a vehicle for change with Men’s Therapy Hub and becoming a qualified BACP therapist in 2022. As always, #itsokaytovent You can find out more about Men's Therapy Hub here: https://menstherapyhub.co.uk/. You can find out more about M-Path here: https://m-path.co.uk/. Support Us: PatreonPayPalMerchandise

    1h 26m
  7. JCIP #343 - Niamh Hughes - Part 1

    MAR 27

    JCIP #343 - Niamh Hughes - Part 1

    In episode 343 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Niamh Hughes.  Niamh is a freelance journalist, producer, presenter and voiceover artist.  Niamh also happens to have a disability called Congenital Hemiplegia, which is a form of unilateral cerebral palsy. The disability only affects the right side of her body, so she can’t use her right hand and has to type with one hand. Prior to going freelance, Niamh worked for many years at the BBC and worked as a reporter and producer on the BBC’s accessibility outlet and brand, Access All, then called BBC Ouch. In Part 1 of this bumper episode, we chart Niamh’s journalism journey and how she was inspired to get involved in it by previous podcast guest Izzie Clarke! We then discuss how she got her foot in the door at the Beeb, the various roles she's done in her very impressive career so far, including BBC Ouch, Newsnight's 'The 100 Women' programme, BBC News, her decision to leave the Beeb in March 2025 and the challenges of going freelance.  As always, #itsokaytovent You can find out more about Niamh's work here. You can follow Niamh on social media below:  InstagramSupport Us: PatreonPayPalMerchandise

    1h 21m
  8. JCIP #343 - Niamh Hughes - Part 2

    MAR 27

    JCIP #343 - Niamh Hughes - Part 2

    In Part 2 of journalist Niamh Hughes' journey, we discuss her diagnosis of Congenital Hemiplegia and how she managed it from being a young child, through to adolescence and adulthood. We explore how her acceptance of it came alongside her acceptance of herself as a person, and so many other challenges. We also talk about the normalisation of disabilities more widely and what still needs to change going forward to support disabled people, wherever they are on the spectrum and whatever disability they may have, physical or mental. As always, #itsokaytovent You can find out more about Niamh's work here. You can follow Niamh on social media below:  InstagramSupport Us: PatreonPayPalMerchandise

    49 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

The Just Checking In Podcast is another step in VENT’s mission to give people a voice, change the conversation around mental health and provide an outlet where everyone, but especially men and boys, can express themselves.Each pod we check in with a special guest. We have a natter and a chat about all things mental health as well as anything and everything else they're passionate about. If it helps that person with their mental health, we'll discuss it!

Information

  • Creator
    The Just Checking In Podcast by VENT
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    453
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Just Checking In Podcast
  • Show Website
    The Just Checking In Podcast