Child Poverty, Parenting - Eli Gardner, CEO of Kids Matter

Eli is a clinical phycologist and the co founder and CEO of Kids Matter. A charity working to reduce impact of poverty on children and equip parents. We talked about the rise in mental health diagnosis of young people, rising child poverty, permissive parenting and what every parents need to be thinking about. To find out more about the charity, Kids Matter visit: kidsmatter.org.uk

Jules talks about Jules's journey with anxiety and how she has found tools, and created a course to help others. She talks about what anxiety is, how to manage panic attacks, fear and negative thoughts. How we can change the way we think. How do faith and anxiety work together.

Clare talks about her and her husband's (former soap star) journey of recovery. We talk about how different alcoholism can look and at the amazing support in the recovery community. Clare runs Kennedy Street Recovery - (kennedystreetrecovery.org) providing support to hundreds of addicts.

Maggie Filipova-Rivers and Fiona Summerfield talk about the work they do supporting refugees and asylum seekers. Maggie is the East of England Coordinator for City of Sanctuary as well as being a local councillor for South Oxfordshire. Fiona runs the Church of Sanctuary work at Greyfriars church in Reading offering a safe place for asylum seekers and refugees. We discuss the response to refugees and asylum seekers in the UK, the reality of the situation and what support is actually given and ask questions about the stereotypes, preconceptions and challenges that asylum seekers and refugees face. Find out more about the City of Sanctuary movement here https://cityofsanctuary.org/ Find out more about the Sanctuary Ministry at Greyfriars https://greyfriars.org.uk/sanctuary-ministry/

We discuss what makes a team 'diverse', how to develop diverse teams and the importance of difference of thought. The need to be aware of power structures and to create psychological safety for people to freely be a different voice. Will James is a leadership coach who works with leaders and teams helping them to develop their purpose, potential and impact.  Check out Will's TedX talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPQ9h0TTUO8 website: withdiversity.com

We talk about the care system in the UK, orphanages, voluntary tourisms impact on orphanages, the impact of the war in Ukraine on orphanages. Ruth a social worker in the UK and Sophie works for an international charity Hope and Homes for Children - https://www.hopeandhomes.org/. Ruth talks about growing up with her family running a children home and the work she does now for children in care. Sophie's charity aims to end institutional care and she explains how they do that and the reality of orphanages around the world as well as the work they are doing right not in the Ukraine with orphanages. On a side note I have entered a podcast competition. If you vote for me I would be so so grateful. Details are below: https://www.podcastawards.com/app/signup 1. Follow the link 2. Put your name email etc into the form 3. Verify you email (in your own email) 4. Follow the link again and go down to the 'Religion and Spirituality' section 5. Select 'Conversations on Faith and Equality'

A little bit of a reflection on the last 3 years. Thinking about what has changed but what we still need to think about to have better equality and compassion towards one another.

Emily lived in the red light district in Bangkok for 5 years working with women exploited by the sex industry and helping many to escape. She then came back to the UK and started Ella's. Ella's Provides support and housing in London for women who have survived human trafficking and sexual exploitation.  For more information on Ella's visit ellas.org.uk

Sue Hopkinson is the mother of Alex who was on a previous episode. She raised Alex on her own, has battled breast cancer and has been working with neurologically diverse children even before Alex was born. She is an amazing and inspiring woman.

Anneka started the beautiful jewellery brand Recognised. She started the business with her husband and she has since won Young Buisness Woman of the Year. The brand supports causes such mental health, loneliness and human trafficking but the key part of it is recognising where people are at. We talk about the tory of Recognised and the importance of recognising peoples pain and struggles. We also talk about what it's like being a female founder and entrepreneur.