Mind - The Chat

Mark Williamson is the CEO of Action for Happiness , a mass participation movement with a huge membership and  wide range of activities promoting happiness and well-being . Mark is passionate about creating a more balanced, collaborative society that focuses less on consumption and material wealth and more on helping people and communities thrive.

Bassam Mahfouz is the director of Refugee Action Kingston, which has supported and advocated for refugees and asylum seekers locally for the past thirty years. In this podcast Bassam talks about the challenges that refugees face when coming to this country and how people can get involved to support the charity.

With a background in teaching music, Sarah Clay founded Voices of Hope in 2019, a free community choir which encourages people, including those recovering from violence and abuse, to sing together to improve their mental and physical health.

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Dr Francesca Cappelluto is a GP and mum of three ,whose personal experience of  anxiety has resulted in an interest in mental health and the way it can be impacted by the menopause . In this podcast Fran talks about setting up Menopause Mondays, a free support group offering advice to woman who want to make informed decisions regarding possible lifestyle changes and treatment options and why th...

In our latest podcast, our reporter Finn Cotter chats to members of the Kingstonian Mind Football Team, along with John Bangs (OBE), from Kingstonian FC  and Alan Sellars from AFC Wimbledon about how the team works and what it means to them.  Also featuring is Rachel Dykins, (Interim Community Inclusion Manager) who explains how people can get involved and why she’s keen to start a women’s foot...

Shannon Hayes is an actor who has appeared in big name TV dramas ( Ted Lasso, Years and Years and Cold Feet) as well as many stage productions including a recent run at The Rose in Kingston. She spoke to Vicky Bourne about her challenges at school and university where she struggled with anxiety, bereavement and body dysmorphic disorder.

Matt Hatton, former CEO of Kingston Churches action on Homelessness talks to Vicky Bourne from Mind in Kingston about the link between mental health and homelessness, the challenges of supporting people through the corona virus pandemic and his decision to take a break after 18 years with the charity.

Emma Merrick is the former Service Manager for the Kingston chapter of Refuge, the charity that provides specialist support for women and children experiencing domestic violence. She talks to Mind in Kingston's counselling manager Vicky Bourne about how to identify victims of domestic abuse and how to help them.

Dr Kate Kenyon, a retired GP, talks to Mind in Kingston's counselling manager Vicky Bourne, about the mental health tragedy in her family that pushed her to set up Sewing for Kingston and later RBKares. Both are volunteer groups that have helped support Kingston Hospital staff and others through the coronavirus pandemic.

Rosie Fyles is head gardener at Ham House, a National Trust garden on the banks of the River Thames in Richmond, Surrey. She speaks to Vicky Bourne, Mind in Kingston's counselling manager, about the role of nature in mental wellbeing. Update Description (https://audioboom.com/posts/7832809-writer-theatre-director-and-learning-disabilities-campaigner-stephen-unwin/edit)

The writer and theatre director Stephen Unwin speaks to Vicky Bourne, Mind in Kingston's counselling manager, about his time as artistic director at the Rose and campaigning for the rights of people with learning disabilities .

Jonny Benjamin, the award-winning mental health campaigner, speaks to Vicky Bourne, Mind in Kingston's counselling manager, about the UK's first-ever mental health and well-being festival for schools which he helped launch earlier this month and talks about how he lives with mental illness, in his case schizoaffective disorder. For those who might find parts of the conversation triggering, plea...

Mona Saha, director of the Kingston branch of the Samaritans, speaks to Vicky Bourne, Mind in Kingston's counsellor, about the service her organisation provides and how it's been affected by the coronavirus pandemic. To contact the Samaritans, call free on 116 123.

Chris Cleave, author of bestsellers including 'Everyone Brave is Forgiven' and 'Incendiary', talks to Mind in Kingston's counsellor Vicky Bourne about the psychology that informs his writing as well as the overlap between writing novels and psychotherapy.

Kingston-upon-Thames chief executive Ian Thomas talks to Mind in Kingston's counsellor Vicky Bourne about what needs to be done to improve mental health services for young people in the borough and how to address the fact that BAME people are disproportionately affected by mental health issues.

Award-winning film director and scriptwriter Adam Morse talks to Mind in Kingston counsellor Vicky Bourne about being registered as legally blind, and his film, Lucid, about a young man suffering from social anxiety.

Rhian Hall, host of the 'You, Me and PND' podcast (youmeandpnd.com) and a member and advocate for the Cedar House Support Group, speaks to Mind in Kingston counsellor Vicky Bourne about her recovery from postnatal depression. 

Radio & TV presenter, actor and model Sarah Lamptey speaks to Mind in Kingston counsellor Vicky Bourne about her experience of anxiety, eating disorders and discrimination in the modelling industry. 

Journalist and author Mark Rice-Oxley speaks to Mind in Kingston counsellor Vicky Bourne about his battle with clinical depression and how he recovered. 

Kingston & Surbiton MP Ed Davey talks to Mind in Kingston counsellor Vicky Bourne about the provision of mental health services in the borough and life under lockdown.

The writer Wendy Perriam, who was born and raised in Kingston-upon-Thames, says she's both "the well-organised author toiling at her desk and the madwoman shrieking in a straitjacket”. Here, for the the first time ever, she tells podcast host Vicky Bourne about her lifelong battle with depression and anxiety.