We explore the normalisation of cocaine culture in the UK, the link between alcohol and stimulant use, and how substances can become tools for coping with trauma and emotional pain. 

Kieran shares insight into how his recent ADHD diagnosis shaped his experience of addiction, and why he has chosen a natural recovery route over medication.

This episode covers the turning point where use stopped being enjoyable, the role of therapy in processing grief, and the importance of recognising the root causes behind addiction. Kieran also reflects on business culture, identity, and the reality of recovery in environments where substance use is common.

This episode offers practical insight for people in recovery, family members, frontline practitioners, and anyone interested in real stories of change.

Search terms: addiction recovery podcast UK, cocaine addiction UK, ADHD and addiction, grief and substance misuse, lived experience stories, peer support, trauma and recovery, the apprentice, kieran mccartney 

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Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

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🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma, Nadine Balmer joins us to discuss long-term heroin recovery, ADHD, neurodiversity, identity, stigma, and rebuilding a life after addiction. Her first appearance became one of the most downloaded episodes of the series. This conversation shows what happened next.

Now six years free from illicit substances following a 17-year heroin addiction, Nadine reflects on the reality of sustained recovery and what it takes to move beyond survival. She speaks openly about transitioning away from methadone, rebuilding trust with her family, and developing a strong sense of self, purpose, and direction.

We explore how an ADHD diagnosis in recovery transformed her understanding of herself, and how neurodiversity and addiction intersect. Nadine explains why understanding the brain is critical, and how clarity, structure, and self-awareness have changed the way she lives her life.

Three years ago, this was a story about survival. Today, it is a story about growth, identity, and evolution.

This is what recovery can become.

This episode offers practical insight for people in recovery, family members, frontline practitioners, and anyone interested in real stories of change.

Search terms: addiction recovery podcast UK, heroin recovery story, ADHD and addiction, neurodiversity and addiction, long-term recovery, lived experience stories, peer support, trauma and recovery, substance misuse, Believe in People podcast.

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🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

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🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Dr Copeland is a Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology & Toxicology at King’s College London, and the Director of the National Programme on Substance Use Mortality. Today she explores ketamine use, polydrug risks, drug adulteration, and the growing dangers within today’s drug supply. 

Dr Copeland will be joining Believe in People for a full-length episode in the coming weeks. 

#believeinpeople #believeinpeoplepodcast #believeinpeopleextra

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🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

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🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma, Cara Cox joins us to discuss trauma, addiction, repeated relapse, and long-term recovery. We explore how childhood loss, family alcoholism, emotional instability, and internal loneliness shaped her relationship with substances from an early age.

Cara speaks openly about drinking to blackout as a teenager, using cannabis and ketamine, and later progressing into heroin and crack use. She reflects on the devastating impact of her mum’s alcoholism and suicide, the instability of moving between schools as a child, and how substances became both escapism and a way to feel confident, connected, and temporarily at peace.

This episode also examines the realities of ketamine addiction, including physical harm, rehab admissions, near-death experiences, psychiatric units, and the mental health crash that often comes when substances are removed. Cara shares what changed after years of relapse, how connection and fellowship helped her recover, and why creative recovery, peer support, and lived experience now shape her work through Chase Recovery and The Detox Factor.

This episode offers practical insight for people in recovery, family members, frontline practitioners, and anyone interested in real stories of change.

Search terms: addiction recovery podcast UK, ketamine addiction recovery, trauma and addiction, lived experience stories, relapse and recovery, peer support, substance misuse, Believe in People podcast.

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🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

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🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Originally broadcast as part of the celebrated 60-Second Sonata segment, Alexis invited host Matthew Butler to share a deeply personal reflection on trauma, addiction and stigma. In response, Alexis composed an original piano piece that can be heard at the end of this mini episode - a bespoke composition capturing the emotional weight, hope, and humanity within Butler’s story and why non-judgemental listening remains one of the most powerful tools in recovery.

In an extraordinary gesture of support for the recovery community, Apple Music has donated both the composition “Believe” and the full interview audio for wider public use - helping bring conversations about stigma, compassion, and addiction recovery to new audiences.

Listen to the full conversation with Alexis and Matt here:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4qpy20dulem9zFfDc6R1Fh

#believeinpeople #believeinpeoplepodcast #believeinpeopleextra

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🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

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🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

We explore themes of addiction recovery, trauma, peer support, mental health, and the lived experiences that shaped Neil’s journey - from homelessness, injecting and suicidal thoughts, to treatment, group work, and building what became the National Recovery Games. 

This episode offers practical insight for people in recovery, family members, frontline practitioners, and anyone interested in real stories of change.

Search terms: addiction recovery podcast UK, lived experience stories, peer support, trauma and recovery, substance misuse.

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🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

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🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Bea explains the difference between coprolalia and the more common motor and vocal tics that shape everyday life and the need for constant safety awareness. 

The conversation explores intrusive thoughts and urges, why suppressing tics can make them worse, and how anxiety and social context can intensify symptoms.

We also examine the emotional toll of stigma, including the distress of taboo or racial tics, and the difference between laughing with someone and laughing at them. 

Bea reflects on how media portrayals and selective editing can reinforce misunderstanding, while highlighting practical steps that communities can take to offer meaningful support.

This episode offers practical insight for people living with Tourette’s, family members, frontline practitioners, and anyone seeking to better understand the neurological reality behind the condition.

You can listen to the full episode here:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5MpnmlSImp2ebYTkUXdVCb?si=F3YszPa2RLiMt9sbRnDx3g

#believeinpeople #believeinpeoplepodcast #believeinpeopleextra

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🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

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🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

We explore how early use of cannabis and cocaine progressed into ketamine, why it can feel controlled at first, and how denial allows harm to escalate unnoticed. Finley explains ketamine bladder in clear, practical terms, the impact on family and identity, and the turning point that forced change.

This is a grounded conversation about stigma, youth culture and what real recovery requires beyond detox.

#believeinpeople #believeinpeoplepodcast #believeinpeopleextra #ketamine

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🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

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🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Young Lee unpacks the difference between cured and recovered, explaining the “twist of the mind” that precedes relapse and why the real powerlessness isn’t the first drink - it’s the thought that comes before it. Using a simple Terminator analogy, he describes how addiction doesn’t say “I might be back” - it says “I’ll be back.”

Young also reflects on becoming unrecovered, the small daily shifts that lead someone back toward relapse, and why emotional sobriety - not just abstinence - is the foundation of lasting freedom.

This episode is for anyone questioning their recovery, currently struggling, or working to understand the psychology behind addiction beyond the substance itself.

Listen to the full conversation with Young Lee here:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/73A5jN7eetBSMQ45FfJow3

#believeinpeople #believeinpeoplepodcast #believeinpeopleextra

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🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

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🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Lucy takes us back to the 1990s, the rave scene, early drug use, and the beginnings of binge drinking that quickly became unsafe. She explains how alcohol escalated in adulthood, how motherhood and “outward stability” can hide the reality of harmful drinking, and why shame keeps so many people silent.

A key part of this conversation is trauma. Lucy describes living with post-traumatic stress disorder for years without recognising it, and how therapy, including eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing, helped her process what happened and rebuild her life.

We also talk about “grey area drinking”, the gap between “social drinking” and physical dependence, and why so many people feel they are “not bad enough” to seek support until crisis hits. Lucy explains how Soberistas became a confidential, judgement-free space for women who want to change their relationship with alcohol, and why real connection matters more than ever in a world that is increasingly digital.

In this episode, we discuss

• Binge drinking, alcohol culture, and having “no off switch”
• The rave era, early drug use, and how alcohol became normalised
• Motherhood, emotional impact, and the hidden harms of drinking
• Crisis, hospitalisation, and the moment denial ended
• Trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, and why it can go unrecognised
• Therapy, including eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing
• “Grey area drinking” and why people feel “not bad enough” for help
• Building Soberistas and why community reduces shame
• How sobriety changes relationships, identity, and self-respect
• The importance of real human connection alongside online support

Links and resources

• Soberistas: https://soberistas.com/
   

If you have enjoyed this episode of Believe in People, please share it with someone who might need it. Subscribe for more conversations that challenge stigma and centre real recovery stories.

#believeinpeople #believeinpeoplepodcast #believeinpeopleextra

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🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

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🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Adam speaks openly about steroids, testing cycles, image and performance enhancing drugs, cutting through myths around quick results and explaining the real difference between use and abuse. He reflects on gym culture, body image pressure, and why many people turn to these substances without fully understanding the risks.

Adam also discusses the mental and physical impacts he experienced, including unwanted body changes, changes to libido, and the longer-term consequences that are rarely talked about in fitness spaces or on social media.

This short episode is designed to be honest, accessible, and non-judgemental - offering insight for people who may be curious about steroids, gym-goers, and professionals working with image and performance enhancing drug use.

You can listen to the full conversation with Adam here:

https://www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com/adammaxted/

#believeinpeople #believeinpeoplepodcast #believeinpeopleextra

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

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🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Paula explains how people are too often doubted, judged, or written off in services, how distress is misread as behaviour or non-compliance, and how bias, fear, and rigid systems can escalate harm. Drawing directly from Oliver’s story, this conversation challenges professionals to reflect on power, responsibility, and what must change in everyday practice to prevent avoidable harm and loss of life.

What Is The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training?

The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training was introduced following Oliver’s death to address systemic failures where autistic people and people with a learning disability were not listened to, misunderstood, or harmed through avoidable mistakes. The training is now a legal requirement for health and social care staff in England.

Information about the training and statutory expectations can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/oliver-mcgowan-code-of-practice/the-oliver-mcgowan-draft-code-of-practice-on-statutory-learning-disability-and-autism-training

Training availability and booking information can be found here:

https://www.olivermcgowantraining.com/book-training

If you found this episode of the Believe in People podcast valuable, please share it with colleagues and professionals who need to hear it. Subscribing, reviewing, and sharing helps this conversation reach the people who can make change happen.

WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE

#believeinpeople #believeinpeoplepodcast #believeinpeopleextra #PaulaMcGowan #OliverMcGowan

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🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

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🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

This preview focuses on one critical question: why Tier 2 training matters, and why listening to people with lived experience is not optional, but essential for safety, dignity, and life itself.

Paula explains why Tier 2 training must be delivered face to face, why it is led by experts with lived experience, and why cutting corners in training is never about saving money, but about risking lives.

What Is The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training?

The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training was introduced following Oliver’s death, to address systemic failures where autistic people and people with a learning disability were not listened to, misunderstood, or harmed through avoidable mistakes. The training is now a legal requirement in health and social care settings in England.

You can book the training here

https://www.olivermcgowantraining.com/book-training

Official government guidance and statutory expectations can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/oliver-mcgowan-code-of-practice/the-oliver-mcgowan-draft-code-of-practice-on-statutory-learning-disability-and-autism-training

#believeinpeople #believeinpeoplepodcast #believeinpeopleextra

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

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🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Born and raised on a Hull council estate in a Nigerian household, Chiedu grew up balancing two worlds: cultural expectations at home and the pressure to fit in outside - while carrying the weight of how others perceived him.

We explore how racism, reputation, and “estate survival” shaped his early choices, including the realities of alcohol culture, drugs, crime, and being labelled from a young age. Chiedu speaks candidly about the contradiction that defined a pivotal year: going to prison and going to university in the same year - and how that collision forced a change in direction.

Now, after performing at Glastonbury, opening for Coldplay, and supporting Skepta on tour, Chiedu reflects on success without abandoning his roots - using his platform to challenge stigma, widen perceptions of Black British identity and to pass the ladder down for young people who feel written off.

This episode offers practical insight for people in recovery, family members, frontline practitioners, and anyone interested in real stories of change.

Search terms: addiction recovery podcast UK, stigma and recovery, lived experience stories, drugs and alcohol culture, racism and identity, peer support, trauma and recovery.

#believeinpeople #believeinpeoplepodcast

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

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🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

She shares the simple mindset shift that helped her most: giving herself permission to drink, and realising she didn’t actually want to. Amy Jo also reflects on how not drinking changed her friendships, why some social situations stopped feeling fulfilling, and how having support at home made it easier to follow through.

This short episode explores:

• Why you don’t need rock bottom to change your drinking
• How removing alcohol can reduce anxiety and mental noise
• What happens to friendships when drinking is no longer the focus

If you’re questioning your relationship with alcohol, feeling unsure about stopping, or wondering whether you’re “allowed” to want something different, this clip may help you take a first step.

To listen to the full episode:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/amy-jo-johnson-alcohol-free-loving-life-pink-power/id1617239923?i=1000653697345

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

We explore themes of addiction recovery, trauma, peer support, mental health, and the lived experiences that shaped Joe’s journey. Joe describes the moment cocaine felt like it saved his life, how quickly things escalated into dependency, the cycle of relapse and secrecy, and the impact addiction had on his family. He also reflects on what finally changed, why honesty became his turning point, and how routine, communication, and taking recovery one hour at a time helped him rebuild.

This episode offers practical insight for people in recovery, family members, frontline practitioners, and anyone interested in real stories of change.

Search terms: addiction recovery podcast UK, lived experience stories, peer support, trauma and recovery, substance misuse.

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

🔗 Then share this episode with someone who needs to hear it!

Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

She explains the medical dangers she didn’t understand, the shame that kept her stuck, and why addiction isn’t about a lack of willpower. Michelle shares the moment that changed everything: seeing someone else in recovery who had what she wanted - and realising she didn’t have to do this alone.

This short episode explores:

• Why stopping alcohol suddenly can be unsafe
• How peer support works when willpower doesn’t
• Why rehab helped, but free AA and CA meetings keep her sober

If you’re thinking about recovery, supporting someone else, or searching for a place to start, this clip may help you take the next step.

To listen to the episode in full 

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1THTnfwpdcL22CaDFTkvNm

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
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🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Patti shares candidly about early experiences with hallucinogens during the counterculture era, the years she spent bartending in Alaska amid heavy cocaine use, and the moment she chose life over self-destruction. She describes the powerful impact of her first women-only 12-step meeting, the birth of long-term sobriety, and the choice to get clean before having children so she would never repeat the patterns she grew up with.

After nearly 13 years in recovery, Patti later faced relapse - driven by disconnection, loss of community, motherhood identity shifts, and the seductive “yummy mummy” drinking culture. She unpacks how secrecy, co-dependency, and convincing self-talk sustained her relapse, and the moments that finally brought clarity: writing her first book while still drinking, confronting her own hypocrisy, and acknowledging that recovery requires honesty, therapy, and belonging - not just abstinence.

Together, Patti and Matt explore the deeper roots of addiction: trauma, loneliness, the search for meaning, and the societal and gendered pressures that shape women’s drinking. Patti critiques patriarchal elements of traditional 12-step structures, highlights the importance of women-centred spaces, and explains why she has gone on to start recovery groups in New Zealand, Portugal, and beyond.

This is a rich and layered conversation about breaking generational cycles, redefining identity in motherhood, and building a recovery community grounded in compassion, inclusion, and truth.

In this episode:

• Growing up in silence, emotional neglect and an alcoholic home
• Early use of alcohol, speed and acid from age 13
• Hallucinogens in 1970s San Francisco drug culture
• Losing her mother to alcoholism at 16
• Bartending in Alaska, cocaine use, and the “fork in the road” moment
• Getting sober before having children to break multi-generational patterns
• Women-only 12-step spaces and the

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Andy shares how a false rape accusation in 2015 became a devastating turning point - stripping away the structures that once grounded him, including careers in both professional football and policing. Without those frameworks, unresolved trauma resurfaced, and alcohol became a way to cope with fear, panic and overwhelming emotional distress.

Through honest reflection, Andy discusses

• the spiral into binge drinking,
• the psychological impacts of trauma,
• the difficulty forming safe relationships,
• the misconceptions around addiction,
• and the challenges of seeking meaningful help within rigid or judgemental systems.

He also speaks candidly about the profound media attention following his 2016 disclosures, and the lack of aftercare that left him vulnerable and unsupported. A central theme of this conversation is the recognition that substance misuse often develops as a response to prolonged emotional pain - and that sustainable recovery begins with understanding that link.

This episode is a powerful and compassionate exploration of trauma, survival and change - and what it means to rebuild life with honesty, humility and hope.

In this episode:

• How childhood trauma resurfaced later in life
• The psychological fallout of a false rape accusation
• Alcohol use as coping, binge cycles and relapse psychology
• Anxiety, panic, fear and relationship difficulties
• Media exposure, vulnerability and lack of aftercare
• Rehab, 12-step work and multiple recovery pathways
• Mindset, meditation and living in the present
• Hope, acceptance and rebuilding life after collapse

Search terms: trauma and addiction recovery, false accusation lived experience, alcohol recovery UK, mental health and panic, relapse and recovery psychology, lived experience stories, stigma and trauma.

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Andy was the first to go public with his experience of childhood sexual abuse at the hands of youth coach Barry Bennell, a predator enabled by a culture of silence that protected reputations instead of children. With striking honesty, Andy explains how abusers groom not only children but entire families, using trust, authority and the “position of trust” to create a fortress around their behaviour.

This episode also explores the wider emotional toll of Andy’s early experiences, including the devastating connection between his abuser and the man who murdered his aunt - a trauma that echoed across generations and shaped the course of his adult life.

Part One lays bare the origins of a profound reckoning: how childhood trauma fractures identity, how the football world concealed the truth for decades, and why speaking out became the catalyst for change. Part Two will explore Andy’s journey through pain, addiction, survival and healing - a testament to how recovery begins with telling the truth.

In this episode:

• Growing up in football and the culture that enabled abuse
• How Barry Bennell groomed families as well as children
• The weaponisation of trust, authority and reputation
• The psychological and emotional impact of long-term abuse
• The connection between Bennell and the murder of Andy’s aunt
• The beginnings of a personal reckoning that would change British sport

Search terms: childhood trauma podcast, football abuse scandal, Andy Woodward interview, lived experience stories, trauma and recovery, safeguarding in sport, mental health, addiction and trauma

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🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
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🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Born in Britain to Pakistani parents, Taz grew up between cultures – navigating violence, racism, and confusion around faith, masculinity, and belonging. Forced into an arranged marriage, his life spiralled into addiction, offending, and prison before honesty, therapy, and self-reflection helped him rebuild with compassion and clarity.

This episode examines how culture and religion are often conflated, how expectations can fracture identity across generations, and how misunderstanding faith can deepen shame, anger, and emotional repression. Taz speaks with rare openness about guilt, forgiveness, fatherhood, and the truth that recovery begins when survival mode ends.

In this episode:

• Growing up British-Pakistani in 80s and 90s England
• Racism, violence, identity confusion, and early trauma
• The clash between cultural expectations and personal faith
• Arranged marriage, shame, anger and emotional repression
• Prison, relapse, and the realities of addiction
• How honesty, therapy and understanding shaped long-term recovery
• Rebuilding life with compassion and purpose

Search terms: addiction recovery podcast UK, lived experience stories, trauma and recovery, British-Pakistani lived experience, culture and identity, substance misuse.

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🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Recorded live behind the scenes at Hull City Hall during their UK tour, Katie and Kerry speak candidly about ADHD, bipolar diagnoses, self-medication, toxic circles, fame, exploitation, and how accountability transformed their lives.

They share how friendship became a protective factor, why authenticity matters more than gossip or headlines, and the practical tools that helped them rebuild after the darkest moments. This episode offers a rare, honest insight into women’s experiences of addiction, shame, media pressure, relapse, and long-term recovery.

In this episode:

• How cocaine became a “best friend” and how they broke the cycle
• Why disclosures still carry more stigma for women
• Exploitation, tabloid culture and the pressure to fail in public
• Motherhood, relapse, and choosing healthier circles
• Practical recovery tools: therapy letters, affirmations, exercise, boundaries

Katie Price:
instagram.com/katieprice

Kerry Katona:
instagram.com/kerrykatona7

#believeinpeople #believeinpeoplepodcast #believeinpeopleextra

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🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Growing up as a triplet in a family where drinking was normalised, Mel describes early identity struggles, belonging within pub culture, and how her use escalated in Brighton – from drinking to dangerous encounters with dealers and a chaotic lifestyle that felt increasingly out of control. A moment of clarity in Spain shifted everything.

Mel reflects on the complexities of giving up alcohol while continuing to use cannabis, the emotional roots behind her coping behaviours, and how recovery eventually took shape through boxing, community, medication, 12-step fellowships, and building a personal sobriety toolbox that actually works.

This is a grounded, practical, and compassionate story about rebuilding identity, finding strength in healthy routines, and learning what recovery really looks like beyond abstinence or expectation.

In this episode:

• Growing up as a triplet and early identity conflict
• Pub culture, belonging, and escalating use in Brighton
• Drinking, cannabis, dealers, and unsafe situations
• The moment of clarity in Spain that shifted everything
• Boxing as a recovery tool and protective factor
• Community, fellowship, medication, and building a sobriety toolbox
• The reality of non-linear recovery and self-compassion

Search terms: alcohol recovery podcast UK, lived experience stories, substance misuse, boxing and mental health, trauma and recovery, addiction recovery.

#believeinpeople #believeinpeoplepodcast #believeinpeopleextra

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Recorded during a period of national uncertainty, Emma reflects on the cost of living crisis, social housing pressures, sewage and drainage issues, and the wider political culture that shapes how communities experience harm, trauma and recovery. We explore why transparency is essential for rebuilding public trust and how innovation – from improved infrastructure to “poo-powered planes” – could unlock more sustainable solutions.

This is a grounded, accessible conversation about public health, community resilience, and the need for leadership that brings people together rather than exploiting division. Emma highlights why unity, purpose, and local empowerment remain central to solving long-term challenges.

In this episode:

• Hull’s triple flood threat and the reality of failing infrastructure
• The rise of ketamine-related harm and community impact
• Mental health pressures linked to cost of living
• Why transparency is essential in government
• Innovation, climate resilience and “poo-powered planes”
• Building unity across communities facing trauma and inequality
• The role of purpose, connection and collaboration in long-term recovery

Search terms: ketamine harm UK, mental health crisis, addiction recovery podcast UK, lived experience stories, community recovery, Hull public health, trauma and recovery.

#believeinpeople #believeinpeoplepodcast #believeinpeopleextra

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🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Elly explains how treatment has transformed from long, punishing year-long interferon courses with severe side effects to today’s short-course tablets that are over 96 percent effective. Drawing on decades of clinical, operational and commissioning experience, she breaks down how public health services respond to complex, evolving risks and why Hepatitis C continues to affect a far broader population than many assume.

While often associated with injecting drug use, Hepatitis C also impacts people who have had tattoos abroad, unregulated cosmetic work, shared razors or toothbrushes, or undergone certain health procedures in other countries. Elly offers clear guidance on symptoms, risk factors and the long-term damage caused when the virus goes undiagnosed for years.

We also explore the barriers that prevent people from completing treatment and how genuine co-production between service users, providers and commissioners is essential for improving outcomes. This conversation is relevant for healthcare professionals, students, commissioners and anyone wanting a clear, practical understanding of one of the UK’s most significant viral risks.

In this episode:

• 30 years of harm reduction and public health practice
• The evolution of Hepatitis C treatment: from interferon to 96%-effective tablets
• How Hepatitis C affects far more people than commonly understood
• Symptoms, risks and why early diagnosis matters
• Barriers to completing treatment and how services can remove them
• The role of co-production in improving access and outcomes
• Public health innovation, stigma reduction and community engagement

Search terms: Hepatitis C elimination UK, harm reduction podcast, public health stories, addiction recovery podcast UK, trauma and recovery, lived experience, substance misuse.

#believeinpeople #believeinpeoplepodcast #believeinpeopleextra

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🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

What started as a personal recovery journey quickly evolved into something bigger. Alcohull Free became a cultural shift – a movement for people who are tired of drinking culture but still want to connect, socialise and celebrate without compromise. Henry has created a space where choosing to be alcohol-free is not about restriction, but about reclaiming joy, energy and freedom.

This candid and energising conversation explores what sobriety really looks like beyond the stereotypes, and how one person’s transformation can inspire a community-wide rebellion against outdated norms.

Whether you’re exploring sobriety, rethinking your relationship with alcohol, or looking for new ways to connect without pressure, this is an episode that could genuinely change everything.

In this episode:

• Two decades of binge drinking and the moment Henry decided to stop
• Leaving corporate life and rebuilding identity
• How Alcohull Free started and why the movement matters
• Social pressures, drinking culture and redefining connection
• Sobriety as empowerment rather than restriction
• Community, belonging and the rise of sober spaces in Hull
• Tools for anyone curious about living alcohol-free

Search terms: alcohol recovery podcast UK, sobriety stories, binge drinking recovery, alcohol-free movement, lived experience stories, trauma and recovery, substance misuse.

#believeinpeople #believeinpeoplepodcast #believeinpeopleextra

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🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Originally broadcast as part of the celebrated 60-Second Sonata segment, Alexis invited host Matthew Butler to share a deeply personal reflection on trauma, addiction, stigma, and the origins of the Believe in People podcast. In response, Alexis composed an original piano piece titled “Believe” - a bespoke composition that captures the emotional gravity, hope, and humanity within Butler’s story.

The conversation explores how speaking with hundreds of people in recovery transformed Butler’s understanding of addiction, what leads individuals to substance use, the deeply personal nature of “rock bottom,” and why non-judgemental listening remains one of the most powerful tools in harm reduction and recovery.

In an extraordinary gesture of support for the recovery community, Apple Music has donated both the composition “Believe” and the full interview audio for wider public use, helping bring conversations about stigma, compassion, and addiction recovery to new audiences.

In this episode:

• Trauma, hope and the origins of Believe in People
• How hundreds of lived experience stories shaped Butler’s understanding of addiction
• The emotional and musical process behind Alexis Ffrench's composition “Believe”
• Stigma, rock bottoms and the human side of substance use
• The importance of listening without judgement
• Apple Music’s support for recovery conversations and community outreach

Search terms: addiction recovery podcast UK, trauma and recovery, Alexis Ffrench, Apple Music collaboration, lived experience stories, stigma and addiction, mental health, recovery community.

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Once seen as a rising talent in the music scene, Young describes how losing everything forced him to rebuild not just a life, but a self. Through daily spiritual practice, humility, service, discipline, and presence, he has found a quieter, deeper form of freedom - one rooted not in status, attention or achievement, but in being genuinely useful to others.

This is not simply a story of surviving addiction. It is a raw, reflective exploration of spiritual recovery, long-term healing, and the ongoing work of becoming someone trustworthy again. Young speaks candidly about repairing relationships with his children, breaking the illusion of control, and staying grounded in a world that constantly pulls us away from ourselves.

If you’ve ever wondered what recovery looks like years after the substances have gone, this conversation offers clarity, honesty and hope. It’s not about perfection. It’s about showing up, telling the truth, and choosing peace one day at a time.

In this episode:

• What recovery really looks like years after stopping substances
• How losing everything created space to rebuild identity
• Daily spiritual practices and the discipline of presence
• Reconnecting with his children and earning back trust
• Breaking the illusion of control and embracing service
• Music, purpose, humility and long-term emotional sobriety

Search terms: addiction recovery podcast UK, spiritual recovery, life after addiction, long-term sobriety, lived experience stories, trauma and recovery, substance misuse.

If you liked this episode then you'll also love Young's first appearance 👇

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6UtKzvrzzqVJWLQxZSehJ8

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/41-young-heroin-house-music-healing-smuggling-acid/id1617239923?i=1000650255345

#believeinpeople #believeinpeoplepodcast #believeinpeopleextra

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Struggling to cope with overwhelming grief, Ross turned to alcohol and cocaine to numb the pain, leading to multiple suicide attempts and a period of profound crisis. A pivotal moment of clarity during hospitalisation marked the beginning of his recovery journey, rooted in sobriety, honesty and the lifesaving impact of peer support.

Through his involvement with Andy’s Man Club, Ross rediscovered purpose by helping create spaces where men can speak openly, confront trauma, and support each other without judgement. His story highlights the social conditioning of masculinity, the emotional cost of silence, and the healing power of community-led recovery.

This conversation also examines the moment Ross met the paramedic who saved his life - a full-circle encounter that reinforced the value of second chances and the profound ripple effect of choosing to stay.

Trigger Warning: This episode discusses suicide, addiction and mental health crises.

In this episode:

• Suicide bereavement and its long-term emotional impact
• Alcohol and cocaine misuse as coping mechanisms for grief
• Multiple suicide attempts and the moment everything changed
• Hospitalisation, sobriety and reclaiming purpose
• The role of Andy’s Man Club in community-led men’s mental health support
• Masculinity, emotional resilience and breaking the silence
• Meeting the paramedic who saved his life
• Why peer support can transform recovery

If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts, addiction or overwhelming emotions, please contact Samaritans at 116 123 or visit Andy’s Man Club to find a local group.

Search terms: suicide bereavement recovery, men’s mental health podcast UK, addiction recovery stories, lived experience, peer support groups, trauma and recovery, cocaine addiction

#believeinpeople #believeinpeoplepodcast #believeinpeopleextra

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🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Woody reflects on the early signs of substance use during his teens, including butane gas, cannabis, hallucinogens and eventually alcohol, which became his most destructive dependency. He speaks honestly about the emotional undercurrents that fuelled his use - shame, isolation, denial and the weight of unprocessed trauma.

He describes the profound personal impact of addiction: fractured family relationships, disconnection from his children, and the collapse of his physical and emotional wellbeing. A powerful turning point involving arrest and hospitalisation pushed Woody into detox, where the foundations of his recovery journey began to take shape.

A key theme throughout this conversation is the role of spirituality, nature, and meaningful human connection. Woody explains how spiritual philosophy helped him replace dependency with purpose, grounding and clarity, and how being part of a recovery community offered both accountability and belonging.

Now in a national leadership role, Woody reflects on stigma, disclosure and the complexities of bringing lived experience into professional spaces. He explores the cultural shifts needed within organisations to recognise lived experience not as a risk, but as a transformative asset.

In this episode:

• Early substance use and the emotional roots of addiction
• Butane gas, cannabis, hallucinogens and alcohol dependency
• Arrest, hospitalisation and the moment rock bottom became a turning point
• Shame, isolation and denial in active addiction
• Spirituality, nature and the foundations of long-term recovery
• Community, peer support and rebuilding family connections
• Leading with lived experience at Change Grow Live
• Stigma, disclosure and cultural change in professional settings

Search terms: addiction recovery podcast UK, lived experience leadership, spiritual recovery, trauma and recovery, substance misuse, peer support, Change Grow Live, long-term sobriety.

#believeinpeople #believeinpeoplepodcast #believeinpeopleextra

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

🔗 Then share this episode with someone who needs to hear it!

Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Chris reflects on his early experiences in the drug-fuelled 90s music scene, how substance use became normalised, and the point where creativity and chaos began to collide. He shares his journey through addiction and recovery, the turning points that helped him rebuild, and how Not Saints emerged as a platform to amplify sober artists, challenge stigma, and provide genuine community in an industry often dominated by alcohol and drug culture.

Together, Matt and Chris dismantle the myths that link creativity with substance use, discuss the glamorisation of addiction in pop culture, and highlight how storytelling, sober events and authentic expression can reshape what artistic identity looks like in recovery.

This is an inspiring conversation about purpose, second chances, and building spaces where creativity thrives without cost to wellbeing.

In this episode:

• The drug-fuelled 90s music scene and early addiction
• How recovery reshaped Chris’s relationship with creativity
• Founding Not Saints and building a sober creative community
• The myth of “needing substances to create”
• Stigma, pop culture and the glamorisation of addiction
• Sober events, storytelling and empowering artists in recovery
• Why purpose, routine and connection sustain long-term sobriety

Search terms: addiction recovery podcast UK, musicians in recovery, sober music community, lived experience stories, trauma and recovery, substance misuse, creativity and sobriety.

#believeinpeople #believeinpeoplepodcast #believeinpeopleextra

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Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

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🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Dan charts his journey from partying with rock stars to being sectioned, surviving drug-induced psychosis, and navigating the family fallout that followed. Rejecting the disease model of addiction, he advocates instead for radical accountability, discipline, structure and ownership - an approach that has made him one of Europe’s most in-demand and controversial recovery coaches.

This conversation does not shy away from division. Dan pulls no punches, challenging assumptions about treatment, personal responsibility and what it actually takes to change your life. While his views are not universal, they are rooted firmly in lived experience and delivered with a level of honesty that forces reflection.

Whether you agree or disagree, this episode sparks vital debate around the future of recovery, the limits of conventional approaches, and the role of personal agency in rebuilding a meaningful life after addiction.

In this episode:

• The rise of TalkToBigDan and his tough-love philosophy
• Drug-induced psychosis, crisis points and being sectioned
• Family fallout, shame and rebuilding identity
• Why Dan rejects the disease model of addiction
• Radical accountability, discipline and structure as recovery tools
• The tension between lived experience and traditional services
• Debates that challenge and reshape how recovery is understood

Search terms: addiction recovery podcast UK, tough-love recovery, recovery coaching, drug-induced psychosis, lived experience stories, trauma and recovery, discipline and addiction.

#believeinpeople #believeinpeoplepodcast #believeinpeopleextra

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🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

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🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

After a 5am moment of reckoning, John made a life-changing decision: to stop drinking. Not because he identified as an alcoholic, but because alcohol no longer aligned with the life he wanted to build. In the space that sobriety created, he discovered a new passion for photography and founded Hull and Yorkshire Daily, a widely followed platform capturing the beauty, grit and character of the region.

With honesty and insight, John reflects on how removing alcohol unlocked personal growth, emotional stability and even physical transformation. His story explores the pressures of drinking culture, the search for authenticity, and what it means to rebuild a life based on values rather than habits.

This conversation is a compelling reminder that sobriety is not only a response to harm - it can be a deliberate, empowering choice that makes room for creativity, purpose and self-belief.

In this episode:

• A 5am moment of clarity and choosing sobriety
• Leaving binge drinking culture behind
• How photography became a new identity and outlet
• Creating Hull and Yorkshire Daily
• Personal, emotional and physical transformation
• Redefining authenticity without alcohol
• Living a values-led life and finding connection through creativity

Search terms: sobriety podcast UK, binge drinking recovery, alcohol recovery stories, lived experience, creative recovery, trauma and recovery, Hull photography.

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🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Nearly two decades into recovery, Paul now serves as Change Grow Live’s National Service User Involvement Lead, using his lived experience to challenge stigma, influence policy, and embed the voices of people in treatment across the UK. His story is not just about abstinence - it is about reclaiming identity, finding meaning, and proving that lived experience is an asset capable of transforming entire systems.

This conversation explores resilience, purpose, and the power of turning personal pain into professional impact. Paul’s journey shows that recovery can lead not only to healing, but to leadership, innovation and lasting change.

In this episode:

• Heroin and crack cocaine addiction, collapse and near-fatal injecting injury
• The moment Paul decided to rebuild his life
• Two decades of recovery and personal transformation
• Why lived experience is essential in modern treatment systems
• Paul’s role as Change Grow Live’s National Service User Involvement Lead
• Challenging stigma and influencing national practice
• How recovery can lead to leadership, purpose and systemic change

Search terms: heroin recovery UK, crack cocaine recovery, lived experience leadership, addiction recovery stories, trauma and recovery, Change Grow Live, service user involvement.

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Together, they explore the intersections of recovery, resilience and legacy through an intimate conversation about how storytelling dismantles stigma, how lived experience shapes advocacy, and why honesty continues to be one of the most transformative tools in the recovery movement.

Matt reflects on his own journey — from working behind the scenes in addiction services to becoming the host of a nationally recognised podcast — and how the stories he’s heard have reshaped his understanding of compassion, trauma and hope. Caitlin offers moving insight into her brother Matthew’s mission to help people recover, and how his legacy continues through advocacy, education and lived-experience leadership.

This episode is a testament to the universal nature of recovery and to the power of collaboration across borders, communities and personal histories.

In this episode:

• A cross-Atlantic conversation on recovery and stigma
• The legacy of Matthew Perry and the mission of the Matthew Perry Foundation
• Matt Butler’s journey from frontline work to podcast host
• How storytelling challenges shame and transforms public understanding
• Why lived experience is vital in reducing stigma
• The emotional realities of advocacy, grief and purpose
• Reframing recovery as service, connection and compassion

Search terms: Matthew Perry Foundation, addiction recovery podcast UK, lived experience stories, stigma and recovery, storytelling and mental health, Amy Goldberg podcast, Caitlin Morrison interview.

Learn more about the hosts and their work:

• Believe in People America by Amy Goldberg: Push Back Productions | Instagram
• Caitlin Morrison and the Matthew Perry Foundation: Foundation Website | LinkedIn
• Believe in

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Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
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🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Through raw, candid storytelling, Tom shares how running became his lifeline - a way to reclaim identity, process trauma, and rebuild a life grounded in meaning rather than self-destruction. From training in front of a fireplace to surreal encounters on America’s loneliest highways, he reflects on the emotional toll of addiction, the healing power of movement, and the strangers who shaped his path along the way.

This conversation challenges stigma, celebrates recovery, and reminds us that profound purpose can be found in even the most painful places. Tom’s story shows how discipline, community, and endurance can transform not only a body, but a life.

In this episode:

• Tom’s journey from alcohol addiction to ultramarathon runner
• Running 3,073 miles across America in 100 days
• Trauma, identity loss and the emotional cost of addiction
• Why running became a source of healing and structure
• Strangers, community and the unexpected support found along the road
• Challenging stigma through lived experience and storytelling
• Purpose, resilience and rebuilding a life through movement

Search terms: alcohol recovery UK, ultramarathon recovery stories, running and mental health, lived experience stories, trauma and recovery, endurance and sobriety, substance misuse.

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Speaking with clarity and unflinching honesty, Sarah reflects on her experience of surviving sexual assault and the profound psychological impact that followed. She details the systemic barriers she encountered while seeking justice - from investigative inconsistencies to structural gaps that can retraumatise survivors rather than support them.

As Sarah traces her path through advocacy, she highlights how transforming pain into purpose became a catalyst for change. Working with the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Independent Advisory Group, as well as serving as a lived experience coordinator, she now champions survivor-led reform, pushing institutions to become more accountable, trauma-informed and compassionate.

This episode is a sobering, essential exploration of resilience, systemic improvement and the vital role of lived experience at the heart of meaningful reform.

In this episode:

• The long-term impact of surviving sexual assault
• Systemic failures and barriers within justice and investigative processes
• Trauma, recovery and rebuilding trust in institutions
• Sarah’s role in the Violence Against Women and Girls Independent Advisory Group
• Lived experience coordination and survivor-led reform
• The emotional cost of speaking out — and the power it creates
• Why advocacy, accountability and trauma-informed practice matter

Search terms: sexual trauma recovery, survivor-led advocacy, VAWG lived experience, mental health and trauma, justice system failures, addiction recovery podcast UK, stigma and recovery.

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🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Sarah reflects on her early experiences with substance use, unpacking how emotional neglect, generational patterns and unhealthy family dynamics shaped her understanding of love, loyalty and survival. She speaks candidly about the damaging impact of coercive control, the emotional fallout of loss and abandonment, and how codependency and stigma kept her trapped in cycles that felt impossible to break.

With striking honesty and insight, Sarah explores the complexities of motherhood while carrying trauma, and how the desire to protect her children became a catalyst for change. Her recovery journey is one of painful self-reflection, gradual healing and the courage to rebuild a life on her own terms.

This episode shines a light on the nuanced intersections of addiction, mental health, family systems, trauma and isolation, offering a compassionate and realistic portrayal of what long-term transformation truly requires.

In this episode:

• Early substance use and emotional coping
• Coercive control, abusive relationships and breaking the cycle
• Generational trauma and the shaping of self-worth
• Grief, abandonment and the emotional weight of loss
• Motherhood while navigating addiction and trauma
• Codependency, shame and internalised stigma
• The beginnings of Sarah’s healing and personal transformation

Search terms: addiction and trauma recovery, coercive control lived experience, grief and addiction, mental health podcast UK, family systems and recovery, lived experience stories.

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🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Chris reflects on using alcohol as a coping mechanism from a young age, the culture of excess and self-destruction that permeates the music world, and the pivotal moments that pushed him to seek recovery. With honesty and clarity, he discusses the emotional cost of addiction, the pressures of life on the road, and the profound relief of finally telling the truth.

This is a powerful reminder that behind the glamour of the stage are real people with real struggles - and that healing begins when we make space to speak openly about pain, identity and recovery.

In this episode:

• Addiction behind the scenes of the music industry
• Teenage alcohol use and coping through substances
• Recovery turning points and redefining identity
• Passenger Recovery and supporting creatives in sobriety
• Metropolis Records: A Call to Action
• Stigma, peer support and purpose-led advocacy
• Why storytelling saves lives in creative communities

Search terms: musicians in recovery, alcohol recovery stories, music industry addiction, lived experience stories, trauma and recovery, Passenger Recovery, Electric Six, creative sobriety.

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🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Shev speaks candidly about the wounds of abandonment, the complexity of family relationships, and how alcohol use quietly escalated while working in the pub industry. She challenges the stigma that surrounds single motherhood, identity, and women in recovery, sharing her determination to rewrite her story with honesty and strength.

Through community support, family connection and the rise of the sober movement, Shev has begun rebuilding a life that reflects her values, her resilience and her sense of purpose. This conversation explores the intersections of trauma, identity, motherhood and recovery — and shows how healing begins when we finally choose to reclaim our narrative.

In this episode:

• Becoming a mother at 17 and carrying adult responsibilities too soon
• Abandonment, family trauma and emotional wounds
• Alcohol escalation within the pub industry
• Stigma, single motherhood and rewriting your story
• Community support, sober movements and renewed identity
• Resilience, hope and building a self-led future
• The realities of healing while still showing up for family

Search terms: alcohol recovery stories, single motherhood and addiction, trauma and recovery, lived experience podcast UK, family dynamics in addiction, sober movement UK.

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🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
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🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

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🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

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🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Opening with a raw account of the grief, addiction, and desperation that drove his actions, Andre offers a gripping exploration of life inside the U.S. prison system - marked by gang violence, racial segregation, and institutional corruption. What sets this episode apart is Andre’s profound introspection, as he reflects on the choices that shaped his past and the spiritual awakening that helped him survive. 

Now living in the UK after deportation, Andre speaks candidly about the challenges of reintegration, the trauma of incarceration, and his mission to give back through mentorship and entrepreneurship. This powerful episode is a testament to the human capacity for change and offers vital insight into the intersections of addiction, justice, and redemption. 

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

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Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
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🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

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🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
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🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

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🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Starting to drink at just 10 years old, Harriette bravely recounts her youth in a household shattered by her father's alcoholism and her mother's involvement in abusive relationships. Whilst she was in primary school, her weekends involved consuming alcohol, reflecting a need to escape from the difficult circumstances at home.

Harriette describes the severe self-harm incidents that nearly cost her life. Her account of severing her radial artery and the subsequent life-saving interventions underscore the gravity of her situation. These experiences were crucial in her decision to enter rehab, where she finally received the comprehensive support needed to address her alcohol addiction and mental health issues.

Harriette’s story is one of transformation. Now sober, she is pursuing higher education and aims to contribute positively to the world through conservation work. Her story emphasises the importance of seeking help, the potential for personal growth, and the profound impact that recovery can have on individuals and their communities.

If you want advice about alcohol, we’re here to help  ⬇️

Click here to take our quick quiz to understand how much you’re drinking and get advice.

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🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
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🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

🔗 Then share this episode with someone who needs to hear it!

Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Now sober and working as a counsellor at Ark House Rehab, Young speaks candidly about his transformation through the 12-step programme and the redemptive power of service. His insights into the ripple effects of recovery, both personal and societal, offer a raw and resonant portrait of addiction as a universal struggle—and recovery as a deeply human triumph.

If you liked this episode then you'll also love Young's second appearance on Believe in People 👇

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6UtKzvrzzqVJWLQxZSehJ8

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/67-young-lee-recovery-vs-recovered-fatherhood-identity/id1617239923?i=1000709996629

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

🔗 Then share this episode with someone who needs to hear it!

Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

🔗 Then share this episode with someone who needs to hear it!

Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

🔗 Then share this episode with someone who needs to hear it!

Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

You can find Claira on :

• BBC Radio London 
• Instagram @missclairahermet 
• TikTok: @clairahermet

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

🔗 Then share this episode with someone who needs to hear it!

Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

🔗 Then share this episode with someone who needs to hear it!

Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

🔗 Then share this episode with someone who needs to hear it!

Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Kevin reflects on his very public battle with alcohol addiction and how active recovery over the last 25 years has reshaped his life, identity and purpose. He talks about the strange reprieve of playing a much-loved character while privately struggling, and how denial, shame and pressure played into his drinking.

Now an advocate for recovery, Kevin dedicates much of his time to peer-led support, signposting and providing coaching for individuals, families and organisations through Kennedy Street. Together, Matt and Kevin explore what healthy, sustainable sobriety looks like in real life  beyond headlines and celebrity narratives.

The conversation also touches on Kevin’s love of music and musical theatre, hidden gigs in the Manchester scene, and how creativity and service both play a role in long-term recovery.

In this episode:

• Kevin’s history of alcoholism and entering recovery 25 years ago
• Life as Curly Watts on Coronation Street and hiding addiction in plain sight
• The founding and mission of Kennedy Street recovery services
• Why peer support, asking for help and community are vital
• Musical theatre, Manchester’s hidden gigs and creative identity in recovery
• Practical advice for people questioning their relationship with alcohol
• How to live a healthy, sober life with purpose and connection

Search terms: Kevin Kennedy recovery, Coronation Street actor alcoholism, alcohol recovery podcast UK, peer support in addiction, Kennedy Street charity, lived experience stories, trauma and recovery.

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

🔗 Then share this episode with someone who needs to hear it!

Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

🔗 Then share this episode with someone who needs to hear it!

Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

🔗 Then share this episode with someone who needs to hear it!

Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

🔗 Then share this episode with someone who needs to hear it!

Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

In this heartfelt episode, Michelle discusses the importance of setting boundaries in social situations, the power of peer support, and the strength it takes to ask for help. She opens up about her preventative double mastectomy and hysterectomy after testing positive for the BRCA gene, and how those life-altering decisions shaped her outlook on health and resilience. From navigating public life in recovery to taking on the challenge of Dancing on Ice, Michelle offers honest, practical advice for anyone facing adversity — and proves that lasting change is possible.

If you liked this episode then Michelle returns to Believe in People 18 months later in episode 44 ⬇️

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2SMNgB6kBSnZxPi4vpna9w

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/44-michelle-heaton-fame-fear-fighting-back-addiction/id1617239923?i=1000654401057

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

🔗 Then share this episode with someone who needs to hear it!

Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

• The impact of Dame Carol Black's independent review on drugs 
• The public's perception of Change Grow Live
• Growing up in Scotland during the heroin epidemic 

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

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Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

🔗 Then share this episode with someone who needs to hear it!

Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew 

#believeinpeople #believeinpeoplepodcast

Click here to text our host, Matt, directly!

🎧  If this episode connected with you, please subscribe and review. It directly helps us reach more people affected by addiction, trauma and stigma. 

🔗 Then share this episode with someone who needs to hear it!

Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com 

Believe in People is a platform for lived experience, recovery insight and honest conversation. Whether you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or working on the frontline, this podcast exists to inform, challenge stigma and inspire change.

If you or someone you know needs support with drugs, alcohol, housing, domestic abuse, or mental and physical wellbeing, free and confidential help is available via Change Grow Live:

📩 Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” - Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

Listen & Subscribe:
Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🎙️ Facilitator: Matthew Butler
🎛️ Producer: Robbie Lawson
🏢 Network: ReNew