The first step to kindness is understanding and this is what we're here to do! Honest, authentic and truly fascinating conversations with people who are all a bit different. It's for curious humans, especially if you don’t have the opportunity to meet people who are a bit different in real life. We bring you conversations direct from the horse's mouth and ask the questions we know you’re dying to ask.
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#13 - Renovating a derelict chapel into a community with Sonia, Joy, Jonah and friends - Part 2
Here is part 2 of the Chapel project episode, Joy, my wife, producer Jonah and I continue to chat about our journey of renovating a derelict Chapel and I chat to some of our lovely community along the way. I love this episode as Joy, Jonah and I are well into our second bottle of wine and we get a little bit silly, but hey, this whole project is a little bit silly so it fits… and no, Joy still does not have a new kitchen! We come in when we are discussing our favourite bits…
Well thanks for listening to this episode, and indeed this series, we wanted to finish series 2 with a bang, and I hope you have enjoyed it. Please do reach out if you would like to get involved in the Chapel project, and if you live locally, do come and visit us and join in the fun.
Thanks for sharing our journey with us by listening, and let's keep growing kindness together.
www.oldchapelcafe.com (http://www.oldchapelcafe.com)
23 Jan 2026
#12 - Renovating a derelict Chapel into a community with Sonia, Joy, Jonah and friends
It's here guys, I'm soooooo excited to share this one with you, we finally convinced Joy to sit down and share our story of The Chapel. A derelict building we bought 8 years ago and have created a fabulous community space and cafe on the outskirts of Chester. It was a Thursday evening, she arrived home to 3 mics and 2 bottles of wine on the table and off we went, we had our special guest host producer, Jonah taking us on the Chapels journey. And listening back, I’m not going to lie, it's like an episode of 2 halves! We are quite serious in the first half, recanting stories from how we bought the building, to getting the first grant, however as more wine was consumed the sillier it seems to get, so by the end I just can't stop giggling! A big thanks to Jonah and some rather excellent editing for this episode! Now as you know, The Chapel isn't just our story, so I have interviewed a few of our community along the way, and we share their perspectives too. Saying that, the episode starts with us hearing from Mike and Joan, who we met through The Chapel and are now key people in our lives, which just shows the power of community. I hope you enjoy this one as much as we enjoyed making it!!
16 Jan 2026
#11 - Relying on kindness of strangers when fleeing the war in Ukraine with Vlad
I’m chatting to Vlad today, he shares a bit about his life growing up in Ukraine, falling in love with the lovely Albina, then wham, he has to make the impossible decision of should they flee from their country. He does, and what a journey, having to rely on the kindness of strangers all along the way. He chats about his 3 month stay in France, living on food vouchers, not speaking the language, trying to understand a complex system.
We also chat about a Facebook post leading to them creating a home in the UK. Vlad has a strong work ethic, and it has been so hard for him to not be able to contribute. He now runs an amazing little cafe called High Coffee in Chester, which is where I met him. He has worked so hard to make it a success, and is now building a community with other refugees on their own crazy journey to help them feel supported. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did.
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