Speak Up Sunderland
Jay Sykes Media
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Top 10 Speak Up Sunderland Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Speak Up Sunderland episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Speak Up Sunderland for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Speak Up Sunderland episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
Stars of Sunderland 3 - June Ainsley
Speak Up Sunderland
05/31/19 • 22 min
"Every patient is a person, an individual, a human being. And we've got to make sure, no matter what age and how far on they are in their dementia, that they have that dignity right up to the end."
June Ainsley works full time with autistic and special needs children. But due to the help she received from a dementia charity here in Sunderland when her mother was admitted to hospital, she now spends her free time organising fundraising campaigns.
Whether it's dressing as Elvis and visiting the guests, organising fundraising events such as the upcoming sponsored 'bed push' along the seafront, or organising collections for objects like hairdryers, pyjamas, underwear, toiletries, stationary and shampoo, which people would otherwise go without.
The Dementia Outreach Team (or DOT) at Sunderland General Hospital have nominated June for this month's Stars of Sunderland - and we couldn't agree more!
Stars of Sunderland, created by journalist James Barker, showcases people in Sunderland who have done amazing things in their community - and gives a little back to the people who go out of their way to do so much.
But before we begin today, we have some really good news to share...
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Speak Up Sunderland is proudly made in Sunderland!
Our hosts are Betty Ball and Stevie B, with music by Timecrawler 82, and our producer is Jay Sykes.
Join us on our journey:
Our website - SpeakUpSunderland.com Twitter - @SpeakUpSun Instagram - @SpeakUpSun or join us on Facebook!
Spooky Stories with Spectral Visions Press
Speak Up Sunderland
10/30/19 • 44 min
Red Riding Blood. Witches put to trial. The monsters behind the screen. This is the Speak Up Sunderland Halloween Special.
Spooky stories for Halloween, read by 6 members of Spectral Visions Press, a publishing house based at the University of Sunderland who focus on the gothic, horror, and macabre.
Joining us live to share stories at the Fire Station in Sunderland were Spectral Visions' two founders:
- Dr. Alison Younger - Programme Leader, MA English Studies
- Colin Younger - Senior Lecturer, English and Creative Writing
"Gothic is sexy, gothic is everything. Our students loved it, so we set Spectral Visions up so they had somewhere to publish it. It's not just students - we encourage anyone from Sunderland to submit work."
"When students leave university, they don't just leave with a degree, but they leave with work experience from a publishing house, and with published writing. So it's a good first step on the ladder."
And with poetry / creative writing readings from:
- Carolyn Thomas
- Rubin Blue
- Lizzy Hergraves
- Anthony Anderson
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Speak Up Sunderland is a podcast proudly produced in Sunderland, for Sunderland.
Our hosts Betty Ball and Stevie B, and our producer is Jay Sykes.
Our music (heavily butchered this episode!) was created by Timecrawler 82, and our new logo and branding by Jorge Vinicio.
Join us on our journey:
Our website - SpeakUpSunderland.com Twitter - @SpeakUpSun Instagram - @SpeakUpSun or join us on Facebook!
Stars of Sunderland 2 - Paige Hunter
Speak Up Sunderland
04/26/19 • 40 min
This episode of the Speak Up Sunderland podcast carries a trigger warning: We talk about attempted suicide, post traumatic stress, substance abuse, and mental health issues - with people who have lived mental health experience.
Local inspiration 18-year-old Paige was commended by the Northumbria Police for her project called 'Notes on the Wear', where she single-handedly attached 40 different messages to Sunderland's Wearmouth bridge last year.
The idea; that if she could save even one person from attempting suicide, the project would have been more than worth it. To date, Paige has received 19 messages to thank her for changing their lives.
The Stars of Sunderland series is produced by journalist James Barker. It's all about highlighting the work of exceptional individuals or organisations in Sunderland that go above and beyond for the community.
Paige Hunter joined us at our fourth Speak Up Sunderland Live event at The Peacock, alongside Katie Baggott, founder of the 'S.O.S. Sunderland Opinion and Stories' website, launching in May 2019.
'S.O.S.' is a website focused on mental health stigma and awareness, and it’s launching in May 2019.
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Speak Up Sunderland is proudly made in Sunderland!
Our hosts are Betty Ball and Stevie B, with music by Timecrawler 82, and our producer is Jay Sykes.
Join us on our journey:
Our website - SpeakUpSunderland.comTwitter - @SpeakUpSunInstagram - @SpeakUpSunderlandor join us on Facebook!
Len Gibson and the Sunderland Remembrance Service
Speak Up Sunderland
11/07/20 • 16 min
This is Len Gibson, BEM.
He’s reading from his collection of poetry, which he’s compiled over the past hundred years of his life. You heard that right, Len Gibson turned 100 years old on the third of January this year.
Len’s regarded as not only a hero to Sunderland, but also a national hero. During the second world war, Len was a member of the 125 Anti-Tank Regiment Royal Artillery.
Between 1942, and 1945, Len was held as a Far East Prisoner of War - he was forced by the Japanese Empire to work on a railway which stretches between Thailand and Burma - the “Death Railway”, as it’s come to be known. Len was one of an estimated 180,000 - 250,000 prisoners of war who were subjected to forced labour on the railway.
Len’s a well-known figure here in Sunderland. Usually, Len would be delivering a reading at our city’s Remembrance Parade. It’s one of the biggest parades in the UK, the biggest outside of London.
This year, because of the ongoing lockdown, the Remembrance Parade it’s moving online. Sunderland City Council are creating a series of short films alongside the day.
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Speak Up Sunderland is a podcast proudly produced in Sunderland, for Sunderland.
Our hosts Betty Ball and Stevie B, and our producer is Jay Sykes.
Our music was created by Timecrawler 82, and our logo and branding by Jorge Vinicio.
This episode features recordings of the Sunderland Remembrance Parade by Mike Walker Camera, and additional music by Andy G. Cohen.
Join us on our journey:
Our website - SpeakUpSunderland.com Twitter - @SpeakUpSun Instagram - @SpeakUpSun or join us on our Facebook and YouTube!
Cash 4 Calendars
Speak Up Sunderland
11/29/18 • 28 min
Today, we bring you the "Cash 4 Calendars" campaign!
Speak Up Sunderland host Betty Ball teamed up with Kate Townsend, the Sunderland Foodbank Coordinator, to raise £500 - enough to buy an advent calendar for every kid in Sunderland who depends on the food banks, and would otherwise miss out on the countdown to Christmas.
But they smashed the target! At the moment, the total stands at over £1,600, including over 500 advent calendars, for children in Sunderland.
As Betty's a Breakfast presenter on Spark in Sunderland, she called on the help of many of the community radio stations' volunteers - including the Sunderland-based 14-year old singer / songwriter Tom 'Mouse' Smith, who presents Spark's Local Music Show, and performed live at independent to raise money - and Drive Time presenter Jonny Beattie, who had his chest and armpits waxed to raise money! Youch!
A great big thank you from Betty to the local & national businesses & partners who helped raise money for the Cash 4 Calendars campaign. Alan Patchett, Asiana Fusion Restaurant, Independent, Laura Hartland Adams, Lofthouse & Partners, Marks & Spencer, Martin & Co. Sunderland, Nanny G's Cafe, Pop Recs, Richard Reed Solicitors, the Sunderland Bid, ramarketing, Tequila Tequila, The Church Door, Tombola, T.U.S. Hair Design, the University of Sunderland, and Wilko.
Click here if you want to get involved in helping the Sunderland Foodbank.
Follow our journey on Twitter - @SpeakUpSun or join us on Facebook!
This episode of Speak Up Sunderland features music by Tom 'Mouse' Smith, and our theme tune is by Timecrawler 82.
Produced by Jay Sykes.
Asunder
Speak Up Sunderland
11/12/20 • 26 min
How can you capture the mood of a country at war in a documentary?
With a uniquely poetical, musical filmmaking style, artist and filmmaker Prof. Esther Johnson was commissioned by 14-18 Now to create "Asunder" - a uniquely moving and vibrant documentary which interweaves narratives from conflict overseas with characters in the North East.
"Asunder tells the story of what happened to an English town during the First World War, with almost all of its men abroad fighting and its women and children left behind. The North East was in the front line, thanks to its shipyards and munitions factories."
Our host Betty Ball meets Esther to hear all about the process of creating Asunder - poring over a hundred sources of archive material, working with renowned presenters Kate Adie and Alun Armstrong, and the composition of original music which makes Asunder such a distinctive WW1 documentary.
Featuring original music from the soundtrack composed by Sunderland’s Mercury-nominated Field Music and Newcastle’s Warm Digits, performed with the Royal Northern Sinfonia and The Cornshed Sisters.
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Speak Up Sunderland is a podcast proudly produced in Sunderland, for Sunderland.
This episode was hosted by Betty Ball, and produced by Jay Sykes.
Our music was created by Timecrawler 82, and our logo and branding by Jorge Vinicio.
Join us on our journey:
Our website - SpeakUpSunderland.com Twitter - @SpeakUpSun Instagram - @SpeakUpSun or join us on our Facebook and YouTube!
Marty Longstaff - Speak Up Sunderland LIVE #2
Speak Up Sunderland
03/01/19 • 54 min
Alreet! We're back, live from the Peacock in Sunderland city centre on Wednesday, with Sunderland-based singer & songwriter Marty Longstaff (a.k.a. The Lake Poets).
You may know Marty's song "Shipyards" as the title track on the Netflix documentary series "Sunderland 'Til I Die", detailing a difficult season for the SAFC (Sunderland Association Football Club), produced by Fulwell 73...
But tonight, in front of a live audience, Marty shared the origins of this beautiful, heart-wrenching song, and led a conversation about Sunderland's shipbuilding history, the value of arts in education, and the importance of supporting local music.
Huge thanks to everyone who joined us live at the Peacock, but especially to everyone who joined the discussion with Marty:
- Victoria Armstrong, a Dancer & Choreographer based in Sunderland
- Andrea Bell, a property agent who's planning to open a soup kitchen in Sunderland
- Ken Devine, artist & owner of the Frederick Street Gallery in Sunniside
- Lesley Etherington, who was actually Stevie's form tutor for 5 years back when he was at Thornhill School
- Jacob Kirkbride, an MA Radio student at the University of Sunderland
- Lee Milburn, who's devoted 27 years to working at Nissan
- Adam O'Wellen, foundation student at the University of Sunderland, whose incredible poetry we featured on the previous episode of Speak Up Sunderland
- Stephanie Smith, a Sunderland-based visual artist recently featured in "Drawing in the Dark" on BBC Radio 4
- Barrie West, a visual artist who runs the Sunderland INDIE artist collective
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Speak Up Sunderland is proudly made in Sunderland!
Our hosts are Betty Ball and Stevie B, with music by Timecrawler 82, and our producer is Jay Sykes.
Follow our journey on Twitter - @SpeakUpSun, on Instagram - @SpeakUpSunderland, or join us on Facebook!
Sunderland's Landmarks
Speak Up Sunderland
09/19/18 • 22 min
Alreeeet! Welcome to Speak Up Sunderland!
Join Betty Ball & Jay... I mean Stevie B for this weekly podcast, proudly made both in and about Sunderland!
Join us, and let us "envelop" you in the "warm, moist" sounds of this episode as our friends pick 5 locations each in Sunderland, to have their photos taken.
This is the first of a two-part episode; next week we'll be meeting with Sunderland-based photographer Ryan Booth, and racing around the city with Ryan's lens.
Follow our journey on Twitter - @SpeakUpSun.
Featuring music by Timecrawler 82.
Produced by Jay Sykes.
Sunderland Foodbank Network - Speak Up Sunderland LIVE at the Peacock #1
Speak Up Sunderland
02/05/19 • 27 min
Alreeeet!
Welcome to our very first Speak Up Sunderland Live podcast! This is part one.
We're so thrilled to have recorded in front of a live audience - huge thanks to our friends at the Peacock in Sunderland city centre.
Kate Townsend, the Coordinator of the Sunderland Foodbank Network joined us to share about the hugely important service they provide to at-need residents of Sunderland, and the future plans of their food collections.
And a surprise guest to the mic, University of Sunderland student Adam O'Wellen, who shared his experience with using a food bank, his opinions on the community in Sunderland, and on social isolation, in the form of incredible original poetry.
Next week, join us for another instalment of our first live event: Featuring the Head of the Sunderland City Council, Graeme Miller, and more surprise original poetry by local poet & artist Hester Dowling.
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Speak Up Sunderland is a weekly podcast, proudly made in Sunderland and about Sunderland!
Our hosts are Betty Ball and Stevie B, with music by Timecrawler 82, and our producer is Jay Sykes.
Follow our journey on Twitter - @SpeakUpSun, on Instagram - @SpeakUpSunderland, or join us on Facebook!
Wor Vera - Singing for Care Home Residents
Speak Up Sunderland
04/18/20 • 25 min
Meet "Wor Vera", a.k.a. singer Deborah Taylor-Smith, who's donating her time and her voice by performing songs from throughout the decades outside care home residents across the North East.
As care homes across the country are losing lives to COVID-19, Deb, who's studying BA Performing Arts at the University of Sunderland, is lifting spirits for residents when they're in need of positivity more than ever.
"I have to hold back tears. A lot of the places I go to, the care homes, people are living with dementia. They can't remember that they've just had food before the show, they don't remember what happened five minutes ago.
"But as soon as I start singing these songs, they light up, they wave flags, they're dancing. It's overwhelming."
Join us as hosts Betty Ball & Stevie B meet Deborah back at the last Speak Up Sunderland Live before the COVID-19 outbreak began, at the Fire Station in Sunderland.
Hear about her journey; from gaining confidence and realising her talent, to beginning singing in public, booking gigs, and making a successful living from singing.
Featuring Abbie Bianchi, and Angie Cumerford.
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We want to be your platform if you have anything to share with us - how you're feeling, how you've been affected, or your family, your business, your wellbeing - absolutely anything.
Please send us a voice recording as a private message on our Facebook - we'll be using content in our upcoming episodes.
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Speak Up Sunderland is a podcast proudly produced in Sunderland, for Sunderland.
Our hosts Betty Ball and Stevie B, and our producer is Jay Sykes.
Our music (heavily butchered this episode!) was created by Timecrawler 82, and our new logo and branding by Jorge Vinicio.
Join us on our journey:
Our website - SpeakUpSunderland.com Twitter - @SpeakUpSun Instagram - @SpeakUpSun or join us on Facebook!
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FAQ
How many episodes does Speak Up Sunderland have?
Speak Up Sunderland currently has 36 episodes available.
What topics does Speak Up Sunderland cover?
The podcast is about Stories, People, Places & Travel, Society & Culture, England, Story, Audio, Local and Podcasts.
What is the most popular episode on Speak Up Sunderland?
The episode title 'Wor Vera - Singing for Care Home Residents' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Speak Up Sunderland?
The average episode length on Speak Up Sunderland is 31 minutes.
How often are episodes of Speak Up Sunderland released?
Episodes of Speak Up Sunderland are typically released every 13 days, 10 hours.
When was the first episode of Speak Up Sunderland?
The first episode of Speak Up Sunderland was released on Jul 24, 2018.
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