Building Bridges in the Food System: Dr Lucy Wallace

A Mission to Spread Kindness: Joshua Ford

This week we're joined by Joshua Ford, an award-winning actor and filmmaker whose work explores kindness, vulnerability, human connection and the belief that creativity can change lives.  In 2024 he made a film called Hey You, Yes You, Open Me [https://heyyouopenme.co.uk/], dropping a hundred handwritten notes of kindness across London's tubes and buses, each one a message of hope and an invitation to connect. It went viral, and Joshua still hears from people every day, grateful for the impact it has had on them. Joshua grew up in a small, busy house in High Wycombe with three brothers, his parents and a couple of animals. Amid the chaos, and his mum's serious ill health, there was so much kindness that he assumed the whole world worked that way. He believes he was drawn to the arts because of it, drawn to understanding people more because of the compassion shown to him. He emphasises keeping your imagination alive and not caring if you look silly doing what you love. As he puts it, when it comes to creativity, "it doesn't really matter what people think so much because you've made it and they haven't." Link here [https://heyyouopenme.co.uk/] to watch ‘Hey You, Yes You, Open Me’ More about Joshua Ford: Alongside his creative endeavours, Joshua champions a “DIY” approach to creativity, believing that creativity can underpin almost every part of life and help nurture the truest human experiences. Through his films, talks, and community projects, he encourages others to stop waiting for permission and simply begin making, connecting, and expressing themselves authentically. Read our blog 'Shifting the Baseline: Joshua Ford's episode' here. [https://www.rebootthefuture.org/news/shifting-the-baseline-joshua-fords-episode] Subscribe for more stories and practical tools from Reboot the Future. www.rebootthefuture.org [https://www.rebootthefuture.org/]

Shamelessly Idealistic Creativity: Ben Peers

Ben Peers, Creative Director, Designer and Videographer, believes that nothing ever really changes for the better without a little bit of shameless, idealistic creativity. He also believes that our fixation on metrics and the bottom line can stifle our ability to challenge the status quo and shame idealism out of us. He recalls the same trajectory in his own life: creativity that flourished in primary school, before that spark was stifled and shamed within the conformist walls of secondary school. That's why he created 'Good Eye [https://goodeye.world/about]', a safe space for idealism and a counterweight to the cynicism that stops us believing we can do things differently. As he says, "if we're discouraged from imagining a better future because it's too idealistic, then how on earth are we ever going to even achieve a fraction of that?" He shares how, through Good Eye, he is bringing together a community of creatives who want to use their talent to build a better world. He wants to awaken people to a possibility many of us lose sight of: that creativity is for more than selling things, it can help build the world we want to live in. More about Ben Peers: Ben Peers is a London-based Creative Director, Designer and Videographer. In 2025 he began developing Good Eye, a community for creatives who want to use their creativity for good. Read our blog 'On the Side of Nice: Ben Peers’s episode’ here. [https://www.rebootthefuture.org/news/on-the-side-of-nice-ben-peerss-episode] Subscribe for more stories and practical tools from Reboot the Future. www.rebootthefuture.org [https://www.rebootthefuture.org/]

Building Bridges in the Food System: Dr Lucy Wallace

What happens when you stop trying to fit in and start trusting your own way of seeing the world? Dr Lucy Wallace, a convenor and peacebuilder in food systems, has spent her career bringing people together in rooms thick with conflict, holding to one quiet belief: everyone deserves a seat at the table. In this conversation she takes us from a childhood spent hunting out small pockets of nature in the concrete West Midlands, to the noisy halls of COP, where making space for every voice is rarely tidy but is how trust slowly takes root. She speaks openly about embracing her late-diagnosed ADHD, about peacebuilding between those working in food systems, and about hope. When others try to dim your light, she says, it is usually a sign you have touched on something that matters.  Her gentle encouragement to the rest of us is to stay with it, and to keep building the empathy that carries people along. More about Lucy Dr Lucy Wallace is a globally recognised connector, convenor and peacemaker in the food system, with 20 years' experience.  She is the founder of Liminal Thinking, where she advises organisations on food innovation ecosystems, and Creative Director for tmrw. She has held senior roles at EIT Food, led the secretariat of the Action on Food hub at the UNFCCC COP, and co-founded REGEN HOUSE.  A biologist by training, with a zoology degree from Aberdeen and a PhD in veterinary science, her feel for complex systems is rooted in the living world. Want to think more about the issues raised in this podcast? Read our blog 'When 'Not Enough' Means it's Time to Share' here. [https://www.rebootthefuture.org/news/when-not-enough-means-its-time-to-share-dr-lucy-wallaces-episode] Subscribe for more stories and practical tools from Reboot the Future. www.rebootthefuture.org [https://www.rebootthefuture.org/]

The Right Thing To Do : Samantha Ward OBE

What happens when you refuse to accept that nothing can be done? In this episode, we hear from Samantha Ward OBE, Deputy CEO of Royal Voluntary Service, whose lifelong conviction that the world can be changed for the better has shaped an extraordinary career in service and volunteering. From childhood, Sam had a powerful sense of right and wrong and the grit to go with it, always asking not just "why is this happening?" but "what can we do about it?" Where others saw naivety, Sam saw possibility, and she never stopped acting on it. That conviction was tested most visibly when the pandemic hit and Royal Voluntary Service stepped forward while others battened down the hatches. The result? The NHS Volunteer Responders programme, built in a matter of weeks, which mobilised 750,000 volunteers and delivered support over 2.6 million times to people who might otherwise have been completely cut adrift. Sam also shares the more recent launch of GoVo, RVS's flexible volunteering platform now home to nearly 1,800 charities, designed to meet people where they are and make volunteering work for modern life, whether that's 20 minutes on the way home or a Saturday afternoon trying something completely new. As Sam describes it, it was built on the same quiet certainty that it was simply the right thing to do. More about Samantha:  Samantha Ward OBE, Deputy CEO and Chief of Services and Volunteering at Royal Voluntary Service As well as Deputy CEO responsibilities, Sam is also responsible for Royal Voluntary Service's volunteering, safeguarding & service delivery, including health, social care, community services and Armed Forces support.  Sam is also a qualified Leadership Coach, Mentor & Consultant for Leaders who feel driven to serve and are born to lead. She was awarded an OBE for services to charity in 2022. Links and resources: * Royal Voluntary Service [https://www.royalvoluntaryservice.org.uk/] * GoVo volunteering platform [https://govo.org/] Want to think more about the issues raised in this podcast? Read our blog 'The Girl Who Wouldn't Look Away' here. [https://www.rebootthefuture.org/news/leaning-into-the-needs-of-the-day-samantha-ward-obes-episode] Subscribe for more stories and practical tools from Reboot the Future. www.rebootthefuture.org [https://www.rebootthefuture.org/]

What does good look like?: David Butcher

Before he made it to the boardroom, David Butcher managed the stage at a Jimi Hendrix concert. What he learned backstage on a Baltic island about motivation, leadership and getting the best out of people stayed with him through three CEO roles and a lifetime in business. In this episode, David makes the case that the most effective leaders are not the loudest ones. Kindness, compassion and the courage to ask simple, naive questions, he argues, are the tools that cut through complexity, unlock better thinking and drive better outcomes. The boardroom, it turns out, needs a little more of what worked backstage at the Love and Peace Festival. More about David Butcher:  A veteran of more than 50 years in the pensions and investment industry, David has been a CEO three times and served as a non-executive director on the pensions boards of BlackRock, Legal & General, Scottish Widows and The Peoples Pension. David has also chaired two companies in the wellbeing and mindfulness space and served as a board member for two research organisations in the pensions and asset management sector. A mind management practitioner for 50 years, David is now bringing the benefits of mind management to individuals and companies. Through Positively Aware Ltd, David provides coaching and mentoring services to individuals and companies to improve mental health and wellbeing, resilience and productivity. Want to think more about the issues raised in this podcast? Read our blog 'What kind of world are we building?' here. [https://www.rebootthefuture.org/news/what-kind-of-world-are-we-building-david-butchers-episode] Subscribe for more stories and practical tools from Reboot the Future. www.rebootthefuture.org [https://www.rebootthefuture.org/]