SEND Reform: Can Every Child Truly Thrive?

Building Homes Without Roads Schools Or GPs

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2591386/fan_mail/new] Planning is meant to turn housebuilding into liveable places, but across Sussex & Surrey it often feels like we are pouring concrete first and asking awkward questions later. We sit down with Abigail Chapman-Miller (Labour), Matt Brewin (Green), James Tidy (Reform UK), Iqbal Khan and Paul Taylor-Burr to unpack why housing development planning keeps producing the same result: new estates without the shops, GP access, school places, roads, drainage and water capacity that make a community work.  We dig into the structural problem: approvals sit with one council, roads and schools with another, health commissioning with the NHS, and water and sewage with private utility companies. That fragmentation makes “joined-up thinking” hard and accountability even harder. From Poundbury’s reputation for community-led design to frustrations around Haywards Heath, Copthorne, Oxted, Forgewood and Kilnwood Vale, we test what good development looks like in practice, including the promises that slip, the management fees residents end up paying, and how flooding and drainage decisions can come back to bite.  We also tackle affordability head-on: what counts as a starter home, why “affordable housing” at 80% of market value still fails, and why empty homes and social housing supply matter. Then the debate widens to second homes, Airbnb-style holiday lets, immigration and the politics of demand. We finish with hope and practical routes forward, from stronger local plans and better long-term infrastructure funding to community campaigns like Save West of Ifield.  If you live with the consequences of planning decisions, we want to hear from you. Subscribe, share the episode, leave a review, and tell us: what should be non-negotiable before a single new home gets approved? Please click on 'Send a text' above & join our Facebook group to share your perspective and suggestions for future topics - Thank you for your interest! Clive.

SPOT: Crawley Combat Academy

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2591386/fan_mail/new]  SPOT: a slightly different format to the Roundtable discussions where we step back from the debate to Spotlight a social initiative, local event or charity. The Soapbox recently tackled knife crime with special guest Keith Collyer, Crawley Combat Academy.  A knife threat isn’t just a physical problem, it’s a decision-making problem under pressure. We head to Tilgate Huts in Crawley to sit down with Keith and two coaches, Laura and Andy from Crawley Combat Academy, following on from our earlier conversation about knife crime, to dig into what realistic self-defence training actually looks like when the goal is simple: get home safe.  Keith shares the academy’s story, from building classes across Sussex while working demanding shifts, to growing a full-time programme at Tilgate Park, and even pushing through the COVID shutdown by improving the space and preparing to reopen. We talk about his background in Wing Chun and modern systems, the challenge of instructor training, and how those experiences shape the club’s calm, practical approach to personal safety.  Then we get into the heart of it: the psychology of knife threats. Keith explains why a threat, a demand and an attack are not the same situation, and why protocols, positioning, awareness and legal boundaries matter. Coaches Laura and Andy add their lived training perspective on desensitisation, scenario work, group attacks and the confidence that comes from knowing what “doing enough” looks like.  If you care about self-defence in Sussex, knife awareness, street safety, or simply want a supportive place to train, listen now and tell us what you think. Subscribe, share with someone who walks home at night, and leave us a review so more people can find the show. Please click on 'Send a text' above & join our Facebook group to share your perspective and suggestions for future topics - Thank you for your interest! Clive.

SEND Reform: Can Every Child Truly Thrive?

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2591386/fan_mail/new] Special Guest: - Matt Brewin, Primary School Teacher in Haywards Heath and Chair of Mid Sussex Green Party - Paul Taylor-Burr, Community Volunteer and Parent of two children with ASD/ADHD  Roundtable Featuring: Abigail Chapman-Miller (Labour), Iqbal Khan (Tess' Kitchen) & James Tidy (Reform UK). Host: Clive Hilton.  The SEND system was built to protect vulnerable children, so why do so many parents across Sussex & Surrey describe it as a fight for basic understanding? We bring together a primary school teacher, councillors and parents with lived experience of ADHD and autism to talk plainly about what is happening on the ground: long waits, overstretched schools, and an EHCP process that can feel like a second full-time job. We break down the jargon so you can follow the real choices families face: SEND, EHCNAs, EHCPs, ISP/ILPs, and the proposed move towards Individual Support Plans in the 2026 SEND white paper. From the classroom, we hear how inclusion is meant to work and why it so often collapses under funding gaps, fewer teaching assistants and rising need. We also get into the uncomfortable questions people avoid, including whether diagnosis is being underused or overused, what labels do to a child’s confidence, and how to make “reasonable adjustments” without leaving children unprepared for the real world. The conversation goes beyond paperwork into what a fair education system should value. Are league tables and Ofsted driving better outcomes, or driving burnout and pushing schools away from flexibility? What would it take to make mainstream education genuinely accessible, and when is specialist provision the right answer? We finish with practical reflections for parents about coping, advocacy, and why some families feel pushed towards home education. If you care about SEND reform, UK education policy, neurodiversity, EHCP funding, and what schools in Sussex & Surrey need to actually deliver support, this one is for you. Subscribe for more local, balanced conversations, share this with a parent or teacher who needs it, and leave us a review with your take: what should change first? Please click on 'Send a text' above & join our Facebook group to share your perspective and suggestions for future topics - Thank you for your interest! Clive.

SPOT: St Catherine's Hospice Midnight Walk

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2591386/fan_mail/new]  SPOT: a slightly different format to the Roundtable discussions where we step back from the debate to Spotlight a social initiative, local event or charity. Saturday 6th June and it's the Midnight Walk 2026! Orange T-shirts, glitter, LED tutus, and a range of routes from 2miles to 17miles - walking through the night in the memory of friends, family and for a hospice that depends on its community to keep end-of-life care personal, local, and available. From the start line at the St Catherine’s Hospice Midnight Walk, we soak up the atmosphere and meet the walkers who are out there for mums, dads, neighbours, and friends they still carry with them. We also sit down for an in depth conversation with Giles Tomsett, St Catherine’s Hospice CEO to get honest about what hospice care really is. Many people picture a building, but a huge amount of hospice support happens in people’s homes, working alongside GPs, district nurses, and social care to help someone die at home if that’s their wish. We talk about what a “good death” can mean in real life, why those final moments matter so much to families, and the surprising national context, including the fact that 44% of deaths in the UK still happen in a hospital. Then we get into the reality of hospice funding across Sussex & Surrey: how NHS funding contributes, why charity shops and events like the Midnight Walk are vital, and why regular monthly donations help hospices plan when costs rise. If you’ve ever wondered how to support palliative care in your area, this conversation gives clear, practical options and a powerful reason to act. If it moves you, please share this with someone local, subscribe so you don’t miss the deeper hospice care conversation we want to host next, and leave us a review. Who would you walk for? Please click on 'Send a text' above & join our Facebook group to share your perspective and suggestions for future topics - Thank you for your interest! Clive.

SPOT: Reigate Summer Festival

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2591386/fan_mail/new]  SPOT: a slightly different format to the Roundtable discussions where we step back from the debate to Spotlight a Charity or in this case a local arts festival - Reigate Summer Festival with Tim Glynne-Jones.  A rock set in the mouth of a tunnel, choirs in a church, an art exhibition, and a pop-up photo show inside an estate agent. Reigate Summer Festival is the kind of bold, creative and friendly idea that makes you look at your own town differently, and we’re joined by one of the organisers Tim Glynne-Jones to explain how it all comes together. We talk through the festival weekend (19 to 21 June) and why the team describe it as a mini Edinburgh in Surrey: music, dance, drama, poetry, literature, film, photography, fashion and more, much of it free to enjoy. Tim shares the longer story too, from launching New Music Nights in 2013 as a platform for original songwriters, to building New Music Fest, and then widening the collaboration so multiple arts organisations can help shape a true general arts festival right in the centre of Reigate. You’ll get a clear guide to the layout with four key venues and stages, plus a fast-growing fringe of 30+ locations across cafés, bars, shops and community spaces. We also cover the festival’s charity partners, how donations raised around £5,000 last year, and what’s new this year including an upcycled-friendly fashion show at Ivory Lounge, more photography, more art, and low-cost workshops that make it easy to learn something new with friends or kids. If you like local culture, live music, community arts, and practical ideas you can actually act on, press play, then subscribe, share the episode with a friend in Sussex or Surrey, and leave us a review with your favourite part of the festival. Please click on 'Send a text' above & join our Facebook group to share your perspective and suggestions for future topics - Thank you for your interest! Clive.