Sussex & Surrey Soapbox

Clicks, Coffee & Community: The Future of the High Street

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2591386/fan_mail/new]  Special Guests:  - Michelle Lucas, Only Dogs Ltd - an award winning Dog grooming business on Lingfield High Street. - Sami Ella Bristow, Blossoms Brunch & Coffee - a thriving community cafe in Godstone adept at navigating the challenges of rising costs & the sinkhole! Plus Roundtable Featuring: Maureen Jones, Micaela Leal, Georgie Lucas, Aga Es, Abigail Chapman-Miller, James Tidy & Magdalena Rahman. Host: Clive Hilton.  The high street is not dying because people do not care; it is changing because online convenience, rising costs and shifting habits make old retail models hard to sustain. We hear from local business owners and residents on what is really squeezing independents and what a more service-led, community high street could look like.  • rising costs for small businesses, from VAT and wages to commercial utilities and rates  • the impact of disruption and access, including road closures and parking pressure  • why taking on a shop lease feels like high-stakes risk versus reward  • how service businesses like grooming and hospitality keep footfall local  • the Amazon effect, price gaps, reviews and the lure of next day delivery  • fast fashion, returns culture, waste and sustainability on the high street  • what people miss most, from Woolworths to M&S, and what would bring them back  • realistic optimism around quality, community spirit and younger generations  Do follow us on Spotify. Let us know what you think of these episodes as well and future topics that we should cover. Tell us what do you think? Leave a comment below or click on send a text. 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: Find A Local Business (FALB)

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 social initiative FALB (Find A Local Business) helping local independent businesses thrive. This SPOTlight compliments the Roundtable episode which lands Sunday 24 May, where we get into the High Street and challenges facing local businesses. We go to Maidenbower Park Community Club in Crawley to join the fortnightly Friday FALB networking event - a grassroots community meet-up that makes supporting local businesses feel easy, social, and genuinely useful. Along the way, we talk about the real challenges independent traders face, including the quiet loneliness of working from home, and why a simple coffee chat can unlock collaboration, referrals, and confidence. We also spotlight the below local businesses (please use the chapters to skip to relevant): - Emma Hollamby, Emma Hollamby Photography: www.emmahollambyphoto.co.uk - Michaela Bottner, Bloem Clinic: www.bloemclinic.co.uk - Katy Clarke, Green Serene Beauty Therapy and Tropic Skincare with Katy: www.tropicskincare.com/katyclarke - Tammy Hall, Stitched By T: @stitched_by_t - Zoe Mills, Zoe Mills Photography: www.zoemillsphotography.com - Amanda & Greger Young, Health Matters UK: www.healthmattersuk.co.uk (authors of 'Understanding Andropause' and 'The Men in Menopause') - Rasa Maria, French Tutor at www.interlangue.co.uk AND Seamstress @recouture To search for local businesses or to join as a member contact Nichola and the team at www.findalocalbusinesscrawley.co.uk 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.

Mental Health Awareness Week: When Staying Quiet Hurts

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2591386/fan_mail/new] Special Guest: Shariff Boolaky, Menshare Listening Group & BRING YOUR SH*T host.  Plus Roundtable Featuring: Maureen Jones, Micaela Leal, Abigail Chapman-Miller, James Tidy & Iqbal Khan. Host: Clive Hilton.  If your mental health has felt heavier in the last few years, you are not alone and you are not “too sensitive”. We sit down as the Sussex & Surrey Soapbox roundtable to talk about what anxiety, burnout, loneliness and depression look like on the ground across Sussex, Surrey and the wider UK, and why so many people feel isolated even with constant digital connection.  Shariff from Menshare Listening Group shares what he hears week after week in facilitated listening circles: the hidden impact of divorce, parental alienation, custody battles, addiction, overthinking and the quiet slide into emotional shutdown. We also talk directly about men’s mental health and suicide prevention, including what helps when someone looks like they might be at serious risk, and why simply crossing the threshold into a supportive room can be a turning point.  Psychotherapist Maureen Jones breaks down early warning signs you can actually spot, from sleep issues and feeling flat to irritability and repeated “escape” habits. We explore when counselling can help, when speaking to your GP matters, and why medication can sometimes be the breathing space people need to start recovery. Abigail shares lived experience of CPTSD and the complicated role of diagnosis culture, plus what changed when therapy finally became the right fit at the right time. We finish with practical coping tools that work for us: gratitude, nature, routine, discipline, creativity, faith, and reaching out before things spiral.  If any of this hits home, share the episode with someone who might need it, subscribe for more community conversations, and leave a review to help others find Sussex & Surrey Soapbox. 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: Creative Crawley - Art, Play & Reimagining Our Community

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 or in this case a Charity making a huge difference in our local community. Crawley doesn’t need to be “made cultural” from the outside, it needs the spotlight put on what’s already here and the space to build what’s next. We’re joined by Louise Blackwell, Creative Director at Creative Crawley, to talk about how public murals, playful festivals, and unexpected art in everyday places are changing how the town feels to live in. If you’ve walked past County Mall and spotted the changing window installations, picked up the Book of Crawley, or heard people rave about Around The Lake Festival, there’s a good chance you’ve already met Creative Crawley without realising it. We get into the practical work behind inclusive community arts: making events free or genuinely affordable, partnering with Arts Council England and Crawley Borough Council, and designing projects that welcome people with any level of confidence or experience. Louise shares the thinking behind using Crawley as a canvas, from resident-led ideas to collaborations that connect communities through making, including garment projects with women from Afghan and Ukrainian backgrounds. We also talk about what “access” really means, and why bringing culture closer to home can foster a positive, creative vibe to the town. Then we dive into what’s coming up: 1) Saturday 20 June: A youth open day by CCYS and Creative Crawley, exclusively for ages 12 to 18 to explore. 10-2pm at the Dormans Youth Arts Centre. 2) Thursday 11 June: A town-wide call to 'play' between midday and 2pm as a launch moment for a future National Festival of Play with Hemingway Design. From playing instruments and board games through to playing sport - Creative Crawley would love to recieve your pictures and clips. 3) Weekend 25 & 26 July: Crawley Fusion Mela, with Creative Crawley curating Saturday’s programme in County Mall.  Find them at @CreativeCrawley and www.creativecrawley.com, send in your play photos and clips, and tell us what you want Crawley to try next. If you enjoyed this, please subscribe, share with a friend, and leave us a review. Episode Picture Credit: Ian Greenland 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.

Social Media Rewards Conflict More Than Community

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2591386/fan_mail/new]  Roundtable Featuring: Michelle Lucas (Special Guest), Maureen Jones, Micaela Leal, Georgie Lucas, Aga Es, Abigail Chapman-Miller, James Tidy & Magdalena Rahman. Host: Clive Hilton.  Social media can make grown adults talk like strangers at war, and we’ve all felt that shift. Around our Sussex & Surrey Soapbox Roundtable, we dig into a blunt question: does the internet reward conflict more than community? and is it warping local democracy in the process? We talk through what the run-up to the 7 May local elections looked like from the front line, including the personal cost of campaigning when online abuse escalates into accusations, slurs, and lazy labels that replace real policy debate. James and Abigail share how quickly people jump to “Nazi”, “transphobic”, or worse, and why that kind of reductionistic language doesn’t just hurt feelings, it discourages good people from standing for office at all. We also explore the tribalism that turns politics into a football match, where winning the argument matters more than understanding the neighbour. Then we pull back the curtain on the incentives: algorithms, rage bait, bots, and the odd reality that longer angry comments can be worth more than simple support. We debate anonymity and accountability, including the legitimate need for anonymous profiles in situations like domestic abuse, while still calling out how “purple pomegranate” accounts can poison community Facebook groups. We also widen the lens to loneliness, generational change, and what constant screen time is doing to children’s imagination and social skills. If you want a thoughtful, honest conversation about social media algorithms, online trolling, free speech, community cohesion, and the future of political debate, press play. Subscribe, share with a friend, and leave us a review then tell us where you draw the line between free expression and responsible speech. 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.