Live Well with Healthy Habits: Live Well with Banter - Blog 4

As a self-proclaimed game show legend, I am no stranger to being on screen, and yet Pointless, Countdown and The Chase did little to prepare me for hosting a podcast.

In today’s blog, I want to share the story of Live Well with Banter, a new series produced by Stuff Productions for Live Well with Cancer.

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Act I – VODA Sector Connector

For almost as long as Live Well with Cancer has existed, so too has the idea of the Live Well with Banter podcast. The name arrived fully formed, and we’ve dreamed of capturing conversations from our community for years now.

The dream remained just that until we received an email from Rachel from Sector Connector at VODA, who thought we would be the perfect charity to feature in a podcast.

 The series would be produced for free by Heywood and Stuff Productions to give back to the community. Heywood had just finished producing six episodes for Sarah’s Star and was looking for another charity to showcase.

The opportunity was too good to refuse, and my mam and I were soon booked in to meet Heywood before filming would begin. We had a lovely half hour in his studio, with a plan for six episodes featuring members of the Live Well with Cancer community.

Act II – Heywood & Stuff Productions

There could only be one first guest on Live Well with Banter, and the honour rightly fell to our award-winning Founder & CEO, Maureen Elliott. For an hour or so, I had a lovely chat with my mam about Healthy Habits, Newcastle United Premier League XI, and her experiences with Live Well with Cancer.

Over the following weeks, I had the pleasure of conversations with three of our trustees, first with Michelle and then with father and daughter duo, Anthony and Sarah, followed by equally enjoyable talks with Live Well Ambassador Emma and our Movement facilitator and Prehab expert Beth.

With each episode, I learned more about the world of podcasting. Watching the episodes back provided me with the perfect feedback, helping me to identify areas for improvement in my intros and the need to learn how to read from an autocue.

While I was prepared for the challenges of presenting, I was perhaps foolishly less expectant of the emotional weight of some of the conversations. On a personal level, I’ve always been much more comfortable on the banter bus than I am engaging in heartfelt conversation, and yet here I was speaking about people’s personal experiences with cancer… and in glorious 4K no less.

Despite the emotional weight of the conversations, I’ve enjoyed every time I’ve entered the studio, and especially when it was my time to be the guest. Initially, we planned for my mam to interview me for the final episode, but surgery for a very serious shoulder injury suffered on her birthday meant that her podcasting days were temporarily paused.

Just as she has in the Live Well Hub, my sister Ashley stepped up like the Shero she is, asking me all the questions I had asked the previous guests, plus some more on a topic very close to my heart, Live Well with Healthy Habits and The Wellbeing 9-a-Day.

My appearance as a guest brought the six episodes to an end, and I am grateful to Heywood for making our entrance into the world of podcasting as enjoyable as it has been.

Perhaps more importantly, I’m grateful for the platform to shine a light on the wonderful members of our community who devote their time and energy to helping people to live well with cancer.

Act III – Live Well with Banter

We knew early in the process that six episodes would not be enough to showcase our community and the wonderful people within it, and so we wasted no time in lining up more guests.

Within 24 hours of being a guest on the show, I was back in the studio to host episode 7, this time with Dr Charlotte Gooding, a menopause expert with whom I have worked on Menopause, Cancer & Me, an online resource funded by Northern Cancer Alliance.

Within a week, I was filming a festive special with Bailey, the inspiration behind Bailey’s Bears and our range of kids’ books.

 As Live Well with Banter evolves, we are excited for future episodes with other members of Live Well with Cancer, including subject matter experts who can help people impacted by a cancer diagnosis to address the most common issues they face, such as fatigue, sleep and psychological wellbeing.

Our next guest will be Heywood, the man who made Live Well with Banter possible. I’m excited for the conversation with an experienced podcaster, not least because Heywood has been in the studio for every episode and has had months to think about his answers to the questions.

There is no knowing what the future holds, but I do know that it contains more episodes with other members of the Live Well community. Live Well with Banter will live on, shining a light on the people behind our charity.

Call to action

At Live Well with Cancer, all we do is guided by the needs of our community, and so we want you to help shape the future of the Live Well with Banter podcast.

Please leave a comment below or email in your suggestions to info@livewellwithcancer.co.uk.

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