About Resilience Brilliance
At the Bupa Foundation we’re lucky to meet amazing people who are resilience superstars. We thought their stories deserved an audience, which is how our Resilience Brilliance podcast was born.
In each episode, our hosts Alex Cole, Bupa Foundation Chair, and Dr Paula Franklin, Bupa Foundation Trustee, chat with friends of the Foundation who share their powerful, personal stories of resilience.
Listen below or search 'resilience brilliance' on iTunes or Spotify to download.
Listen to the trailer
Our podcast hosts Alex Cole, Chair of the Bupa Foundation, and Dr Paula Franklin, Bupa Foundation Trustee, explain what on earth Resilience Brilliance is all about.
Plus, they tell us what keeps them going when times are tough and reveal their resilience super powers!
Episode 1 - Resilience for educators
Alex and Paula catch up with Ben Levinson, Headteacher of Kensington Primary School and Soofia Amin, the school's Community and English as an Additional Language lead.
Ben and Soofia share how they have navigated the challenges of COVID-19 and their personal tips for keeping energy high and staying resilient, no matter what life throws at them.
Episode 2 - Sport and resilience
Join Ali Oliver MBE CEO of Youth Sport Trust and Joanna Coates CEO of UK Athletics in this episode about the power of sport and physical activity to build resilience.
We hear incredible stories about how sports have helped changed people’s lives, and Alex and Paula learn that you don’t have to be sporty to benefit from getting active!
Plus find out how the new school movement ‘Well Schools’ is helping to create an education culture built on the foundation of physical, social and emotional wellbeing among students and staff.
Episode 3 - Communities and resilience
Paula and Alex meet two outstanding leaders who are passionate about tackling inequalities and breaking down barriers in the local community.
Ian Parkes, CEO at East London Business Alliance, and Safia Jama, Founder and CEO at Women's Inclusive Team, share their experiences of leading charities through this challenging year.
Ian and Safia share stories and lessons they’ve learned along the way and how community spirit gives them hope for the future.
Episode 4 - Resilience through inclusion
In this episode, we hear how Coding Black Females was born and how this non-profit organisation is empowering and inspiring the next generation of Black females to achieve success.
Join Charlene Hunter, Software Developer and Founder of Coding Black Females and Tanya Powell, Software Engineer and Mentor as they discuss personal challenges they’ve faced along the way and what inspires them to keep pushing for inclusion within the industry.
You don’t need to be a coder to find inspiration from Charlene and Tanya's stories and ambition!
Episode 5 - Resilience through faith
This episode has all the positivity feels! Yvonne Hope, CEO of Barnabus, shares how her faith led her to work with the homelessness charity 8 years ago and how her work serving the community gives her purpose.
Growing up, Yvonne didn’t feel as if she belonged anywhere. Along the way she’s learned that if you surround yourself with positive like-minded people – like her colleagues at Barnabus – you can create your own community and place in the world.
Yvonne’s positivity and humour is truly infectious - you’ll come away from this episode with a smile on your face and a pocket full of resilience tips.
Episode 6 - Resilience through music
We had the pleasure of talking with Peter Leigh, CEO of Key Changes, and grime MC Ashley Weir (aka Stickz) about the transformative effects of music on mental health.
Stickz likens performing to therapy and explains how his art – through support from Key Changes – has empowered him deal with many personal challenges he’s faced including the death of his mum, being stabbed and living with bipolar disorder.
It’s clear from their positivity why everyone wants to pick up the mic after joining Key Changes. This episode will leave you buzzing!
Episode 7 - Resilience at work
We chat to the inspirational Sarah Ellis, Amazing If co-founder, about her career journey and the mental health impacts of putting on a persona at work.
By eventually giving herself permission to be her true self and learning to ‘squiggle’ and experiment in her career, Sarah redirected her energy to thrive and succeed and ultimately launch her award-winning business.
Amazing If is an award-winning career development company with a mission to make work better for everyone. Sarah is co-author of The Squiggly Career book and host of the no.1 careers podcast Squiggly Careers.
Episode 8 - Resilience through conversation
In the run up to Time to Talk Day (4 Feb), we spoke with Mind’s Stephen Buckley and lived experience consultant Antonio Ferreira about how to be a good friend and supporter to someone who’s living with a severe mental health condition.
Antonio was diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was just 16. Finding a way to talk about his mental health with friends and family was difficult at first, but that started to change after he opened up and began to tell his story.
We're grateful to Antonio and Stephen for making time for this important conversation and for sharing their resilience stories and tips with us.
Episode 9 - Resilience for carers
During the pandemic, some of us will have experienced caring for others – helping family members or neighbours with shopping and prescriptions – things that young carers have been managing all their lives while balancing school, studying and finding their place in the world.
This Children’s Mental Health Week, Paul Maher, Director of High Value Relationships at The Children’s Society, and Melissa Moody, journalist and young adult carer, offer us a glimpse into the world of a young carer and the challenges they face during the pandemic. Plus tips on how we can all be a better supporter to anyone who finds themselves in a caring role.
Episode 10 - Resilience through sport
In the run up to World Mental Health Day (10 October), we spoke with Dame Katherine Grainger, female Olympic athlete and the first British woman to win medals at five successive Olympic games.
Katherine’s international rowing career took off in 1997 when she won gold and set a new record at the World under 23 Rowing Championships. She went on to win six world championships titles and she struck gold at the 2012 London Olympics.
She talks to us about juggling her career and academic studies, dealing with setbacks and swapping the boat for the board room.
