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PODCAST

Local Heroes Podcast

We Are Local Heroes

At Local Heroes, we celebrate the grassroots spirit of food, drink and beyond. Exploring the passion, people and places, uncovering the untold stories, and going behind the scenes and between the lines.

society & culture

All Episodes

107:23

EP41 | Soldiers, Scams and Sisterhood | Coleen...

Local Heroes Podcast ·

2025/11/08

This week, Chris and Dan meet sisters Coleen and Karen, two remarkable women who turned one of Britain’s most shocking romance fraud cases into a story of strength, survival, and hope. For years, they were caught in the lies of Greg Wilson - a conman who called himself “James Scott”, a supposed firefighter, devoted fiancé, and local hero. Behind the uniform was a man living multiple lives, manipulating emotions, stealing money, and weaving an astonishing web of deceit.Coleen and Karen open up about

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95:12

EP40 | Terry McDermott | Grit, Graft and The Great...

Local Heroes Podcast ·

2025/11/01

What happens when a fisherman swaps the North Sea for a mission to preserve his hometowns heritage? In this lovely conversation, Terry McDermott, chair of the North Shields Fishermen’s Heritage Project, takes Chris and Dan from diesel-scented decks and 40-foot waves to statues, school trips and a living legacy on the North Shields Fish Quay.He recalls the 800 Years of North Shields celebration - 300 schoolchildren singing on the quay, 30 boats parading the Tyne, tugboats spraying arcs of water

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105:03

EP39 | David Hall | Panackelty, Perseverance and Posh...

Local Heroes Podcast ·

2025/10/25

This week on the Local Heroes Podcast, Chris and Dan welcome David Hall, a proud North Easterner and former MasterChef contestant, for a raw, funny, and deeply human conversation about food, the fading spotlight, and finding yourself again. From the smell of Bovril on cold match days at St James’ Park, the conversation is a heartfelt tour through growing up in the North East - its rivalries, humour, and unbeatable sense of community.David reflects on his time in the MasterChef kitchen, where his

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92:43

EP38 | Laura Pidcock | Class, Community and Crisps...

Local Heroes Podcast ·

2025/10/18

This week on the Local Heroes Podcast, Chris and Dan sit down with Laura Pidcock - political powerhouse, awesome activist, and all-round good human. Born and raised in Northumberland, Laura’s North East roots run through everything she does, grounding her politics in honesty, fairness, and fierce compassion.As the former Labour MP for the historic heartland of North West Durham, she brought her community’s voice to Parliament with unapologetic conviction, never shying away from calling out

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103:21

EP37 | Chris Nicholas | Cold Sea, Community and Meat...

Local Heroes Podcast ·

2025/10/11

This week, Chris and Dan are joined by Chris Nicholas, founder of The Ice Guys - a men’s mental health community built on banter, bad jokes, and cold water therapy - almost in that order. What started as a few lads taking a dip for a laugh has turned into something genuinely life-changing.Chris opens up about the ups and downs of sobriety, and laughs about how, in the past, he’d find himself halfway through a Twitter row wondering why he’d even started - these days, he just walks away (usually to

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68:27

EP36 | Tom A. Smith | Personas, Performance and Prawn...

Local Heroes Podcast ·

2025/10/04

This week on the Local Heroes Podcast, your increasingly average hosts, Chris and Dan, sit down with Sunderland’s own Tom A. Smith, a 21-year-old already making waves on the UK music scene.Tom’s story is anything but ordinary. He started playing live shows at just eight years old, found himself on stage at Glastonbury by the age of ten, and has already clocked up over a thousand gigs. Now signed to Fiction Records, Tom talks us through the whirlwind of festival slots, record deals, and what it

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85:19

EP35 | Kathryn Tickell | Pipes, Place and Pasties |...

Local Heroes Podcast ·

2025/09/27

This week on the Local Heroes Podcast, Chris and Dan sit down with musician, composer and local legend Kathryn Tickell, celebrating 40 years of showcasing the Northumbrian pipes.The conversation begins with handwriting jitters, block capitals, and autograph chaos (including signing and numbering 1,000 CDs), before opening into Kathryn’s extraordinary journey. From recording her first cassette in her Granda’s farmhouse kitchen to finding her true instrument in the pipes, Kathryn shares how music,

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81:04

EP34 | Coastal Custodian | Coastlines, Cake and...

Local Heroes Podcast ·

2025/09/20

In this week’s Local Heroes Podcast, Chris and Dan talk to the Coastal Custodian, whose story began with a simple live stream from the beach at Beadnell and has grown into a movement inspiring tens of thousands.From the very beginning, there’s been a reluctance to make the work about her — instead, the spotlight has always been kept firmly on the coastline, the wildlife, and the people who make Northumberland so special. What started with sharing sunsets, tides, and quiet moments on the beach has

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70:46

EP33 | Kenny Atkinson | Marines, Mentoring and...

Local Heroes Podcast ·

2025/09/13

This week on the Local Heroes Podcast, Chris and Dan are joined by the nationally acclaimed North East chef, Kenny Atkinson. In his early days, Kenny wasn’t interested in food - he dreamed of joining the RAF, and later tried a gruelling 3 days with the Marines. But neither was meant to be. Like many growing up in the North East, he was surrounded by allotments, local produce, and the tradition of Sunday lunch.Those food memories and experiences would come to shape his future. One of Kenny’s first

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68:06

EP32 | Leodhais Macpherson | Masking, Marathon's and...

Local Heroes Podcast ·

2025/09/06

This week on Local Heroes, we meet Leodhais Macpherson, a man who turned unimaginable loss into an extraordinary journey of healing. After losing his brother Conor to suicide, Leodhais set himself the challenge of running 128 marathons in 128 days. Along the way, he battled exhaustion, moments of weakness, endless calorie packing, and midnight deadlines to keep the streak alive. But the miles were never just about running. For Leodhais and his family, this challenge became a much-needed outlet, a

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75:22

EP31 | Keith Barrett | Slavery, Sanctuary and Public...

Local Heroes Podcast ·

2025/08/30

From Gordon Ramsey to Gordon the Gopher, the world has been blessed with some very famous Gordons.This week, Chris and Dan sit down with North Shields sculptor Keith Barrett, the environmental artist behind our podcast mascot and worldly table, Gordon. Named (obviously) after another local legend, Gordon Sumner AKA Sting, this table is no ordinary piece of furniture. Listen closely and you’ll hear it's story, one that links slavery with sanctuary, history with hope. Keith’s wider work shows the

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01:47:35

EP30 | Michael Dickson | Mountains, Measurements and...

Local Heroes Podcast ·

2025/08/23

On this week’s Local Heroes Podcast, your average pod hosts, Chris Jewitt and Dan Prince, meet the one and only Michael Dickson of Dicksons Pork Butchers. This is a story rooted in family and tradition, from German heritage and the creation of the legendary Saveloy Dip, to an Italian connection with Sunderland’s Notarianni ice cream family.It’s also a story of legacy, a teenage Michael, reluctantly inheriting the family business after his father’s passing, carefully re-measuring recipes so nothing

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01:24:34

EP29 | Cantina | Tacos, Timing and Tenacity | Local...

Local Heroes Podcast ·

2025/08/16

In this episode of Local Heroes, we meet James King and Mark Brown, the boys behind Newcastle’s much loved Cantina. They didn’t start as friends. Working long shifts in Newcastle’s bars and restaurants, they often found themselves side by side but not quite in sync.Over time, the hard graft forged mutual respect and that chemistry deepened when they became the rhythm section in a band. Then came the turning point: a failed music trip to Mexico. The gigs didn’t go to plan, but the food, culture, and

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02:03:30

EP28 | Phoebe Lao | Football, Food and Fusion| Local...

Local Heroes Podcast ·

2025/08/09

Phoebe Lao’s journey takes some beating. Born and raised in Los Angeles to Chinese immigrant parents, she grew up surrounded by bold flavours and deep-rooted food traditions. Her dad brought the fire of Indo-Chinese fusion, while her mum kept Southern China’s rice-based comfort food at the heart of every meal.Before food became her calling, Phoebe worked as a produce trader in Canada and was chasing a dream of becoming a footballer. That football journey brought her to the UK, right as lockdown

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01:44:19

EP27 | Eileen Ferguson | Whisky, Wooler and...

Local Heroes Podcast ·

2025/08/02

In this episode of Local Heroes, we sit down with Eileen Ferguson, the Co-Founder of the award-winning Ad Gefrin Distillery in Wooler. For Eileen, the distillery isn’t just a business, it’s a promise kept. Ad Gefrin stands as a testament to her father’s wish: to give something lasting back to the people of Wooler.Eileen shares how her upbringing on a farm shaped her love of food, family, and place, and how those values carried her through the challenges of building a distillery from the ground up

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01:35:21

EP26 | Metroland Comedy | Radgie Grandas and...

Local Heroes Podcast ·

2025/07/26

This week Chris and Dan sit down with Jack Robertson and Caden Elliot, the chaotic minds behind Metroland Comedy, a sketch show web series that blends mockumentary mayhem with cinematic storytelling. They chat about handbrake turns, the roots of Caden’s obsession with tinned tomatoes, and bonding over labelling EVERYTHING, during the formative days of Metroland.Jack, Caden and the Metroland collective are on a mission to revive sketch comedy, bringing it back with North East authenticity, energy

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01:30:05

EP25 | Eric, Elitism and The Authentic Self | Helen...

Local Heroes Podcast ·

2025/07/19

This week, Chris and Dan sit down with our first publicly-voted guest, Helen Aitchison, joins us for a powerful, hilarious, and heartfelt episode. Voted by the People, Fuelled by Purpose (and Crisps) Helen went from 20+ years in social care to becoming a published author and founder of Write on the Tyne, where she helps people tell their stories and tackles elitism in the arts head-on.We talk about inclusivity, being your authentic self, why stories matter, the chaotic escapades of her cat Eric,

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01:17:40

EP24 | Harriet Lamb | Fairtrade, Food Systems and...

Local Heroes Podcast ·

2025/07/12

In a world of so-called influencers, meet the real deal. A true change maker of our time. On this week’s Local Heroes Podcast, Chris and Dan meet Harriet Lamb, a woman who has spent her life sitting in the heart of the contradiction, brokering the relationship between David and Goliath, and disrupting the mainstream to make it fairer, greener, and more just.From leading the Fairtrade movement through the Banana Wars to challenging multinational giants on behalf of smallholder farmers, Harriet has

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02:26:48

EP23 | Hannah Graham | Stories, Sketches and Smashed...

Local Heroes Podcast ·

2025/07/05

On this week's Local Heroes Podcast, Chris and Dan sit down with the brilliant Hannah Graham, storyteller, illustrator, and former nurse, who’s swapped scrubs for sketchbooks and now spends her days lighting up classrooms, libraries and community halls with stories, doodles, and a lot of heart.They chat about how Hannah went from the hospital ward to the world of children’s storytelling, why drawing was never a plan but more like a reflex, and how she somehow ended up with a career where

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01:38:14

EP22 | Sunderland Music City | Shipyards, Sounds and...

Local Heroes Podcast ·

2025/06/28

In this episode of Local Heroes, Chris and Dan are joined by two of Sunderland’s most committed cultural champions, Frankie Francis (Frankie and The Heartstrings, SAFC matchday commentator) and Marty Longstaff (The Lake Poets), the duo driving the bold vision behind Sunderland Music City.What begins as a deep dive into grassroots creativity and community-led regeneration soon rolls into the finer points of cable-coiling etiquette, reflections on life behind the mic at the Stadium of Light, and a

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41 results

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