Spare a Thought

In this episode, Tom chats with Lizzie Spikes, an artist who lives in north Wales and is the co-founder of Driftwood Designs, an Aberystwyth based company who publish and produce a range of gifts, homewares, prints and cards. Together Tom and Lizzie talk about the role Wales plays in Lizzie’s art, the importance of community and taking things slow when starting up a business.  
You can find out more about Driftwood Designs by heading to their website: https://driftwooddesigns.co.uk/ 
Don't forget to subscribe and rate Spare a Thought!
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spareathoughtmedia/
And you can also subscribe to Tom’s Substack: https://tomspare.substack.com/ 
Spare a Thought is a Be the change. Media Network production.

In this episode, Tom chats with Amanda Hamilton, Director and Patron of the National Association of Licensed Paralegals (NALP). They delve into the crucial role paralegals play in helping the public gain access to the justice system.
Amanda shares insights into her fascinating career in law, how she rose to become CEO and now patron of NALP, and the significant impact of legal aid cuts from 2010-2015 on access to justice. Discover the skills needed to become a paralegal and how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is impacting the legal profession.
Learn more about NALP via their website: https://www.nationalparalegals.co.uk/
Don't forget to subscribe and rate Spare a Thought! 
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spareathoughtmedia/
And you can also subscribe to Tom’s Substack: https://tomspare.substack.com/ 
Spare a Thought is a Be the change. Media Network production.

The world’s media has very little access to Gaza. Reports from aid agencies and local news sources suggest 2 million people are at risk of famine. Amidst the horror, the people of Gaza endure. In this special edition of Spare a Thought, Tom shares Dalia’s story. 
Dalia is a Business Administration student who lives in Gaza. Life under the Israeli blockade is dire. Despite this she volunteers, supporting her community, working with organisations, advocating for human rights, for children, young people and women.
She has a dream. She wants her voice to become part of the change she wants to see in her country because: “I truly believe that real change doesn't start from the top. It starts with one person, with one heart, and with one small idea…that travels further than we ever imagined.”
You can listen to Tom’s interview with the International Rescue Committee on getting aid to Gaza from the Political Dispatch podcast here: https://thepoliticaldispatch.podbean.com/  
If you are able to, there are a number of charities supporting aid to Gaza:
Choose Love: https://chooselove.org/ 
Doctors without Borders: https://www.msf.org/ 
The International Rescue Committee: https://www.rescue.org/uk 
To hear more about Spare a Thought follow us on our new Instagram account. 
Listen back to previous episodes of the show here: https://spareathought.podbean.com/ 
Spare a Thought is a Be the change. Media Network production.

Tom talks to Dr Julia Patterson, the Chief Executive of EveryDoctor. EveryDoctor is a campaigning organisation fighting for patients, staff and the future of the NHS. 
This episode focuses on Julia’s journey from NHS doctor to campaigner and the personal costs of campaigning, what Wes Streeting’s reforms mean for NHS England, Julia’s book Critical and much more.
You can find out about the work of EveryDoctor by heading to their website: https://everydoctor.org.uk/. You can also follow Julia on Tiktok and Bluesky. 
To hear more about Spare a Thought follow us on our new Instagram account. You can also subscribe to Tom’s free Substack newsletter.
Listen back to previous episodes of the show here: https://spareathought.podbean.com/ 
Spare a Thought is a Be the change. Media Network production.

Tom talks to Kim Mamhende, the Chief of Staff at The CAE, a Swansea-based charity that supports migrant, immigrant, refugee and asylum seeking communities in Wales. 
Together Tom and Kim’s conversation centres on the work of the CAE, how work helps migrants and immigrants integrate into society, why the UK wouldn’t run without migrants and what role entrepreneurialism plays in bringing communities together.
You can find out about the work of The CAE on their website: https://www.caentr.org follow them on Instagram, Facebook, X and LinkedIn. 
Follow Spare a Thought’s new Instagram account and you can subscribe to Tom’s free Substack newsletter.
Listen back to previous episodes of the show here: https://spareathought.podbean.com/ 
Spare a Thought is a Be the change. Media Network production.

Tom talks to Will Hayward, a Wales based freelance journalist, columnist and podcaster. Together they talk about how Will got into journalism, his books about Wales, the Welsh media environment and who is most likely to become next First Minister after the 2026 Senedd Elections. 
You can subscribe to Will’s Substack here: https://willhaywardwales.substack.com/ and listen to his podcast For Wales, See Wales here: https://forwalesseewales.buzzsprout.com/
Spare a Thought is a Be the change. Media Network production.
You subscribe to Tom’s Substack here: https://tomspare.substack.com/ 

In this episode of Spare a Thought, Tom speaks with Luke Young, Head of Policy at Citizens Advice. Luke has previously worked for organisations including NUS Wales, Stonewall, the Senedd, and the Labour Party.
Tom and Luke discuss the people who shaped Luke’s worldview, the work of Citizens Advice, the unique challenges facing Wales, recent UK Government changes to Personal Independence Payment (PIP), and three policy changes Luke would introduce to improve the lives of millennials and young people in the UK.
If you have been impacted by anything discussed in this episode, you can find support and information at the Citizens Advice website: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/
For the latest updates, follow Tom on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ and subscribe to his newsletter on Substack: https://tomspare.substack.com/

This month Spare a Thought celebrated 1,000 downloads. As a way to celebrate, Tom has put together a retrospective of Season 1, to look back at the conversations he had with the first cohort of guests. 
You can find the links to the individual episodes from Season 1 below:
Spare a Thought for the Iris Prize
Spare a Thought for Refugees
Spare a Thought for International Students Part 1
Spare a Thought for International Students Part 2
Spare a Thought for International Students Part 3
Spare a Thought for Dima Hamden
Spare a Thought for the RNLI
Spare a Thought for Creativity
You can find all previous Spare a Thought episodes here: https://spareathought.podbean.com/
You can also subscribe to Tom’s Substack: https://tomspare.substack.com/
And follow him on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sparetom/ 

In this episode of Spare a Thought, Tom speaks with Paul Hargreaves, CEO of Cotswold Fayre, a UK-based wholesaler committed to ethical and sustainable business. Paul is also the author of two influential books, Forces for Good, which explores how businesses can help create a better world, and The Fourth Bottom Line, a guide to flourishing in a new era of compassionate leadership.
Together, they discuss how Paul came to found Cotswold Fayre, why businesses can and should be forces for good, and how compassionate leadership can strengthen both company culture and financial performance. The conversation also explores Britain’s broken relationship with food, and how individuals and organisations alike can lead more purposeful, fulfilling lives.
You can find out more about Paul, his businesses, work and books at https://www.paulhargreaves.co.uk/ 
You can follow Tom on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ 

At the end of January, Cardiff University announced plans to cut academic staff in a bid to plug a £30 million shortfall in its finances. A formal consultation with staff, titled Securing our Academic Future, is underway and will conclude in May.
Universities across the UK are facing financial pressures thanks to student visa restrictions causing a dip in international student numbers, growing competition to attract top UK students and home student fees not rising with inflation. However Cardiff has been criticised for the severity of its proposed cuts, and for the way they have been communicated.
Many departments and academic schools at Cardiff will be affected. Under current proposals, the School of Modern Languages faces near-total closure.
In this episode, Tom speaks to people directly affected by the changes including current and former students, the branch president of Cardiff UCU, and the president of NUS Wales to understand the human cost behind the cost. He also interviews Professor Dylan Jones-Evans, an academic and entrepreneur, who explains why Cardiff, and many other UK universities, are making such difficult decisions.
Links, reading and petitions 
Cardiff University’s Securing Our Academic Future statement: https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/view/2894086-securing-our-academic-future
The University’s Update on Cardiff University in Kazakhstan: https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/view/2903220-update-on-cardiff-university-kazakhstan
You can sign the Save Modern Languages at Cardiff University here: https://www.change.org/p/save-mlang-at-cardiff-university
And view the SaveCardiffLanguages website:https://www.savecardifflanguages.org/ 
You can sign the petition to Save Cardiff University’s School of Music: https://www.change.org/p/save-cardiff-university-school-of-music 
You can sign the petition to Save Cardiff University’s School of Nursing:https://www.change.org/p/save-cardiff-university-school-of-nursing 
Find out more about Professor Dylan Jones-Evans’s work on his website: https://www.linkedin.com/in/professor-dylan-jones-evans-obe-3755a711/?originalSubdomain=uk 
Keep up to date with Cardiff’s UCU branch: https://www.cardiffucu.org.uk/
Learn more about NUS Cymru: https://www.nus-wales.org.uk/ 
Professor Leighton Andrews, an academic at Cardiff’s Business School and former Welsh Government Education Minister’s Substack posts on:
An alternative to Cardiff University's plans: https://ukania.substack.com/p/an-alternative-to-cardiff-universitys
And We Need a Wales-wide review of Higher Education: https://ukania.substack.com/p/we-need-a-wales-wide-review-of-higher