Sussex & Surrey Soapbox

Episoade

• 
  Healthcare & Mental-health - What Needs To Change? 16.10.2026 1h 15min

  Send us Fan Mail A HUGE thank you to The Market Stores in Reigate for hosting us! Featuring: Aaron Delahunty (Pattern Shift Coaching), Maureen Jones (Psychotherapist), Georgie Lucas, Cllr Abigail Chapman-Miller, Dr Mirza Baig (Medical Doctor), Sean Orr (Menshare Listening Group). Host: Clive Hilton. PLUS an incredible audience sharing perspectives & lived experience. The NHS can scrape you off the road, save your life, and send you home without a bill, yet so many people still feel abando...
• 
  Our Changing Community - Culture, Values & Identity 16.10.2026 1h 6min

  Send us Fan Mail A HUGE thank you to The Market Stores in Reigate for hosting us! Featuring: Chelle Lucas, Aga Es, Paul Taylor-Burr (Stand Up To Racism), Cllr Abigail Chapman-Miller (Labour). Dr Mirza Baig (Crawley Muslim Network Member), Cllr James Tidy (Reform UK). Host: Clive Hilton. PLUS an incredible audience sharing perspectives & lived experience. Your high street changes. New languages appear at the school gates. A pub shuts and a restaurant opens in its place. Some people feel ex...
• 
  SPOT: Pride in Place, Bewbush 19.09.2026 48min

  Send us Fan Mail SPOTlighting Pride in Place, Bewbush up to £20 million over 10 years sounds like a headline, but what matters is who gets to decide. We go live from Bewbush Academy with Neil Munday, Andy Brown and Clive Hilton, where residents are invited to shape a resident-led regeneration plan for Bewbush, backed by Crawley Borough Council and a neighbourhood board that turns local priorities into action. You will hear how the money could support social, economic and environmental improve...
• 
  Brexit 10 Years On 18.09.2026 1h 15min

  Send us Fan Mail Panel Members: Cllr James Tidy — Reform UK Leader of the Opposition on Crawley Borough Council and Deputy Leader of the Reform UK group on West Sussex County Council Cllr Richard Biggs — Conservative Councillor of Horley West and Sidlow, Leader of Reigate and Banstead Borough Council Cllr Abigail Chapman-Miller — Labour Vice Chair of Oxted Parish Council and Policy Officer for East Surrey Labour, with 10+ years' experience across accessibility, the public sector and commun...
• 
  Trust, Transparency & Accountability in Local Politics 16.09.2026 1h 9min

  Send us Fan Mail Panel Members: Cllr James Tidy — Reform UK Leader of the Opposition on Crawley Borough Council and Deputy Leader of the Reform UK group on West Sussex County Council Cllr Richard Biggs — Conservative Councillor of Horley West and Sidlow, Leader of Reigate and Banstead Borough Council Cllr Abigail Chapman-Miller — Labour Vice Chair of Oxted Parish Council and Policy Officer for East Surrey Labour, with 10+ years' experience across accessibility, the public sector and commun...
• 
  SPOT: Tilgate Zoo’s Fundraiser For TRAFFIC 03.09.2026 28min

  Send us Fan Mail 🦁 Sunday Brunch Went WILD! 🐢🐝 Clive Hilton and Andy Brown took SUSY Sunday Brunch on the road for an August Bank Holiday fun broadcast from Tilgate Zoo — and a special Soapbox SPOTlight mixing wildlife, conservation, community fun… and a fair amount of chaos. At the heart of the day was a serious issue: illegal wildlife trade. Supporting Tilgate Zoo’s Wild Weekend fundraiser for TRAFFIC, we explored an industry driven by demand for trafficked animals, skins and body parts — a...
• 
  When Live Music Becomes Noise 31.08.2026 34min

  Send us Fan Mail One complaint can feel small, until it threatens to switch off a town’s soundtrack. We get into the row that escalated start of August around The Cage in Reigate after a noise abatement notice lands, the venue pauses live music, and thousands rally behind a petition to protect local gigs. Speaking with Rory Fry-Stone, Co-owner at Pilgrim Brewery, we unpack what the business says went wrong, why the lack of clear criteria for compliance creates real risk, and how quickly summe...
• 
  Summer 2026: The Good, Bad & Baffling 27.08.2026 45min

  Send us Fan Mail The summer news cycle has been loud, messy and occasionally baffling, so we’re back at the Red Lion & Cellar Room in Betchworth to pick through the stories that got us talking — with real viewpoints, honest opinions and the occasional good whinge. We start with the BBC licence fee: is the BBC still a priceless British institution, or is its funding model increasingly out of step with a subscription generation? We talk value for money, bias, iPlayer and those increasingly ...
• 
  Tess' Tea Party '26 13.07.2026 40min

  Send us Fan Mail Best Bits of Tess' Tropical Tea Party '26 Alongside the Sussex & Surrey Soapbox podcast, where we bring people together to have balanced conversations about the issues shaping our communities, we wanted to take that same philosophy beyond the microphones. Rather than simply talking about community, we wanted to create it. The hall is buzzing. The BBQ queue never seems to end. Children are laughing, balloons are floating overhead, Rock Choir are warming up, the raff...
• 
  Alcohol As Social Glue Or Social Problem 02.07.2026 47min

  Send us Fan Mail Special Guest: Chelle Lucas Roundtable Featuring: Abigail Chapman-Miller (Labour), Jacq Inwood, Maureen Jones, Aga Es and Mags Rahman. Host: Clive Hilton. Alcohol is woven into British life so tightly that not drinking can feel like you’re breaking a rule. From champagne toasts and pub culture to “wine o’clock” on the sofa, we ask a question that’s easy to dodge and hard to answer: when does social drinking become a social problem? Recorded at the Red Lion and Cellar Room in...
• 
  Smartphones, Freedom And 2026 Childhood 25.06.2026 52min

  Send us Fan Mail Special Guest: Chelle Lucas Roundtable Featuring: Abigail Chapman-Miller (Labour), Jacq Inwood, Maureen Jones, Aga Es and Mags Rahman. Host: Clive Hilton. Childhood has not just changed, it’s been rewired. One minute you’ve got kids who can outsmart an iPad before they can tie their laces; the next you’ve got parents using tracking apps because the world feels less safe, even when the data is unclear. We sit down as a cross-generational roundtable to ask a blunt questi...
• 
  Building Homes Without Roads Schools Or GPs 18.06.2026 52min

  Send us Fan Mail Planning is meant to turn housebuilding into liveable places, but across Sussex & Surrey it often feels like we are pouring concrete first and asking awkward questions later. We sit down with Abigail Chapman-Miller (Labour), Matt Brewin (Green), James Tidy (Reform UK), Iqbal Khan and Paul Taylor-Burr to unpack why housing development planning keeps producing the same result: new estates without the shops, GP access, school places, roads, drainage and water capacity that m...
• 
  SPOT: Crawley Combat Academy 13.06.2026 11min

  Send us Fan Mail SPOT: a slightly different format to the Roundtable discussions where we step back from the debate to Spotlight a social initiative, local event or charity. The Soapbox recently tackled knife crime with special guest Keith Collyer, Crawley Combat Academy. A knife threat isn’t just a physical problem, it’s a decision-making problem under pressure. We head to Tilgate Huts in Crawley to sit down with Keith and two coaches, Laura and Andy from Crawley Combat Academy, ...
• 
  SEND Reform: Can Every Child Truly Thrive? 07.06.2026 1h 2min

  Send us Fan Mail Special Guest: - Matt Brewin, Primary School Teacher in Haywards Heath and Chair of Mid Sussex Green Party - Paul Taylor-Burr, Community Volunteer and Parent of two children with ASD/ADHD Roundtable Featuring: Abigail Chapman-Miller (Labour), Iqbal Khan (Tess' Kitchen) & James Tidy (Reform UK). Host: Clive Hilton. The SEND system was built to protect vulnerable children, so why do so many parents across Sussex & Surrey describe it as a fight for basic u...
• 
  SPOT: St Catherine's Hospice Midnight Walk 06.06.2026 18min

  Send us Fan Mail SPOT: a slightly different format to the Roundtable discussions where we step back from the debate to Spotlight a social initiative, local event or charity. Saturday 6th June and it's the Midnight Walk 2026! Orange T-shirts, glitter, LED tutus, and a range of routes from 2miles to 17miles - walking through the night in the memory of friends, family and for a hospice that depends on its community to keep end-of-life care personal, local, and available. From the star...
• 
  SPOT: Reigate Summer Festival 06.06.2026 6min

  Send us Fan Mail 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 arts festival - Reigate Summer Festival with Tim Glynne-Jones. A rock set in the mouth of a tunnel, choirs in a church, an art exhibition, and a pop-up photo show inside an estate agent. Reigate Summer Festival is the kind of bold, creative and friendly idea that makes you look at your own town differently, and we’re jo...
• 
  Knife Crime: Fear, Survival & The Ripple Effect 31.05.2026 37min

  Send us Fan Mail Special Guest: Keith Collyer, Crawley Combat Academy and Shariff Boolaky, Menshare Listening Group. Plus Roundtable Featuring: Maureen Jones, Micaela Leal, Abigail Chapman-Miller & Iqbal Khan. Host: Clive Hilton. A knife doesn’t just threaten one person, it detonates consequences across families, schools, and whole streets. We sit down to talk honestly about knife crime, why the fear of being attacked pushes some young people to carry blades, and why places like Cra...
• 
  Clicks, Coffee & Community: The Future of the High Street 24.05.2026 56min

  Send us Fan Mail 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...
• 
  SPOT: Find A Local Business (FALB) 20.05.2026 10min

  Send us Fan Mail 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 FA...
• 
  Mental Health Awareness Week: When Staying Quiet Hurts 17.05.2026 38min

  Send us Fan Mail 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 gro...