In this episode, Kerry speaks with Tina Hancocks from Tina Hancocks Nutrition. Tina is a nutritional therapist and functional medicine practitioner who works with people living with autoimmune conditions, fatigue, brain fog, hormone struggles and blood sugar imbalance.

Tina's own health journey shapes everything she does. In her twenties, working in a high-pressure city job, she picked up a gut infection on a tropical island that triggered searing joint pain. The diagnosis came slowly. When it finally did, she was handed a prescription and told there was nothing she could do. She disagreed. "I think there must be something I can do to support myself," she recalls thinking. That decision led to years of researching food, tracking symptoms and, eventually, retraining as a practitioner.

Tina describes her approach as getting under the skin of what is really going on. Rather than treating symptoms in isolation, she looks for the root cause. She uses a five stage programme called Get Empowered, which takes clients through reveal, cleanse, harmonise, rebuild and empower. She also uses functional testing and genetic analysis to build a picture of each person's individual make-up.

She is clear that nutrition is not about restriction. "It's really not about restriction. It's actually figuring out how food can be used to nourish you."

Tina runs a group programme called Sugar Shift, which focuses on blood sugar management. She says previous participants have seen anxiety reduce by around 50 per cent, brain fog fall by around 40 per cent and joint pain reduce by around 60 per cent. She also runs a retreat called Nourished by Nature, which brings people together around real food, foraging and time outdoors.

Her message to listeners is straightforward. "We do have so much more power and influence over our health... and so much of that is controlled by your diet and lifestyle. And you have the power to change that."

For anyone wanting to find out more, visit tinahancocks.com or find Tina on Instagram at @nutritionwithtina.

#LincsLivesNatters #Nutrition #FunctionalMedicine #Lincolnshire

In this episode, Lesley natters with Kieran Spiers.

Kieran makes theatre, writes plays and produces festivals. For the last three years he has been the producer of SO Festival, a free international street and outdoor arts festival based in Skegness. In this episode he speaks with Lesley about what the festival offers to Lincolnshire's coastal communities and why it matters.

The festival runs from 12 to 14 June. This year's programme includes circus, music, clowning and exhibition work, with companies travelling from France, Spain, Italy and Denmark. Everything is free. No booking needed.

One of the standout projects this year is Box Meetings, led by French street theatre company Cumulus. It invites local people from across East Lincolnshire to take part in community workshops exploring themes of migration and personal story. Participants bring objects from home that fit inside a shoebox, items that help them tell their own story. Members of Cumulus will lead the workshops in the week before the festival, and the stories gathered will be shared in a single performance on the Friday.

"We believe, and I believe as a maker myself, that everyone has a story to tell."

Kieran is direct about why the festival focuses on Lincolnshire's coastal towns. He describes them as places that are "high on the cultural deprivation scale," places that can feel overlooked and undervalued. SO Festival's priority, he says, is not the holidaymakers. "Our primary focus is the local. It's the local audiences, local communities. It's bringing art to the doorsteps and the streets of people that need it."

He recalls a moment from last year when young people with disabilities watched an aerial dance company perform and immediately asked how they could take part. Within minutes a local accessible arts company had them on a rig in Tower Gardens.

SO Festival also runs a supported artist scheme and a year round development programme for emerging local creatives, and recruits local festival assistants, many of whom return each year.

For Box Meetings sign-ups, festival assistant roles or the supported artist scheme, visit sofestival.org. Full programme details, timings and locations will be available there and across the festival's social media channels.

Links:Visit sofestival.org for more information on the festival, opportunities, and how to get involved.

#Lincolnshire #SOFestival #Skegness #StreetTheatre #Storytelling

In this episode, Lesley natters with Jenni Swift, the founder of the local charity Evelyn’s Butterfly Effect.

This is a conversation that carries both immense beauty and deep meaning. Jenni joins us to share the story of her daughter, Evelyn, a kind, funny, and intelligent teenager who tragically took her own life at just 15 years old. In the wake of unimaginable loss, Jenni and her husband have created the Garden of Hope, a touring art installation designed to spark vital conversations around mental health and suicide prevention in Lincolnshire.

The garden features 98 hand-painted steel butterflies, a number that starkly represents the 98 lives lost to suicide in our county in a single year. We discuss the "Butterfly Effect", the idea that one small act of kindness can ripple out to create massive change and why Jenni believes nature’s cycle from caterpillar to butterfly is the ultimate symbol of hope.

It is an episode about community strength, featuring contributions from over a thousand local people, from two, year-olds at preschool to residents in retirement communities, who helped design the installation.

Find Out More:

• ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠
• ⁠⁠Facebook

Please note: This episode contains honest discussions about suicide. We encourage you to listen with care and check the resources below if you or someone you know needs support.

Immediate Support & Helplines

Samaritans: Available 24/7 for anyone struggling to cope or needing someone to listen.

• Call: 116 123 (Free from any phone)
• Website: samaritans.org

CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably):

• Website: thecalmzone.net

Shout 85258: A 24/7 text-based support service if you prefer not to speak over the phone.

• Text: "SHOUT" to 85258

#MentalHealthAwareness #SuicidePrevention #Lincolnshire #SocialImpact #EvelynsButterflyEffect #LincsLivesNatters #Lincolnshire