Fitz in the community Podcast - Ep.1 Exeter

Listen to the full podcast or read through the full transcripts below

00:01 - Fitz (Host)
Hello and welcome to Fitz in the community. Sounds like some sort of government prison release program, doesn't it? Oh, it's a beautiful day and this is basically what I'm going to be doing from now on taking a look at the community, my community, Devon. Occasionally I might even step outside my community and my county. Today I'm heading to Exeter. I'm waiting for the 8:49 to Exeter Central. It is absolutely hammering down with rain and there's no sign of a train yet, but I've got about five minutes to go Join me on a journey to my community. Hang on, was that my train? I suppose if I pick up some speed by the end of the platform I might be able to catch it. Well, the train was bang on time to the second that.

00:58
I'm now speeding through the Devon countryside heading toward Exeter, to talk to a mental health charity called Rock 2 Recovery . They deal with members of the armed forces and the Blue Light Brigade as well. I'll find out what they're doing and talk to the people behind this incredible service. But the one thing I do love about this journey is Devon. At the moment I'm just looking at the moors, the mist clinging to the top of the tors and hopefully in around about 20 minutes time I'll be gliding past Powderham Castle, the deer in the park and that beautiful view across the Ex estuary. What a fantastic way to go to work. Well, I'm almost there. I've just changed from Exeter St David's onto the Exeter Central Line and many, many years ago, an old friend, of mine, hang on, hang on.

01:57
Thank heavens for that, thank you. Thank you, madam. Many years ago, a train buff friend of mine you know the type Bobble Hat, Thomas the Tank Engine lunchbox, permanently runny nose, never married, lovely bloke he told me that this gradient that we're travelling up now is the steepest gradient in England. Anyone know if that's true? Bizarre. This podcast looks at my community and this is my community. This is Exeter, where I was born, but I've just walked past the driving school where I learned to drive in 1979. It's now an Italian restaurant and, smack bang in front of me at the moment, a wonderful restaurant. But that was the employment exchange where I signed on in 1980, briefly for a couple of weeks, before I went into the world of broadcasting. Memories not good ones, just memories. I've now arrived at Rock 2 Recovery. Let's find out what they are doing for our community.

03:08 - Charlie Hobson (Guest)
I'm Charlie Hobson. I'm the company officer now for Rock 2 Recovery, but basically I ensure that whatever Jamie Sanderson, the boss and the team and the coaches need they have, and make sure we have enough money to continue operations for the long future. Rock 2 Recovery is a community interest company. It's a non-clinical service to veterans serving members of the armed forces and their families, members of the 999 emergency services who are suffering from stress. We're immediate, it's free to all users and it's unlimited, so clients can work at their pace and they can work on issues that they want to deal with, but they don't have to revisit their trauma, they don't have to live through horrible episodes in their lives. We deal with feelings and we get them to understand how the brain works, understand that you are not your thoughts, that you can control them and that you can change the meaning that you have been making of either events in the past or events that might happen in the future. We get people to be the best that they can be.

04:14 - Fitz (Host)
Jamie, you've already mentioned him. What role does he play? Was he one of the founders?

04:20 - Charlie Hobson (Guest)
He is one of the founders, along with Jason Fox from SAS: Who Dares Wins. Long story short, both are in Afghanistan, both suffer from stress, both admitted that they were not operating properly. Both went to the doctors. The doctors looked after them as best they could, but the clinical services offered through the military were not the services that worked for them. They're brilliant, but it didn't work for those two. Jamie found Malcolm Williams, particularly after a very sad occasion when Jamie tried to take his own life. Malcolm turned his life around through this coaching and then did the same for Foxy, or helped Foxy. It wasn't totally Malcolm, two of them. Three of them decided they were on to something and drove around the country helping royal marines and veterans that they knew needed the help. And then they decided to establish Rock 2 Recovery as a community interest company in 2015 and do this for the rest of their lives.

05:20 - Fitz (Host)
Why Rock 2 Recovery? What's behind the name?

05:24 - Charlie Hobson (Guest)
Well, it's actually quite a funny story. While Jamie was recovering in Hasler Company in HMS Rally, he thought he was a really good singer and guitar player and would write music. So he was in one of the rooms in Hasler Company and, believe you me, you don't want to hear Jamie singing. He was in one of the rooms banging out one of his songs and making a noise and his psychiatrist opened the door, saw where it was and said oh Jamie, I see you're Rocking to Recovery. So actually Jamie took that name because what has been proven by Oxford Brooks University is that you know music, mountains and water. You can find your Rock in those, Cold water therapy, climbing mountains, going for walks. You know listening to music. If you can find your Rock and look after yourself, then it actually helps towards your recovery. So we're not just about teaching how the mind works. We're actually teaching people to look after themselves first so that they can live a fulfilled life and look after others.

06:21 - Fitz (Host)
Totally skewed question Does cold water therapy work in your mind?

06:26 - Charlie Hobson (Guest)
Yes, it does. I've tried it and I'm not the strongest advocate for it, but I always feel better for it. But it is a growing, growing evidence, a body of evidence that cold water does help. But whatever you do, start gently, you know. Do it properly, probably do it under supervision with groups of people that are doing it and don't try and max out immediately. It works for some, probably won't work for others, like most things in life.

06:54 - Fitz (Host)
Can you give us some idea of the number of people that you help, that you see that you have to deal with?

07:00 - Charlie Hobson (Guest)
Yeah, I mean it started very slowly. It's grown very slowly, but now we have anything up to a thousand new clients a year. We coach about 1,350. We have a total number of clients who are approaching 4,000. And you'll be pleased to know that nearly a thousand of them are in the southwest and at least 600 in Devon. So you know we're Devon based, head offices in Exeter. Word of mouth is how we get our clients, so it's no surprise to me that 25% come from the southwest and a significant proportion of them over 50% from Devon. We're pleased to help people in Devon and we're always after people that we can support and look after.

07:40 - Fitz (Host)
It's an endless task.

07:44 - Charlie Hobson (Guest)
I hope not. I think that people are better talking about their mental health now than they used to be. I've noticed that of those approaching 1,000 clients, an awful lot of them are very early in their stress journey and don't need much coaching for them to say I've had enough. They decide when they stop and we do get to them very quickly. So someone seriously stressed we see them the same day, but they'll wait no longer than 10 working days for their first session and then they organise their next sessions themselves through their coach. There's no intermediary.

08:20
But when I first started working in 2017, we would have two new clients a week, often crying, trembling, difficult to communicate with. Now we probably have one a week like that, one a month rather like that. You know it's getting better. And again, I look at when I left the raw marines what was available in 2005 to what's available now. It's a totally different world. Often people talk negatively about support for mental health issues, but actually there's an awful lot more on offer, both through the National Health Service privately and through charitable organisations like ours that are doing wonderful work.

09:03 - Fitz (Host)
Charlie, thank you for what you do in our community, and it is from Scotland to the Channel Islands.

09:08 - Charlie Hobson (Guest)
It is indeed, and elsewhere Around the world. Now we can coach for our video and some of our coaches prefer to use video. A lot of our clients prefer to have video. It fits their lifestyle to actually duck out of work or duck out from the family for an hour or two because our sessions are long. But it fits to do it on video. They go straight back into their family or the workplace or just go out and reflect on what they've just learned in that two hour session. So it's nationwide, worldwide. You do have to be, you know, part of the military or the 999 services, but family members as well. It's important. Someone's got stress. Often the family are sharing it. So we like to ensure that we coach the family, not together, we do coaching one to one.

09:58 - Fitz (Host)
How do we find out more?

09:59 - Charlie Hobson (Guest)
Rock recovery, you can go on to our website, which is quite simple. Just Google rock 2 recovery. You've got rock 2 recovery on Instagram and Facebook. Or you can just telephone the number or email in and you'll find those on the website. I'm an old man now and I can't remember the telephone number.

10:22 - Fitz (Host)
I'm just going to go and get a blanket for your knees. Thank you, sir. Thanks once again to Charlie Hobson, from rock to recovery, former Royal Marine, and I'm actually looking across the estuary here towards CTC RM, the limestone training camp For all Marines in the United Kingdom, and on the other side, those deer that I mentioned earlier on, wandering through the grounds of powder and castle. So where tomorrow? You know, I don't know. We'll find out in a moment. Well, I can tell you, I'm at Holden racecourse and Just taking a look at the Hundreds of members of our community that have clustered here for a day's racing it's the Holden gold cup and I've been invited here by an old friend brought my racing expert, the wife, with me, who has Chosen some interesting horses purely by names or whether they're pretty. If you win, there will be a tantrum and a sulk at the end of this program. Thank you.

11:36 - Philip Greenman (Guest)
Philip Greenman. I'm one of the directors of the racecourse here at Exeter. It's not my main role, but it's something I enjoy, so that's a sort of part-time role that I do?

11:47 - Fitz (Host)
I do. Why do you come? Do you enjoy racing? I do.

11:50 - Philip Greenman (Guest)
I live very close to the course. I enjoy racing, so to be involved, it's, it's, it's actually an honor.

11:57 - Fitz (Host)
It's a great part of the community and it attracts everyone. I've I've seen, I've seen some very famous trainers here today. I've even met a hero from the Falklands war.

12:08 - Philip Greenman (Guest)
It attracts everybody it does, so I mean there's lots of local people. But for a day like today, this is our sort of flagship event. We get people from all over the country Trainers, owners and just sort of punters really coming for a nice day out in a beautiful location.

12:25 - Fitz (Host)
Do you know? I said at the beginning of this podcast, if my wife won a race I was gonna sulk. She's chosen a horse with the name of her best friend's daughter and it's just coming. Am I annoyed, or?

12:39 - Philip Greenman (Guest)
what I think that just proves. You know there's, there's lots of different techniques to picking winners. Some people, you know, study the form. Other people pick the horse because I like the look of it. Or, as you just said, you know there's, there's some connection to the name so 22 to 1 she did better than I did. I actually have a you know odd little bet and I picked that one, but I didn't get those odds.

13:03 - Jack Parkinson (Guest)
So my wife is odd, thank you, Jack Parkinson, general manager, Exeter race course.

13:09 - Fitz (Host)
That's an incredible title, uh, what does that entail?

13:13 - Jack Parkinson (Guest)
a bit of everything really, just looking after the whole course, conference and events, race days like today, um, all the ground and ground staff and everything involved in that, do you?

13:22 - Fitz (Host)
Bet. Are you allowed to bet?

13:23 - Jack Parkinson (Guest)
I am allowed to bet and I do have a little flutter. Nothing major, but just to keep the interest really what is the fascination of racing? I think it's just the, the stunningness of the horses and and the camaraderie of the horse and jockey. I think everything combined, you know, jumping the fences and going over and the excitement of of the day and not quite knowing what's gonna, the outcome is going to be really any idea how many people are here today?

13:54 - Fitz (Host)
Every so often you have a wonderful moment when your horse comes in first and it's Asian spice, ridden by my old friend Brian Frost. Old, what am I saying? She's so young, she's so talented. I'm just looking at this beautiful animal. What a great atmosphere. And her dad is over there as well, Jimmy Frost, former Grand National winner. They are both absolutely delighted. It's an incredible win. Asian spice 28 to 1. What a day.

14:24
Jimmy a happy man yeah, yeah, great day.

14:26 - Jimmy Frost (Guest)
Yeah, I'm lovely for everybody concerned Martin Hill, bread, the filly, all his family here and friends and every day. And Brian, you know it's been a good plan for a while and it's all come together. Everybody have a good dinner tonight.

14:39 - Fitz (Host)
I've got to say, though when you're um, when you're watching your daughter, do I get worried for when you've fallen?

14:43 - Jimmy Frost (Guest)
yeah, we don't talk about it.

14:46 - Fitz (Host)
No, we don't but it gets me nervous when I've known her, since she was what?

14:49 - Jimmy Frost (Guest)
seven, eight, yeah, that's right we've had some lovely evenings and times together. We watch the drop, but you know Bea's confidential knows what she's doing and she enjoys her riding and and uh and it beats.

15:00 - Fitz (Host)
It beats Tottenham show anyway so last time I saw you, I suppose we had a drink at.

15:03 - Jimmy Frost (Guest)
Tottenham show in the rain somewhere it was raining should we have a drink now a good idea let's go.

15:08 - Fitz (Host)
So that's an end to a day at the races here at Holden, the Holden Gold Cup. I did say at the beginning of this particular podcast that there would be a sulk if my wife's scientific backing of horses came through. How many winners did you have? Three. She had three. She's gone from anti-gambling to a tipster in one evening. Amazing fits in the community. Let's go somewhere else. Thank you. Well, I'm going to finish this week's podcast by coming to the hoe and the memorial service on the 12th of November. It is a rather gray day, in fact what the Scots would call Dreek, and you can hear that. Uh, already the crowds are building. I have two members, the Royal Navy in front of me at the moment. Come here. I know you're Seeker debts, but you still have a Royal Naval uniform. Who are you, madam? I'm.

16:01 - Carol Rushley (Guest)
Lieutenant Commander Carol Rushley, scc, from Devon District and Southwest Sea Cadets, and who is this rather distinguished haired gentleman beside you? This is my husband. Warren officer is the Executive Warren officer for Southwest Area Sea Cadets.

16:16 - Fitz (Host)
Oh right, tell me, are Sea Cadets? How many are there?

16:20 - Mr Rushley (Guest)
um all sold. There's uh about 15 000 across the country. We have about 3000 within uh Southwest Area, which is uh probably the biggest out of all the areas in the country but they feed into the Royal Navy.

16:34
This is the idea I'm guessing um, they say that the Navy it's not a recruitment tool for the Royal Navy, but we find that there's a fairly high percentage of Sea Cadets that do actually transition into the Navy because that's what they want to do, they like the uniform and therefore that's what they would like to do in the future. So many that I talk to I always ask them what they want to do in the future and I and there's a big percentage of them that say they'd like to join the Royal Navy. So, yeah, and you both served by the looks of those medals no, no, I haven't served.

17:01 - Carol Rushley (Guest)
No, I've done nearly 30 years in the Seeker debts wow, that's amazing.

17:06 - Fitz (Host)
And what are the medals? What are the medals you have in front of you?

17:09 - Carol Rushley (Guest)
um, this is a British Empire medal, um, and these are Jubilee medals and this is long service medal. So, um, you get the long service medal for 12 years and then a bar for each six years after that and yours?

17:22 - Mr Rushley (Guest)
um, yeah, I do have Royal Navy ones. That's um my former Yugoslavia, aerops, iraq and my long service medal with with Clasp. So for over 30 years service, you don't look old enough. Thank you very much.

17:38 - Carol Rushley (Guest)
You should have gone to SpecSavers.

17:42 - Fitz (Host)
Well, the atmosphere is building here, if that's the right term for a remembrance service, and I'm very honoured to say I'm stood in front of a gentleman called Ted. Ted, it's my duty today to help you through the service. You're part of the Blind Veterans Association.

17:56 - Ted (Guest)
Yes, yes, Plymouth born and bred, yes, 1936. I saw the best part of the war. I'm saying the best part. There was no best part. But then I lived through the war. I've had a damn good life. So I've got no qualms. I'm 87 years old now. I've got two sons, I had a lovely marriage. I've got no onwards we. So go. My life now is limited, so I'm not worried. I'm 87, as I say, I'm quite happy to live out the rest of my life. I'm not quite sure whether I should say that, because I've got hour or so with you.

18:35 - Fitz (Host)
Thank you If you could tolerate another hour with me.

18:40 - Ted (Guest)
Yeah, well, we will find out, shall we?

18:43 - Fitz (Host)
Shall we go in and lay the wreath? You've got the wreath beside you there.

18:47 - Phil (Guest)
So I'm Phil from Blind Veterans. I'm one of the community support workers and I look after lots of our members, like Ted in the Plymouth area. So we're both here today representing Blind Veterans and our members. It's a poignant day today, so pleased that Ted can join us.

19:06 - Ted (Guest)
Honoured to come here to do this. I support Blind Veterans as well. I'm really pleased to meet you.

19:14 - Fitz (Host)
And you. It's been brilliant.

19:16 - Ted (Guest)
I've listened to your voice all this. Well, how many years have you been down here now?

19:22 - Fitz (Host)
Well, I started broadcasting 42 years ago, so I'm now 62, 61. Get your age right, boy.

19:30 - Ted (Guest)
That's long enough, though, isn't it?

19:32 - Fitz (Host)
That's long enough, Thanks

19:34 - Remembrance speaker (Guest)
Peacekeeping and disaster relief. We remember the contribution of all those who have served and those who are currently serving in the armed forces. The main parade which is currently being formed inside the Royal Citadel to our east, will shortly march onto the hoe. The parade will be led by the Corps of Drums from the band of His Majesty's Royal Marines Plymouth, followed by three guards a Royal Navy Guard with sailors from HMS Drake, a Royal Marine Guard from Three Commando Brigades Stonehouse Barracks and an Army Guard provided by soldiers from Two Nine Commando Regiment Royal Artillery based at the Royal Citadel.

20:26 - Archbishop of Canterbury (Guest)
And in the remembrance there may be honour given to those who fell in battle in the two World Wars, from the Royal Navy, from the Army, from the Royal Air Force and associated regiments and groups, from those who have fallen since in the many conflicts which continue to this day. We remember those on deployment around the world at the minute from the armed forces and we give thanks for them. We take to heart the words from the poem in Flanders field and thank all those who carried the torch that gives us freedom and liberty.

21:20 - Fitz (Host)
The voice of the Archbishop of Canterbury, leading the service on the hoe in appalling weather. But let's face it, the people that we were remembering went through far, far worse. You are my again soon.