Ciara's Pink Sparkle Podcast!

My chat with Junior Doctor Grace Spence Green. She became a person with a disability in 2018 after she was involved in an accident. She has written a fab new book called To Exist As I Am and you can buy it online from book stores like Waterstones!https://www.waterstones.com/book/to-exist-as-i-am/grace-spence-green//9781800814486?utm_source=awin&awaid=3787&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22647730732&gclid=CjwKCAjwgb_CBhBMEiwA0p3oODI0UTAVGWF2JV27AWVcXkPDEApmsWcYsryYsSE7XGSxvtbElbanORoCEbcQAvD_BwE

I interviewed Irish singer & Songwriter Gavin Friday who is also my lovely u2 family for my Podcast. We chatted about his own music career and his album Ecce Homo, we chatted about our Dublin connections, we talked about our u2 family connections & he told me about his creative consultant role with the band. We also chatted about what inspires us & angers us & he told me a story about my cousin Richard aka 'Dik' back in the Virgin Prunes days!

I chatted with Emma Steel from Every Cherry Publishing. She created an imprint that will help children with a disability to access reading and story books. I got involved with Every Cherry Publishing last year as they invited me to do an audio voice over for their version of my fave all time children's story, The Wizard of Oz and I got to read and record and channel ' My inner Dorothy! ' website : https://www.everycherry.com/

I chatted with my friend Mark Cutter aka The Man in the Purple Hat about our own lived experiences of having a disability, the differences between learning difficulty and learning disability, the medical model of learning disability & the social model of disability and what change we can make when we lobby for change. We also talked about our own work careers and what we do now and chatted about my Podcast too!

For this episode of my Podcast, I am joined for a chat by my lovely friend and actress Sally Phillips. She is currently starring in a wonderful new BBC Sitcom show called Austin which you can now watch on BBC I-Player! We chatted about the recent final Bridget Jones Movie Mad About the Boy & her character Shazza. We also chatted about the world of learning disability and why we need to see more people with a learning disability being seen positively in the media like TV and film & she talked about her own experience of becoming a mother to her son Olly who has Downs Syndrome and what he has achieved!

I chatted to Steve Lillywhite CBE who is a British Music Producer about his career working in the music industry as a music producer. He told me about when he worked with u2 on their singles and albums and how he got to work with other bands like The Rolling stones. I also told him about why I started my Podcast!

For this episode, I chatted with my lovely friend Hayley Newman & her wonderful daughter Natty who has Downs Syndrome. They chatted with me about their relationship as mum and daughter, we chatted about how important it is to see people with a disabiliy in the media like Natty and myself. We also talked about our favourite ice-cream flavours, chatted about the film Frozen and our favorite colours!

I chatted to my friend Shelley Simmonds about becoming a mum to her son Fraser who has a disability. we also talked abut why it is important that we have more role models in the media who have a disability and we talked about disability issues!

Happy Mother's day to all the mums out there today!I chatted with my lovely school mate Claire Scadden who is a lovely mum to Grace who was born with a pysical disability. Claire shared her pregnancy story with me and the good support she has a mum!

I chatted with Josh all about his career as a neurodivergent Screen Writer and abut how TV shows and dramas should hire more actors in front of the camera and behind the camera. We also talked about Disability and the importance of Representation!

I chatted with Consultant Learning Disability Nurse Jim Blair about the importance of the role that learning disability nurses do when they are supporting people with a learning disability with their healthcare in hospitals. We chatted about hospital passports & being on the learning disability register with your GP and why it's important for people with a learning disability to be on it. We also chatted about our Patron roles with the amazing inclusive dance charity Dance Syndrome.

I chatted with my friend Michaella who is a mum and i asked her, What does being a mum mean to you?She told me her experiences of becoming a mum , we also chatted about people with a disability, and my friendship with her daughter!

Check out this brand new episode of my Podcast! it's all about International Women's Day and i am joined for a chat by my lovely friend Kasia who i met through my job. we talked about what it means to be women and we talked about what international women's day means to us and we talked about some of the amazing women who we admire in our lives!

I chat with the Campaigner and Journalist Sam Carlisle about becoming a mum to her daughter Elvi who has a disability, we chatted about our work careers and how we have worked together in the past, we chatted about disability representation in the media and also about attitudes and stigma faced by people with a disability and public attitudes.

Chat with disability campaigner Thomas Ramsey.

I chatted to my friend Helen Shiers. Helen is a wonderful Mum to her daughter Thea who has Down's syndrome. She shared with me about her experiences of becoming a mum and about her experience of being a mum to Thea and we talked parenting and disability representation and we talked about disability and media. She is also a Co-Founder of a wonderful charity called PSDS which aims to support families who have children who have Downs Syndrome. website - https://www.psds.info/

I chatted with the journalist Camilla Tominey about, our work careers, The recent Traitors series and disability media press representation and both of our Podcasts and learning disability and how we have both met some of the members of the Royal Family!

Denise and Steffan from the 2024 series of Britain's Got Talent! Episode 100! Denise and Steffan from the 2024 series of Britain's Got Talent chatted with me about what it was like to be on the show, they talked about their lived experience of having visual impairments and we chatted about the importance of seeing people with a disability and conditions on TV shows as role models and they talked future plans too!

I chatted with the journalist and film maker Kate Spicer. Kate has a brother called Tom who has a learning disability and she made a film with him called Mission to Lars as it was his dream to go and meet Lars from the band Metallica! We talked about the film and about disability and media representation and about our work careers! link to film : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYeVMYPufxg

I chatted to the designer and maker Masato Jones about his world of work in design and making and i told him about learning disability and we talked about learning disability and about employment and attitudes!

I chatted with bbc reporter Ricky Boleto about our work careers, disability media representation and how important it is!

I chatted with the Classic FM Presenter and Writer and mediator Joanna Gosling. we talked about how we met through a TV interview opportunity, learning disability, our work jobs, our careers and about our favourite pieces of classical music and why we liked them!

Chat with Broadcaster and writer Jon Connell. We chatted about why we both love the TV show The Masked Singer, the fun of guessing the celebrities who are masked and who we have guessed so far on the show and we talked about media representation and about our work careers!

I chatted with craig about the organisation he has founded called the Spearhead Foundation. we also chatted about how we came to meet an event we were both speaking at recently. Craig's own story is powerful and inspiring. He used to be in th army and was wounded in afghanistan in 2009.

My chat with Arts Journalist Pat Carty- we talked Dublin, u2, media representation & our careers!

Mark Rowland & I talked about why mental health is so important to talk about and he shared the story with me of how his own brother took his own life and how he wanted to work for an organisation that supports people with their mental health

Chat with the presenter and model Marcus Ramtohul! https://www.marcusramtohul.com/

Chat with my friend Rob Holland who is Director at the NAS Charity in Scotland. We talked about our work, and disability and media representation of people with a disability and much more!

I chatted with my friend Rob Holland who is now a Director at the charity the National Autistic Society in Scotland. We talked about our work careers and our fond memories of when we worked together in Parliament with the legend that was Lord Brian Rix. We also talked about learning disability and media representation and disability and lots more!

I chatted with my lovely friend Stevie Benton. We talked about his how we met through our careers at the Shaw Trust Disability Power 100 List event a few years ago. We also talked about the importance of positive disability awareness and how people with a disability should be seen and represented in the media!

I chatted with Aaron Phipps MBE about living his life with his disability, about all his amazing achievements in his sport which is wheelchair rugby and all his achievements at the Paralympics including winning a gold medal. We also chatted about who our role models are in our lives and about how you can achieve a lot in life and turning a negative into a positive. We also chatted about his own experience of being at the Paralympics in Paris this year!

I had a Chat with Jamie Hale. He is the artistic director at Criptic Arts! https://cripticarts.org/events/

I chatted with Frankie Seaman the pro skater about her skating career and how she got to skate as pro dancer on the ITV show Dancing on Ice alongside the Olympic skating legends Torvill and Dean and her work with various charities!

I took some time out to interview charity Mencap's new CEO Jon Sparkes about what it is like to be a CEO, I got to know about his life and his career, his hobbies and interests, We also chatted about Cornwall, our families, our work careers, his new role as Mencap CEO and we chatted about learning disability and SEND too!

listen to My conversation with sports presenter & broadcaster, podcaster and presenter and author Gabby Logan!

I had a fab and funny chat with the impressionist and comedian Rory Bremner for my podcast recently. we talked, Fame, ADHD, Learning Disability, Comedy, Our Career and there were some fab celeb impressions too!

1. we chatted about his career on the radio 2. we chatted about our favourite bands and singers and why we liked them 3. we chatted about my claim to fame being related to u2's The Edge and Gary told me he was a big fan!

I chatted with Sinead from Bwitched about wearing Denim, abut The band's new EP out now which is called Ripped Jeans. We also talked about their career and how the band re-united through the Big Reunion TV show, about me being a fan, about where they got their band name from and fame and why pop concert venues should be accessible for everyone including people with a learning disability like me!

I chat with my lovely u2 fan friends Hillary and Jenny aka The Garden Tarts. I asked them about why they started their podcast, about what their favourite all time u2 albums and songs are and we chatted a bit about what they have learnt about learning disability since having me on their podcast as a chat interview guest! https://www.thegardentarts.com/

A chat with a good friend of mine called Martin who is a DJ & he has his own show on Groove London Radio which is an online radio station. He chatted to me about his dreams and goals of becoming a radio DJ and he talked about his life as someone with a disability. We also chatted about media representation of people with a disability / learning disability and why it is important for us to be heard. He also has a fantastic message for other young people with a disability to encourage them! radio show website: https://www.groovelondon.com/

I chat with Georgina who is the founder of Purpl Discounts. Purpl Discounts is The UK's first dedicated discount site to help with the cost of living with a disability. https://www.purpldiscounts.com/

Derrek chats with me about living his life with his disability and we talked about what life is like for people with a disability around the world and he told me about his fantastic bags business called Derrek's bags which are for sale on Etsy! https://www.etsy.com/shop/DerreksBags

Tom the editor from Able Magazine met with me for a one off podcast special episode where he interviewed me about how I started my podcast series!

Chat with Chris who is from the USA. He is also a podcaster, so we chatted everything from podcasting to how to build your podcast audience!

This episode is about this month of September which is Gynaelogical Cancer Awarness Month. I teamed up with Sara from the gynae cancer awarness charity Gracewomen who I am a voluntary ambassador for and with NHS Dr Jay Chaterjee for a joint interview to help spread awareness of the 5 gynae cancers and the importance of checking yourself, booking your smear tests, cancer screening and the early symptoms of different cancers.

I chatted with the Graphic Designer Stephen Averill about his career as a graphic designer, but also about his work career involvement with the rock band u2. he told me about how he helped come up with the name u2 for the band and about some of the u2 album covers that he designed for the band too! https://x.com/hashtag/CiarasPinkSparklePodcast?src=hashtag_click

I chatted to Kate Nash OBE the founder of PurpleSpace about her career, we chatted about an event on employment and recruitment we were both part of last year and we talked about how employers can hire people with a disability and the benefits of employing people with a disability like using reasonable adjustments!

I had a fantastic chat with fab Comedian Ria Lina for my podcast recently about her career and she talked about having autism herself. We also talked about comedy and why jokes that are made by comedians could be offensive and hurtful towards people with a learning disability like me.

I had a chat interview with Jon Lee from pop band S Club. We talked about their recent reunion & their Good Times Tour, their recent Brighton Pride gig, about LGBT awareness & about how the band paid tribute to their band mate Paul Cattermole who sadly died from an underlying heart condition. Jon is an Ambassador for the British Heart Foundation to help them raise awareness of heart issues. https://www.bhf.org.uk/what-we-do/who-we-are Jon and Jo from S Club will also be doing a gig soon at Pizza Express in Holborn! https://www.pizzaexpresslive.com/whats-on/choose-seats/jon-lee-jo-omeara/1430608

I chatted with John Byrne who is the Careers Advisor for The Stage which is a famous theatre performers newspaper which started the career of singers like the Spice Girls. We talked about our work careers, about representation of people with a learning disability within theatre and the media and chatted about our own Irish Connections!

For this episode, I chatted with Gina Patel. She recently won the Rising Star for Diversity Award and she is also the host of the Podcast Ordinary People, Honest Lives! https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/ordinary-people-honest-lives/id1720058087