New Show - TALK THRIVE GROW

Tanya Slater is a passionate advocate for accessible, community driven mental health and wellbeing support. Alec Stansfield is a Human Givens psychotherapist who has worked in the field of well-being for twenty years. Together, they have created Frome FM’s latest wellbeing radio show, TALK GROW THRIVE - a talk show aimed at supporting the local community through conversation, support, and understanding. Tanya speaks more about how the show started, their intentions, and how you can get involved below.

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“TALK GROW THRIVE is a completely volunteer run project here in Frome, for the people of Frome. The quickest and most effective route to the success of this project and seeing people's mental health improve will be through individuals listening, learning and sharing” - Tanya Slater

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What inspired you both to start your show on Frome FM?

I chose creating a radio show over a podcast because of wanting to focus our efforts in Frome. Frome is an incredible, engaged and forward thinking place and it feels right to share on our local radio station, and in our local paper. TALK GROW THRIVE is a lot more than the radio show, but we see the show as the glue that binds the rest of the project. 

People reading our monthly article will be directed to Frome FM to listen and learn more, local businesses that want to make use of our plug-and-play staff wellbeing programme will be able to direct their staff and their families to the show. Teachers, educators, carers and community leaders will all have the opportunity to learn more by listening to the show. 

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What drives you both to make this show?

I have personal experience of crippling mental health challenges. ADHD, Autism, childhood bullying and adverse childhood experiences myself and through parenting. My life has made me a passionate advocate for all our mental health and wellbeing. 

I believe we all deserve to know how to thrive and create whatever song or dance to our life we wish. I lost my brother to suicide in 2023 and that belief and messaging sits deep within me. It is also why I founded The Dancing With Dom foundation that is currently funding the TALK GROW THRIVE project.

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About ten years ago, Alec and his partner in life and business, Bindi Gauntlett, developed a simple and practical tool to use with their clients and in their workshops. That tool is a pack of beautifully illustrated cards called “Anxiety Freedom Cards”. They are used to help people grasp some of the basic ideas that underpin the needs model of wellbeing and their approach to wellbeing. Alec and Bindi are both on a mission to make a huge positive impact on people's mental health.

I’ve been using the cards myself, with my family and with my clients for years now and they always improve people's lives. The idea is simple, the cards make the learning super accessible and we’ve both seen the positive improvements to people's mental health and wellbeing using what we are sharing.

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Having lost my brother last year, and understanding that the world is experiencing a mental health crisis right now and that suicide rates continue to rise, I feel like this is now something so much bigger than me. 

I hope that in 12 months time we will have learned enough to be able to put a toolkit together for other communities to be able to implement a similar community initiative, so we can help to end this global mental health crisis.

It’s my time to serve; and the way I feel I can help others, and improve so many people's experiences of life, is by sharing the ‘needs model of wellbeing’ and bringing communities together to learn how to talk about their mental health. We wish to support everyone to grow through the experience, and finally get to thrive and dance whatever dance they are here to enjoy.

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What can listeners expect from your show?

Our show is primarily a talk show, and every month we spend the first 20 minutes or so exploring one of the 12 needs in detail. Alec has an incredible way of explaining everything about our human needs, and how we can get them met. 

Mid-way through the show, we look at what resources we ALL have and can draw on to help us get our needs better met. We always have a couple of songs tenuously linked to the need of the month and we always try to find local artists before we go to global, well known ones.

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Finally, Alec shares some practical things people can try over the next few weeks, and I then gloat about how incredible Frome is, and shout out some local community projects that people could also try out to get the need of the month met.

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How can the community get involved?

Listen in! We’re on air the first Sunday of every month at 2pm and you can listen online straight after the show through our show page.

We also hold an in person get together at the Community Cafe at Frome VIctoria Park on the second Friday of every month 10am - 12pm. It is for anyone to come along and discuss, ask questions and get some support and guidance in person. We aim to always have sets of cards with us to take away and start using and sharing them with their friends and family.

If anyone is part of any kind of community, be it in education, healthcare, work or otherwise, and they would like to be a TALK GROW THRIVE champion to help their community, we would love to hear from them. We can arrange a phone call, a visit or a workshop and we can provide all the support they need. Everyone can get in touch by emailing talkgrowthrive@gmail.com, or message us through our Facebook page TALK GROW THRIVE.

But really, the most powerful step anyone in the community can take, is to start a conversation.

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