The Happy Hour
An hour of happiness and wellbeing.
Listen every Monday from 1pm, repeated Thursdays at 6pm and Sundays at 10am.
The Happy Hour is a weekly mix of great music, chat, and happiness and wellbeing hosted by disability advocate Claire Sisk and Paulina Kuchorew. You'll hear experts share advice on looking after our wellbeing, catch candid conversations about sight loss and mental health, and enjoy some music therapy!
Episodes
Showing episodes 1 to 10 of 94
23 June 2025: Making Photography Accessible
We’re joined by street photographer Gary Williamson. Gary is registered blind and does amazing black and white photography, often using his own special awareness, play of light, shadow and contrast to orient himself in a space and take amazing snaps. Plus, Claire and Paulina take a look at the random national days coming up in July, and Claire shares her tips for good photos and videos.
16 June 2025: BBQ Trends With Matthew Hoggard & RNIB Community Facebook Groups
This week, Trish Sail joins us to talk about the RNIB Community Facebook groups and how important having a community is for wellbeing. We're also joined by Cricketing Legend and BBQ Connoisseur Matthew ‘Hoggy’ Hoggard to talk about BBQ trends for this summer.
9 June 2025: Brain Health Tips & Indian Scotch Eggs Recipe
This week on the Happy Hour we hear how eating walnuts could help improve our brain health with NHS GP and TV doctor Dr Amir Khan. He’ll also share his tips for making sure our brains stay sharp as we age. And VI chef Kim Jaye joins us in the kitchen for her recipe for a Scotch egg but with an Indian twist. Plus, a new segment as Claire and Paulina go down the musical memory lane.
2 June 2025: Cardiovascular Health & June Almanac
We hear another monthly almanac from Amelia as she learns about the history, nature, and folklore of the month of June. Plus, Paulina speaks with Julie Ward, Senior Cardiac Nurse from the British Heart Foundation, about their research showing growing rates of cardiovascular disease in the UK in those aged 20-64 and will tell us about the launch of their new strategy to tackle this concerning trend.
26 May 2025: Nature, Countryside & Self-Care App Demo
Tom from Charity Open Country tells us how they can help you enjoy the Yorkshire countryside, and Hubert joins us with a review of the self-care app Finch. An app which uses a virtual pet to motivate you to engage in positive habits. Plus, random news story leaves our presenters speechless, and Claire shares what happy memory she hopes to get a reminder for every year.
19 May 2025: Therapy, Mental Health Support, & Put Your Best Foot Forward In Support Of Charity
We hear from Pete from charity National Kidney Federation about the good work they do supporting 3.25 million people with kidney problems across the UK and also explain how we can help with their annual fundraiser this June. Plus, Paulina speaks with registered therapist Mahin Hamidi about recent research which shows around 14 million UK adults have sought mental health support in the last five years and a third found getting the right support through the NHS “difficult.”
12 May 2025: Mental Health Awareness Week & Value Of Community
It's Mental Health Awareness Week and this year the focus is on the importance of community. Join Claire and Paulina on the show this week as they learn about RNIB’s Connect Facebook groups, chat community with yoga teacher Dawn Blezard, shine a spotlight on that famous happy song about blue skies, and even bring you tasty news for this week’s funny news story.
5 May 2025: Health, AI, & Relationships
This week we chat about the potential of AI to help detect disease early, like skin cancers and other conditions with George Tomeski, CEO of company Helfie AI, and their CTO Nikhil Sehgal. Plus, presenters of Good Company show, Karen Wye and Amelia Hilton, join us to talk all things relationships, happiness, and connections.
21 April 2025: Claire’s Cheesecake Recipe & Importance of Support and Confidence
This week on the show we’re joined by Harry Georgiou to talk rebuilding confidence, love of music and finding a supportive community. Plus we try out one of Claire’s recipes as we tackle a delicious and boozy cheesecake in the kitchen.
14 April 2025: No Bake Easter Recipe & Hay Fever First Aid Kit
Airborne allergens expert Max Wiseberg offers his best tips to survive hay fever season, and as we approach Easter, Paulina jumps into the kitchen to try out an easy no-bake recipe that you can do with the whole family. Plus, we go a bit country with our song spotlight this week!