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 99
28 July 2025: August Almanac, Sensory Matters Worcestershire & Accessible Fun Run
We hear from Millie and Alice at Sensory Matters Worcestershire about their recent collaboration on making a local fun run inclusive. Amelia joins us for a look at the nature, folklore and history of the last of the summer months. And Claire and Paulina look ahead at some random national days, and this week’s funny news story.
21 July 2025: Blind Bowls, Access To Swimming & Snakes On a Plane!
We’re chatting with blind bowls champion Margaret Cusker, who has her sights set on competing at the International Blind Bowls Association Championships in New Zealand in 2027. She’s joined by Willy Goldschmidt from the Hillmorton Social Club, who are helping fundraise to get Margaret to the competition. We’re also going to hear about a new research project that hopes to improve access to swimming for blind and partially sighted people. And finally, a sneaky plane passenger unnerves Claire for this week’s funny news story!
14 July 2025: Discovering New Passions & Isle Of Man’s Therapeutic Garden
We’re going to hear about the opening of a therapeutic garden on the Isle of Man as Jennifer chats with charity Sight Matters, and Paulina chats with James Kyle about his passion for music and playing the piano. Something James fell into five years ago after receiving a wonderful gift. Plus, Claire and Paulina put their party shoes on for new segment: Down The Musical Memory Lane.
7 July 2025: Kim Jaye’s Carrot Cake Recipe, Silence, & The North Pole
Chef Kim Jaye is back with one of her favourite recipes for a scrumptious carrot cake. And for this month’s book spotlight, Paulina takes a look at two books from Norwegian explorer and author, Erling Kagge. It's a two in one recommendation, with a more philosophical book on the benefits of silence, and a travel title focused on our human fascination with reaching the North Pole.
30 June 2025: July Almanac & Why We Struggle With Ending Bad Habits
VI Yoga teacher Dawn Blezard is back for another off the mat chat, this time focusing on the challenge of giving up things that are not contributing to our wellbeing. Plus, Amelia guides us through the sounds, history, and nature of July with the latest Almanac.
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.