Local Life

We recently welcomed Olivia, Nicki, Harry and Christelle from the Camphill Village Trust into the Mix 92.6 studio. The Camphill Village Trust is a leading national charity and adult social care provider supporting adults with learning disabilities, autism, mental health problems and complex needs to lead a life of opportunity. They empower people to make informed choices and contribute to their communities. In this lively discussion, we learned about the lives of the residents, the amazing Corner Cafe in Catherine street St Albans, the work of the Kindness Crew and their annual inclusive music and art festival - The Festover.

Alex Twyman is a sports agent - but what exactly is a sports agent? What do they do? In this interview Alex shares his own sporting history as a local Football and Rugby player and his journey to become an agent for one of the World's largest sports agencies. Alex also shares some of his predictions for this year's 6 Nations Rugby tournament and his special focus on one of his clients who is on the pitch playing for the England Team.

De Havilland is an important part of our local history and the De Havilland Aircraft Museum in London Colney documenrs this wonderfully. Jonny Seabrook was welcomed by Derek Lamb, a volunteer at the museum, who guided him around the museum. Their chat is here as a two part podcast. 

Local nature correspondent Rupert Evershed asks a simple seasonal question – but the answer might not be the one you expect.

Lucy Gaygusuz, Trustee at Open Door, tells Rob Pearman about the plans to help and then keep local rough sleepers off the streets for the second Covid winter.  This year – as last year – the project involves Open Door, Centre 33, Hightown Housing, Emmaus and the District Council and this year with the additional ... Read more

Nature correspondent Rupert Evershed calls for support in the campaign to save Tyttenhanger Gravel Pits – home to a wide range of birds and other wildlife – from potential loss if the Bowmans Cross development proposed by Hertsmere Borough Council is approved.  Consultation closes on 6th December.

John Mulholland, Trustee and Warehouse Manager at St Albans & District Foodbank, explains to Rob Pearman how the service works, how much it has increased over recent years (it now has six distribution points), and how the combination of increasing prices, the ending of the Covid uptick to Universal Credit and of the furlough scheme, ... Read more

It’s been thirty years since local nature observer, writer and correspondent Rupert Evershed was last visited by a Spotted Flycatcher.  They had once been annual visitors so he was delighted to see them back again – even though now as migrants rather than nesting birds and also, sadly, on the ‘red list’ as an endangered ... Read more

Local naturalist and correspondent Rupert Evershed (see podcast series: Local Life – Nature Notes) believes that experiencing nature’s variety is as good as a rest.  His recent experience of land and sea birds around The Scilly Isles included discoveries about the house sparrow and the magpie, but also an encounter with the rarely seen tiny ... Read more

One of a series of publications by the British Library, ‘Crawling Horror – Creeping Tales of the Insect Weird’ is edited by Daisy Butcher and Janette Leaf, respectively postgraduate researchers at Hertfordshire University and Birkbeck, University of London.   They have searched the archives for 19th and 20th  century tales about insects – some good, some ... Read more

Stacey Turner, founder of the local mental health charity It’s OK to Say started to plan ways to help newly arrived evacuees from Kabul who were facing the trauma of their unplanned exit from their homeland .  She soon realised that many of them – having left Afghanistan in haste – had very real immediate ... Read more

When someone knocks on your door and tells you he can fix that loose tile, beware.  It’s odds on he’s a scammer aiming to rip you off.  HCC Trading Standards Officer Darren Ward tells Local Life some hair-raising tales of the tricks these scammers play and how much it can end up costing you.

We’re all doing our best to help in the fight against climate change, so it’s no surprise that scammers have decided that is where we’re most vulnerable.  Trading Standards Officer Darren Ward explains on Local Life how the ‘energy-efficiency scammers’ work, what to watch out for and – above all – how to save yourself ... Read more

Well actually, it isn’t.  And if you ‘click on one’ as invited, you could soon be handing over access to all your banking details.  Darren Ward of HCC Trading Standards explains how the scammers use a simple text about an undelivered package (supposedly from Royal Mail or Amazon or DPD or…..) to get into your ... Read more

Anyone who owns a phone, a computer, a letter box or even a front doorbell is a target for the scammers (which means all of us).  On Local Life, HCC Trading Standards Officer Darren Wood explains the tricks the scammers use – focusing this time on the ‘Nottingham Knockers’ and the rogue fish sellers, who ... Read more

Local Life welcomed Robert Naylor-Stables, current Play Director at one of the District’s best known amateur dramatic societies. Rob Pearman asked him to tell us what they’ve achieved over the past 75 years, what they see as their contribution to the local community, how they coped with the lockdown and what’s coming up when they ... Read more

Adam Nichols, Artistic Director at OVO and The Maltings, tells Local Life what the company aims to achieve through live performance, how they’ve used streaming during the lockdowns, and what happens next – including their management of and performances at the Roman Theatre Open Air Festival (28 May – 11 July) plus other productions to ... Read more