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So Who Cares Anyway; E35 One Year On: Stories, Hope, and Welcome to 2026 · SoWhoCaresAnyway

• 0:04
  Hi, I'm Ruth Germaine, and this is, so Who Cares? Anyway, a podcast shaped by my deep curiosity about who cares, what do they care about, what do they do, and why does it matter? My aspiration is to build a community that listens with intention and explores care from every angle from the North Yorkshire malls.
• 0:25
  So behind clinical doors, each episode invites people to share their stories, their ideas, and talk about what matters to them.
• 0:34
  Together we reimagine what care could be and how we might shape health and wellbeing through the assets, values, and the lived wisdom of our communities.
• 0:44
  And why does it matter? Because for too long, health and care have been treated as things to be delivered, often depleting systems and the people around them.
• 0:54
  And it's time to rewrite the narrative to center everyone as a contributor, not just a recipient, to offer joy, hope, and meaningful belonging to invite each of us to shape the future of health and wellbeing with courage, with creativity, and with care.
• 1:12
  So who cares? Anyway.
• 1:17
  Hello and welcome to 2026 and welcome to another episode of So Who Cares.
• 1:23
  Anyway, and I can't quite believe it because actually it's a year now since my first episode of So Who Cares? Anyway, went out.
• 1:30
  It was actually in the middle of January, but it's still a year.
• 1:34
  That I've been doing these episodes.
• 1:36
  For those of you that have listened regularly, you were in and heard the journey I've been on.
• 1:40
  I used to release 'em every week.
• 1:42
  They now go, now go out once a fortnight, but that's a regular thing and it's something that I've really enjoyed.
• 1:48
  I've really met so many people and learned so many things.
• 1:52
  I just want to share some of that with you today.
• 1:55
  But what I also want to do is just say thank you.
• 1:57
  Thank you so much.
• 1:58
  To everybody who has listened, not only to my guests, but to everybody who has listened, the conversations that have shaped my journey.
• 2:06
  So the conversations that you may have heard as listeners, but the conversations I've had with people outside who said, oh, I listened to this, I listened to that.
• 2:14
  That was great.
• 2:14
  What about, and the ideas that people have.
• 2:18
  So I've had some real learning, some real reflection.
• 2:21
  I always say I've done these as much for myself as everybody else, and it certainly has given me hope for the future, knowing there's so many amazing people out there, and these people are working in the NHS, they're working in social care, they're working.
• 2:37
  In lots of different places, right from the Yorkshire Moores, um, and in our universities and all sorts of places.
• 2:44
  So I've really heard so many stories and I suppose one of the things that's really come through to me is how passionate people are.
• 2:53
  And often that passion and that drive for what people are doing has come from their own personal story, something that's happened to them, or a loved one, or somebody that they've seen, or maybe something.
• 3:05
  At work that has really driven people to think, actually, we need to do this differently.
• 3:10
  Or I can do this differently, or I can do this, I can do that.
• 3:13
  I can help with, I can make a change, I can make a difference.
• 3:19
  But it comes from their own story.
• 3:21
  But of course, we all have different stories and sometimes we see our story and that story helps us to build empathy.
• 3:29
  And understanding for other people.
• 3:32
  And this was really highlighted, uh, by Tracy who spoke about her own story with postpartum psychosis, where she spoke about that story and how that drove her to make a difference.
• 3:44
  And so many of the stories I've listened to have been like that.
• 3:48
  But actually, if we don't listen to other people's stories, then we don't always get their perspective.
• 3:52
  So I think what's really come through in this podcast is listen to other people's.
• 3:56
  Stories, whether it's in this PO podcast or someone somewhere else.
• 4:01
  Listen with curiosity, listen as if you don't know.
• 4:05
  Don't listen to respond.
• 4:06
  Listen to really understand, because that's where the empathy is built.
• 4:10
  And when we have empathy, we understand and when we understand, we get that drive, it seems from everybody to make a change and make a difference.
• 4:19
  Of course.
• 4:20
  The other thing that I've really learned from this podcast and has been a really important thing to me in the work that I'm doing is Adam Lent when he spoke about.
• 4:29
  He's do with rather than to do to movement.
• 4:32
  And that is a reoccurring theme once again, is actually we need to do things with our communities.
• 4:39
  We need to empower individuals and communities to be creators of their own health and wellbeing, rather than thinking that it's organizations and institutions who can come in and say, I'll sort that out for you.
• 4:52
  I'll make that better for you.
• 4:53
  Actually, we need to be turning around and saying to people what matters most to you and how might I help you achieve that? Who else might help you achieve that? What can you do? What can your community do? Who else can do that? Which of course takes us.
• 5:09
  They were questions asked by Claire Fuller.
• 5:11
  As well when she talks about the house that she uses when talking to people about speak for me and end of life care.
• 5:18
  But actually those questions can go through for everybody all the way through their lives and really fits with the asset-based community development that Russell Cormack spoke about, where he spoke about.
• 5:29
  Seeing people in our communities of asset as assets and asking them what matters to them.
• 5:35
  And an example of this, of course, was Dr.
• 5:38
  Mark Spencer, who really went out to his community, a gp, and from a question about.
• 5:45
  What mattered to you? He found out it was the litter.
• 5:48
  It was the litter around the town that really bothered people's most.
• 5:52
  So people, doctors, nurses, people from general practice went out and listened and helped and picked up litter.
• 5:58
  And from that they really shifted the focus of health creation from being something that they delivered to being something that the community built themselves.
• 6:09
  I can't name everybody.
• 6:10
  There's so many people going around in my head at the moment.
• 6:13
  So many conversations, but it just names a few and hopefully you're picking up on those key points that I've made so far and those key lessons.
• 6:22
  There's a lot more.
• 6:23
  But actually I think just to reframe that, what I've I learned is that actually there's loads of amazing, so many amazing people making a difference.
• 6:31
  They're often driven by a passion and their own personal story, and we all have our own story.
• 6:38
  We only have that perspective, so we must listen with curiosity to other people's stories.
• 6:43
  We must try and do with people rather than doing for people.
• 6:48
  We need to empower people.
• 6:50
  We need to co-produce and we need to ask people what matters to you and think about how I, I help you achieve that.
• 6:56
  Actually, who else might help you achieve that? And think about everybody as an asset, recognizing the wisdom and the resilience that is already present in our communities.
• 7:07
  So for 2026, I know that the world is changing.
• 7:11
  I know that there's lots of things happening and I know that within our, um, we are feeling the impact in our own communities and we are feeling the IM impact when I speak to my colleagues that are still working in the NHS or social care, that it's hard at the moment.
• 7:26
  There's a lot of things happening, but we have to carry on with hope.
• 7:30
  So carry on with empathy, be curious, talk to people, listen to people, and find out as much as we can.
• 7:37
  That's certainly my aim as I go through it.
• 7:40
  I plan to carry on doing my podcast and hopefully bring in more stories and hopefully some of my stories will be more from people in our communities because I think that there's so many important.
• 7:51
  Things become, um, going on and happening.
• 7:54
  One of the things that I've done this year is I became a Rotarian and I feel like I haven't done much in that space.
• 7:59
  And I was thinking, what can I do? I don't always have time.
• 8:02
  I'm quite busy.
• 8:02
  I've got quite a few things of work going on.
• 8:05
  So one of the things that I've done, and last week I had a podcast from a fellow Rotarian, but these are people who are doing things in our communities.
• 8:13
  So hopefully there'll be more of those stories, um, as we go forwards and more of those people sharing things.
• 8:19
  So.
• 8:20
  Just to wrap up for now, thank you so much to everybody who's listened.
• 8:24
  Thank you to everybody who's been a part of the conversations.
• 8:27
  If you feel like you have something to share, please do get in touch.
• 8:32
  And if you want to, um, please do share this podcast with other people, because the more people that listen, the more that we share, the more stories, the more her empathy, the more knowledge, the more empowerment that we create.
• 8:46
  So let's keep going.
• 8:49
  Please listen in from Ruth Germaine, so who cares? Anyway, here's the 2026.
• 8:58
  I hope you found this episode interesting and inspiring.
• 9:01
  If today's conversation has stirred something within you, please share it together.
• 9:07
  Let's build the ripple that we need to create change.
• 9:11
  And if you haven't yet, please follow the show and leave a rating.
• 9:14
  You can also find on my link tree a link to my feedback form where you can share your questions, ideas, and reflections, and talk about what you'd like to hear on this podcast in the future and what matters to you.
• 9:28
  Together.
• 9:28
  Let's shape a space into something reflective and purposeful.
• 9:33
  So for now, stay caring, stay connected, and stay curious.