Advertise on podcast: In Conversation with Nickie Aiken

My latest episode comes from the streets of Soho, where I joined PC Andy De Santis on part of his patrol route. Andy is a dedicated police officer for Soho, and we spoke about his work in cutting crime and keeping the community here safe. 

Meet my latest Two Cities Hero — Jane Doyle. Jane has lived in Soho for more than 50 years, and she is Chair of the Soho Safer Neighbourhood Ward panel. Soho has gone through some huge changes in Jane’s half century as a local resident — I'm pleased to be joined by her in this episode from St Anne's Church in the heart of Soho.

Superintendent Beth Pirie joined the Met recently from Hampshire Police, and now leads Westminster's Neighbourhood Policing. I caught up with her on a range of pressing issues from licensing and public order in the West End, policing at night, my crime and anti-social behaviour survey, and the culture within the Met.

For Pride Month, I caught up with human rights and LGBTQ+ campaigner Philip Baldwin in Soho. Philip also campaigns and raises awareness of HIV. He was diagnosed with HIV during a routine check-up and he was later diagnosed with Hepatitis C. Thankfully, neither are the life sentences they once were — and with the proper diagnosis and treatment, you can lead a very healthy life. Philip joins me in this episode, and remember, if you’ve been affected, there is lots of information out there.  Useful information from NHS UK:  http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/hiv-and-aids  http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/hepatitis-c  http://www.nhs.uk/medicines/pre-exposure-prophylaxis-prep https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/sexual-health/sexual-health-for-gay-and-bisexual-men/?/ 

For the latest in my Two Cities Heroes series, I speak to Jens Jakobsen — a local florist and the most amazing urban gardener. He has the most beautiful garden with over 150 different plants and a huge onion tree right in heart of Victoria just behind City Hall. I myself discovered it just by walking past one day. Everybody is welcome so if you need a quiet spot to think, read a book or just relax and just get away from it all, make sure you pay it a visit. Jens joins me in this episode.

Zurich Insurance were one of the first companies to sign up to my recently launched Fertility Workplace Pledge — the idea behind it is to get employers of all shapes and sizes to sign up to a set of basic principles that improve the workplace rights for people going through treatment. I was delighted to visit the team in their City office — and their Head of People, Steve Collinson, joined me on my community podcast to explain why they signed up and how it is going. 

Meet Hamza Taouzzale — Hamza was born in Westminster, and is now our First Citizen. He has broken the mould by becoming the youngest Lord Mayor and the first from an ethnic minority background. He’s a Two Cities Hero — and he joined me in this episode.

In the next of my Two Cities Heroes series, I went to The Abbey Centre, run by the fantastic Caz Gandy-Brown. It’s an incredible hub serving our Westminster community which hosts activity groups, a social supermarket and so much more. Caz joins me in this episode 

For the latest in my Two Cities Heroes conversations series, I met up with Rabbi Morris at Bevis Marks. If you haven’t been, Bevis Marks is situated in the heart of our City and is believed to be the longest continuously operating synagogue in the world. Rabbi Morris has been busy overseeing the restoration of the old building, the synagogue is now complete for everyone to visit — and I can tell you it looks stunning!

I’m pushing a Bill through try and get better workplace support for people going through IVF. Infertility affects 3.5 million people in the UK, it affects people of all backgrounds and ethnicities, and did you know it affects more men than women? I was joined by Anya Sizer from Fertility Network UK and racing driver TAG Toby Trice in this episode, to discuss this further. 

Meet Jeremy Goring - a member of the Goring family, who owns the Goring Hotel in Victoria, and they are helping people who have been homeless into careers in hospitality. They provide work experience, mentoring and introductions to employers.

I talk to Christabel Flight for the next episode in my Two Cities Heroes series. Christabel is an old people's champion, a former Councillor, and a true hero!