In this powerful episode of Wild Card -Whose Shoes?, Gill Phillips talks with Aurora Thompson - a remarkable young woman whose story of trauma, survival, and resilience will stop you in your tracks.

Aurora shares her lived experience of abuse,, bullying, mental health crises, and being sectioned as a teenager.

She talks about her diagnosis with autism and what difference it has made.

But at the heart of her journey is a message of hope: a force she breaks down into four vital elements — connection, love, opportunity, and purpose.

🍋 All behaviour is communication - don’t judge, listen.

🍋 How is it okay to restrain but not hug?

🍋 The cost (emotional and financial) of crisis care versus the value of early intervention

🍋 The role of “golden people” — those rare professionals who bring honesty, humour, and humanity

🍋 From despair to purpose: how a photo of a therapy dog sparked hope, and how participation work with Barnardo’s became a lifeline

🍋 “Aim for the stars and you might just land near the moon” - Aurora’s call to dream big.

We also explore diagnostic overshadowing, the importance of holistic care, and why systems must stop lazily labelling children as “complex” and start seeing them as whole people.

Aurora is now studying philosophy, working with young people, and speaking out with passion and clarity to help change the system for those who come after her. Her voice is brave, authentic, and unforgettable.

🎧 Listen in for a story that is painful, inspiring, and ultimately hopeful - and perhaps take away your own lemon lightbulb or two. 🍋💡🍋

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If you enjoy my podcast and find these conversations useful
please share your thoughts by leaving a review (Spotify or Apple are easiest to leave a review - navigate via 3 dots) and comment on your favourite episodes.

I tweet as @WhoseShoes and @WildCardWS and am on Instagram as @WildCardWS.

Please recommend 'Wild Card - Whose Shoes' to others who enjoy hearing passionate people talk about their experiences of improving health care.

🎙️ Wild Card – Whose Shoes? with Gill Phillips
Episode: An #IntentionalCoffee with Dr Ben Allen

In this episode, Gill Phillips speaks for the very first time with Dr Ben Allen - transformative GP, former ICB leader, and curious explorer of how the NHS can work better for staff, patients, and communities.

Ben and Gill have connected through LinkedIn where Ben describes himself as: "GP, NHS leader, convener and innovator. Releasing potential, creating joyful and effective teams. Supporting large scale improvement."

On the podcast, Ben shares his bold decision to step away from a formal leadership role to pursue a two-year “personal learning experiment” - visiting teams, shadowing people across the NHS and beyond, and testing new ways of connecting, leading, and learning.

✨ Ben and Gill dive into:

• Building trust and psychological safety in teams.
• Why creativity (perhaps a RAP or a ball of wool!) can shift culture.
• The power of connections and ripples in complex systems.
• How social media can be more than noise - a space for learning, challenge, and collaboration.
• The hope found in unlocking the untapped potential of human beings.

It’s a rich, hopeful, and energising conversation about leadership, curiosity, and finding new ways to make change happen.

🍋💡🍋 Lemon lightbulbs

🍋 “Make everything work harder” – capture, share, and amplify learning so others can benefit.

🍋 Psychological safety is built when we stretch people’s vulnerability just enough – trust grows through human connection.

🍋 Creativity in healthcare (a poem, a musical, a ball of wool!) can feel radical because our systems are so rigid – yet these moments are what people remember.

🍋 Impact in complex systems is messy and hard to measure – but ripples matter.

🍋 Relationships are as vital as evidence; systems are only as strong as their connections.

🍋 Social media isn’t just a hobby – it’s an underused engine for ideas, learning, and collaboration.

🍋 Hope comes from recognising untapped potential in people and organisations – not just from more money or resources.

🍋 Stepping out of your comfort zone to explore and learn can bring rich rewards.

Useful links

Find out more about #CYPWhoseShoes:
'Whose News?' Edition 14

BRAND NEW - The #CYPWhoseShoes story so far, told with a ball of string!

Ben's Youtube channel

#MatExp the Musical

Listen to the episodes around #UniversalHealthcare (Episodes 56-62) - explore further some of the issues and people mentioned in this conversation:

56. Becky Malby – Universal Healthcare
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1838805/15239449

57. Tom Holliday - Children get less
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1838805/15363315

58. George Winder – Don’t medicalise poverty
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1838805/15461390

We LOVE it when you leave a review!
If you enjoy my podcast and find these conversations useful
please share your thoughts by leaving a review (Spotify or Apple are easiest to leave a review - navigate via 3 dots) and comment on your favourite episodes.

I tweet as @WhoseShoes and @WildCardWS and am on Instagram as @WildCardWS.

Please recommend 'Wild Card - Whose Shoes' to others who enjoy hearing passionate people talk about their experiences of improving health care.

🎙 “You’re amazing!” But what if hearing that doesn’t feel amazing at all?

In this powerful and deeply moving episode, Gill Phillips meets awesome Benedicte Symcox – parent carer, founder of Tugboat SEND Navigation, and passionate advocate for children and adults with complex needs.

Benedicte’s story is breathtaking. From the moment they met at Yvonne Newbold’s wedding (!), Gill and Benedicte struck up an instant connection – and this podcast brings it to life. With wisdom, humour, brutal honesty, and astonishing lived experience, Benedicte takes us on a journey through parenting three very different children – each with their own profound challenges and triumphs.

🎧 Expect to hear:

• The rollercoaster of navigating health, education, and social care systems
• Teenage mental health, neurodiversity, and diagnostic overshadowing
• Raw conversations about suicide, resilience, and “extreme parenting”
• How Benedicte’s lived experience powers her work supporting other families through Tugboat
• Why kindness, curiosity and valuing every life are non-negotiables in a broken system

This episode goes live in #CoProductionWeek - the week that #MPFTWhoseShoes, the extraordinary Whose Shoes journey to better support children and families, is showcased in Staffordshire.

With her signature wit and passion, Benedicte reminds us why real voices matter.

This is one for the ninja parents, the professionals trying to do better, and anyone who wants to understand what truly matters.

🍋💡🍋 Lemon lightbulbs

🍋 Every life matters – regardless of age, ability, or achievements.

🍋 Stay curious, be kind

🍋 No one’s coming to save you – a tough truth from Yvonne Newbold that hits hard but empowers families to take action

🍋 Value doesn't come from capability – our culture must stop measuring people’s worth by what they can do or produce

🍋 You can't fix what you don't truly see – honest, raw stories like Benedicte’s open eyes and hearts

🍋 Children with complex needs are not always ‘inspirational’—they’re human.
They get stroppy, funny, scared, brilliant... just like any child

🍋 Diagnostic overshadowing destroys lives – assuming one label explains everything leads to devastating gaps in support

🍋 We need to talk about suicide – actually talk about it – no euphemisms, no sidestepping. Say the word. Save lives.

🍋 Professionals are often also parent carers : dual perspective

🍋 Honesty matters more than heroics – saying “this is hard” is more powerful than pretending to cope

🍋 Sometimes kindness means saying uncomfortable things

🍋 Honest conversations are vital – especially around 'taboo' topics : sex, disability, parenting, mental health

🍋 Parenting doesn’t come with guarantees – ‘success’ can mean just surviving another day

🍋 Systems should support families, not punish them – blaming parents, gatekeeping support, and making people fight for help is not acceptable.

🍋 Hope lives in connection – whether through a podcast, a wedding, or a kindness conversation, real change starts with human stories

Links

Tugboat SEND Navigation – Steering you through SEND waters

Please visit the episodes with Cath Crock, Bob Klaber and Steven Russell

We LOVE it when you leave a review!
If you enjoy my podcast and find these conversations useful
please share your thoughts by leaving a review (Spotify or Apple are easiest to leave a review - navigate via 3 dots) and comment on your favourite episodes.

I tweet as @WhoseShoes and @WildCardWS and am on Instagram as @WildCardWS.

Please recommend 'Wild Card - Whose Shoes' to others who enjoy hearing passionate people talk about their experiences of improving health care.