Sunday Brunch features soundbites from the ‘Sussex & Surrey Soapbox’ podcast latest episode…. to skip chapters click on the 3 horizontal lines (left in the above player). Have your say via WhatsApp (bottom right) or join the conversation in our Facebook Group HERE. 

Special Guest: Chelle Lucas

Roundtable Featuring: Abigail Chapman-Miller (Labour), Jacq Inwood, Maureen Jones, Aga Es and Mags Rahman

Host: Clive Hilton

Alcohol is woven into British life so tightly that not drinking can feel like you’re breaking a rule. From champagne toasts and pub culture to “wine o’clock” on the sofa, we ask a question that’s easy to dodge and hard to answer: when does social drinking become a social problem?

Recorded at the Red Lion and Cellar Room in Betchworth, Surrey for the upcoming Alcohol Awareness Week – we bring real viewpoints and lived experience to the table. Aga talks about quitting alcohol alongside smoking and not missing it, while Abi shares what it’s like growing up around alcoholism, the way addiction can “gaslight” you, and why people are often the last to see the problem. Chelle reflects on 90s ladette binge drinking and how pub life has shifted, and Maureen draws on years of publican experience to explain why home drinking, supermarket prices, and changing habits have reshaped the community role of the local. Jacq adds the perspective of loving people with alcohol dependency, and what that costs in health, relationships, and wider society. Mags shares her lived experience which emerged during covid and a personal story of how she regained control and how Thiamine helped.

We also get practical: what “14 units a week” really means, why units are so easy to underestimate, and why stopping suddenly can be dangerous if you’re dependent. We talk stigma, alcohol-free drinks as a social bridge, and where help can start, from your GP to SMART support and Alcoholics Anonymous. If you’ve ever wondered whether your own drinking is “fine”, or felt awkward choosing not to drink, this conversation gives you language, context, and a few clear next steps.

Sunday Brunch features soundbites from the ‘Sussex & Surrey Soapbox’ podcast latest episode…. to skip chapters click on the 3 horizontal lines (left in the above player). Have your say via WhatsApp (bottom right) or join the conversation in our Facebook Group HERE. 

Special Guest: Chelle Lucas

Roundtable Featuring: Abigail Chapman-Miller (Labour), Jacq Inwood, Maureen Jones, Aga Es and Mags Rahman

Host: Clive Hilton

Childhood has not just changed, it’s been rewired. One minute you’ve got kids who can outsmart an iPad before they can tie their laces; the next you’ve got parents using tracking apps because the world feels less safe, even when the data is unclear. We sit down as a cross-generational roundtable to ask a blunt question: is childhood in 2026 better, or have smartphones and social media taken something vital away?

We dig into the biggest flashpoint, the push to ban social media for under-16s. Some of us want stronger protection, others argue bans are impossible to enforce and make platforms more desirable. Either way, we all see the same pressures: bullying that follows children home, “perfect life” comparison on TikTok and Instagram, and algorithms that can serve up content no child should ever see. We talk about what regulation could look like, and why parents still need practical tech skills, boundaries and honest conversations.

From there we zoom out to freedom, risk and resilience. Why do fewer kids play outside until dark? How did parks and youth clubs empty out? What happens when community trust fades and normal childhood naughtiness gets treated as antisocial behaviour? We also touch on physical activity, wellbeing, communication habits and why fewer Saturday jobs can leave young adults unprepared for authority and work culture.

Sunday Brunch features soundbites from the ‘Sussex & Surrey Soapbox’ podcast latest episode…. to skip chapters click on the 3 horizontal lines (left in the above player). Have your say via WhatsApp (bottom right) or join the conversation in our Facebook Group HERE. 

Planning is meant to turn housebuilding into liveable places, but across Sussex & Surrey it often feels like we are pouring concrete first and asking awkward questions later. We sit down with Abigail Chapman-Miller (Labour), Matt Brewin (Green), James Tidy (Reform UK), Iqbal Khan and Paul Taylor-Burr to unpack why housing development planning keeps producing the same result: new estates without the shops, GP access, school places, roads, drainage and water capacity that make a community work. 

The Sussex & Surrey Soapbox Podcast digs into the structural problem: approvals sit with one council, roads and schools with another, health commissioning with the NHS, and water and sewage with private utility companies. That fragmentation makes “joined-up thinking” hard and accountability even harder. From Poundbury’s reputation for community-led design to frustrations around Haywards Heath, Copthorne, Oxted, Forgewood and Kilnwood Vale, we test what good development looks like in practice, including the promises that slip, the management fees residents end up paying, and how flooding and drainage decisions can come back to bite. 

We also tackle affordability head-on: what counts as a starter home, why “affordable housing” at 80% of market value still fails, and why empty homes and social housing supply matter. Then the debate widens to second homes, Airbnb-style holiday lets, immigration and the politics of demand. We finish with hope and practical routes forward, from stronger local plans and better long-term infrastructure funding to community campaigns like Save West of Ifield.