Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma
Believe in People is the UK’s leading podcast dedicated to addiction, recovery, lived experience storytelling, and the power of peer support in transforming lives. Produced by ReNew, the series brings honest, unfiltered conversations with people who have faced addiction, homelessness, trauma, stigma, prison, relapse and recovery and found a way forward.
Hosted by Matt Butler and produced by Robbie Lawson, each episode provides real insight into the experiences behind substance use, the roots of trauma, and the pathways into healing and long-term recovery. You will hear from public figures, frontline workers, peer mentors, musicians, parents and people with lived experience who are changing communities across the UK.
Whether you are in recovery, supporting someone, working in treatment services, or simply curious about what real recovery looks like, this podcast offers depth, truth and hope. With new episodes released regularly, Believe in People is for anyone seeking honest stories, practical learning, and a deeper understanding of how people rebuild their lives.
🎙 2025 British Podcast Award Nominee - Best Interview
🎙 2025 British Podcast Award Nominee - Best Factual
🎙 2024 British Podcast Award Winner - Best Interview
🎙 2025 Radio Academy Award Nominee - Best Speech & Entertainment
🎙 2024 Radio Academy Award Nominee - Best New Podcast
www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com
Search terms: addiction, recovery podcast UK, lived experience stories, peer support, substance misuse recovery, trauma and recovery.
Episodes
65 episodes
Secret Drug Addict: Anonymous Recovery, Ego and Breaking Free from Addiction
In this episode of Believe in People, The Secret Drug Addict joins us to discuss anonymous recovery, addiction stigma, and the reality of long-term sobriety. We explore themes of addiction recov...
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Kieran McCartney: Cocaine Culture, ADHD and Recovery - Grief, Addiction and The Apprentice
In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma, Kieran McCartney joins us to discuss cocaine use, ADHD, grief, and recovery. Best known for his "win or walk" deal with Lord Sugar on the BBC show, The Ap...
Believe in People EXTRA: The Ketamine Reality Check
This short episode of Believe in People EXTRA features a short focused clip from our conversation with Dr Caroline CopelandDr Copeland is a Senior Lecturer in Pharmacolo...
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Cara Cox: The Detox Factor, Heroin Addiction, Ketamine, Suicide and Recovery After Repeated Relapses
She had the “perfect” life on paper and still didn’t want to wake up. In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma, Cara Cox joins us to discuss trauma, addiction, repeated relapse, and lon...
Believe in People EXTRA: Listening Without Judgement
In this special episode of Believe in People: EXTRA, we present a unique collaboration with Apple Music and the Radio Academy Award-winning podcast Classical Connections, hosted by world-renowned pianist and composer Alexis Ffrench.<...
Neil Firbank: Heroin Recovery and The National Recovery Games
In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma, Neil Firbank joins us to discuss heroin addiction recovery and how connection and purpose can transform lives. We explore themes of addiction recovery, trauma, ...
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Believe in People EXTRA: Tourette’s - What Tics Really Feel Like
In this episode of Believe in People Extra, Bea Wood joins us to challenge one of the most common myths about Tourette’s - that it is simply about swearing.Bea explains the difference between coprolalia and the more common ...
Finley Worthington: Ketamine, Bladder Damage & Blood Jelly - Addiction and Education Reform
Finley joins Believe in People to share his lived experience of ketamine addiction and recovery, and how a substance that first felt functional and harmless became physically and psychologically destructive.We explore how early us...
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Believe in People EXTRA: Recovery vs Recovered - Why Identity Still Matters
This episode of Believe in People Extra explores one of the most debated ideas in addiction: being recovered rather than simply in recovery.Young Lee unpacks the difference between cured and recovered, explaining the “twist...
Lucy Rocca: Grey Area Drinking, Wine Culture & Alcohol Dependence
Lucy Rocca joins Believe in People to share her candid story of alcohol misuse, trauma, and recovery, and the creation of Soberistas, one of the earliest online sobriety communities...
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Believe in People EXTRA: Steroids - The Real Cost of Performance Drugs
This short episode of Believe in People Extra features a focused clip from our conversation with Adam Maxted - UK wrestling star, personal trainer, and two-time Love Island con...
Paula McGowan OBE: Autism, System Failure & Oliver’s Legacy - Addiction and Care Reform
Paula McGowan OBE joins Believe in People for a full, in-depth conversation about her son Oliver, whose death led to the introduction of The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training across health and social care in England. P...
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Believe in People EXTRA: Oliver McGowan Training - Why It Protects Lives
This short episode of Believe in People Extra shares an exclusive preview from our upcoming full conversation with Paula McGowan OBE, whose son Oliver’s death led to the introduction of
Chiedu Oraka: Drugs, Prison & Fame - From Street Culture to Supporting Coldplay
In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma, Chiedu Oraka, one of the UK’s most distinctive emerging voices in rap, also known as The Black Yorkshireman, joins Matt to discuss dual identity, stigm...
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Believe in People EXTRA: Alcohol & Anxiety - When Drinking Makes It Worse
In this episode of Believe in People Extra, Amy Jo Johnson shares why she chose to stop drinking - not because her life had fallen apart, but because alcohol was making...
Joe Sealey: Cocaine, Fame & Football Legacy - Recovery Behind Reality TV
In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma, Joe Sealey joins us to discuss cocaine addiction, alcohol misuse, grief, and recovery. Known to millions as...
Believe in People EXTRA: The 12 Steps - Why Rehab Wasn’t Enough
In the first episode of Believe in People Extra, our new spin off miniseries, Michelle Heaton speaks openly about what it feels like to want to stop drinking and not be able to.She explains the medical dangers she didn’t un...
Patti Clark: Alcohol, Relapse & Women’s Recovery - Breaking Generational Patterns
In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma, Patti reflects on a lifetime shaped by silence, trauma, and survival. Growing up in a dysfunctional home in 1970s San Francisco - marked by alcoholism, emotional neg...
Andy Woodward: Trauma, False Accusation, Alcohol Recovery and Rebuilding Life After Collapse
In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma, we conclude our two-part conversation with Andy Woodward, who reflects on the long-term psychological effects of childhood trauma and how those experiences sh...
Andy Woodward: Childhood Trauma, Football Abuse and the Silence That Hid a Predator
In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma, we begin the first of a powerful two-part conversation with Andy Woodward, the former professional footballer whose bravery exposed one of the biggest safegua...
Taz Hussain: Racism, Culture & Addiction - Recovery as a British-Pakistani Muslim
In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma, we are privileged to sit down with Taz, whose life story spans racism, identity conflict, culture, trauma, addiction, and the long path to redemption.B...
Katie Price & Kerry Katona: Cocaine, Fame & Motherhood - Surviving Addiction in Public
In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma, Katie Price and Kerry Katona sit down for a raw, unfiltered conversation about cocaine addiction, recovery, motherhood, mental health, and the double standard...
Mel Barrett: Cocaine, Alcohol & Boxing - Identity, Recovery & 12 Steps
In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma, Mel shares a powerful and deeply honest account of her journey through alcohol misuse, escalating substance use, mental health struggles, and the non-linear p...
Emma Hardy MP: Ketamine, Mental Health & Flood Crisis - Community Recovery in Hull
In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma, Emma Hardy MP returns to the podcast to discuss some of the most urgent challenges facing Hull and the wider UK – including rising ketamine harm, worse...
Elly Mortimer: Hepatitis C, Heroin & Harm Reduction - 30 Years of Public Health Experience
In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma, Elly returns for her third appearance to share more than 30 years of insight from frontline harm reduction and public health work, with a particular fo...
