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
56 episodes
Stronger Without Steroids?
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...
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Season 2
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Episode 4
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9:25
Paula McGowan OBE: Oliver's Legacy - Autism, Addiction & Safety in Care
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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Season 1
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Episode 51
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57:39
Why Tier 2 Oliver McGowan Training on Learning Disability and Autism Matters
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
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Season 2
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Episode 3
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5:22
Chiedu Oraka: The Black Yorkshireman. Culture, Identity, Drugs and Prison 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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Season 1
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Episode 50
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1:26:27
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Questioning Your Drinking? One Simple Shift That Helped Amy Jo Johnson Live Sober
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...
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Season 2
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Episode 2
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9:42
Joe Sealey: Cocaine Addiction, Alcohol and Recovery Behind the Real Housewives Of Cheshire
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...
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Season 1
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Episode 49
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1:01:46
Struggling to Stop Drinking? What Michelle Heaton Learned About Recovery
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...
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Season 2
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Episode 1
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9:15
Patti Clark: Alcohol, Relapse, Women’s Recovery Spaces & 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...
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Season 1
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Episode 48
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1:12:58
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...
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Season 1
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Episode 47
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1:23:05
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...
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Season 1
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Episode 48
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1:19:21
Taz Hussain: Racism, Culture, Trauma and 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...
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Season 1
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Episode 47
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1:10:32
Katie Price & Kerry Katona: Cocaine Addiction, Recovery, Motherhood and Surviving Fame
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...
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Season 1
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Episode 46
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40:48
Mel Barrett: Alcohol Misuse, Cocaine, Identity, Boxing and Building a Recovery Toolbox
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...
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Season 1
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Episode 45
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1:07:52
Emma Hardy MP: Ketamine Harm, Mental Health, Flood Risk and 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...
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Season 1
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Episode 44
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55:02
Elly Mortimer: Harm Reduction, Hepatitis C Elimination and 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...
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Season 1
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Episode 43
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51:22
Henry Beercock: Sobriety, Binge Drinking Recovery and Building the AlcoHull Free Movement
In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma, we meet Henry Beercock, founder of Hull’s rapidly growing sober movement Alcohull Free. After nearly two decades of heavy binge drinking, Henry made a ...
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Season 1
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Episode 42
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1:19:45
Alexis Ffrench & Matthew Butler: Trauma, Recovery and the Story Behind “Believe” for Apple Music
In this special episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma, we present a unique collaboration with Apple Music and the Radio Academy Award-winning podcast Classical Connections, hosted by world-renowned ...
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Season 1
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Episode 41
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14:26
Young Lee: Life After Addiction, Spiritual Recovery and Rebuilding a Self That Lasts
In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma, Young Lee returns to explore what happens after the chaos of addiction — when the substances are gone, the dust has settled, and the real internal wo...
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Season 1
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Episode 67
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1:11:28
Ross McAndrew: Suicide Bereavement, Alcohol & Cocaine Recovery and the Power of Men’s Peer Support
In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma, Ross shares an extraordinary journey from personal tragedy to public advocacy following the suicide of his father - a traumatic event that deeply shaped his mental h...
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Season 1
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Episode 66
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1:15:11
Woody Albrow: Addiction, Spiritual Recovery and Leading with Lived Experience at Change Grow Live
In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma, Matt speaks with Woody Albrow, the National Connecting Communities Lead at Change Grow Live, who shares an open and deeply personal account of his journey thr...
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Season 1
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Episode 65
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1:02:26
Chris De Banks: Musicians in Recovery, Sobriety, Addiction and the Drug Fuelled 90s Music Scene
In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma, Matt speaks with Chris De Banks, founder of Not Saints - the UK’s only not-for-profit record label dedicated to supporting musicians in recovery. Throu...
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Season 1
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42:32
Daniel Ramson: Tough-Love Recovery, Radical Accountability and Life After Psychosis
In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma, Matt sits down with Daniel Ramson, known online as TalkToBigDan, for a raw, provocative and unapologetically direct conversation about recovery, responsibilit...
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Season 1
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48:07
John Levesley: Sobriety, Binge Drinking Recovery and Creating Hull & Yorkshire Daily Through Clarity
In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma, John shares a powerful story of quiet transformation - a shift from binge drinking, late nights and emotional exhaustion to clarity, creativity and meaningful connec...
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Season 1
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1:03:00
Paul Haley: Heroin & Crack Cocaine Recovery, Lived Experience Leadership and Driving National Change
In this episode of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma, Paul Haley shares his extraordinary journey from the depths of heroin and crack cocaine addiction to a position of national leadership within Change Grow Live...
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Season 1
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Episode 61
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1:08:17
Amy Goldberg & Caitlin Morrison: Believe in People America - Matthew Butler Meets the Matthew Perry Foundation
In this powerful transatlantic collaboration of Believe in People: Addiction, Recovery & Stigma, host Amy Goldberg welcomes UK host Matt Butler into the guest seat, joined by special guest host Caitlin Morrison —...
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Season 1
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34:01
