The Jago is one of the few black-owned clubs left in Dalston, East London. When Kwame took it over in 2018 his idea was to make it a space for community – whether giving grassroots musicians and DJs a place to start nights or providing a food bank for local residents. But as the cost of living starts to bite, a noise complaint that could cost thousands to resolve makes Kwame wonder whether he can afford to keep the club open while staying true to his values. Produced and presented by Emily Dicks

Zoe’s not entirely sure how to make sense of the last couple of years. But she’s going to give it a go. This is her story of the good, the bad and the ugly everydayness of life with Long Covid. Via life-saving phone calls, cloud-gazing park walks, homeschooling squabbles, summer holidays that don't feel like summer holidays, and lots of lying in bed. And now it's December 2022, over two and a half years after Zoe first got ill. Life is not all Christmas chocolate boxes and Ding Dong Merrily on High. It’s still really hard sometimes. But it is getting easier. There is singing and music-making again. There is hope. Programme image by Zoe's daughter Clara, age 9. Produced by Becky Ripley.

Richard Gamble believes God has given him a mission: to build a huge national monument, made from a million bricks, each representing an answered Christian prayer. It seems an impossible task for a sports chaplain who has no experience of construction. And yet over the past eight years, he's managed to pull together a project team, raise thousands of pounds and launch a global design competition with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). But before a single brick can be laid, they need to secure a site to lay it. Richard hopes lie in the Edmistons - a family multimillionaires and evangelical Christians, who own extensive land in the West Midlands. Will his hopes be realised? Will he find a home for the Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer? Producer: Becca Bryers

Continuing three parallel stories of the cost of living crisis. Join a striking barrister, a miner hoping to work again and the customer of a pawnbroker's as they make ends meet.

Over the coming weeks, the Untold follows three individuals as they experience the cost of living crisis this autumn. We hear from a barrister in Manchester who is stepping out on strike action for the first time. We visit a pawnbroker's and her customers as they part with their belongings to pay the bills; and a father praying for a coal mine to open in Cumbria and provide jobs for his community to rely on. Producers: Sam Peach, Sarah Bowen and Neil McCarthy

Concluding a sequence of stories offering three different perspectives of the cost of living crisis. In Whitehaven, West Cumbria, Neil receives an update on whether a new coal mine will in in the town. He and his son both aspire to work there if the pit receives approval. Fighting for the mine to be rejected is Maggie, an environmental activist who has dedicated years of her life to opposing the project. A Barrister Aisha adjusts to a new reality following strike action and in Eastbourne, East Sussex, the customers of a pawnbrokers face up to using the shop as financial support for the coming winter. Producers: Neil McCarthy, Sarah Bowen and Sam Peach

Finding the long-lost pink-headed duck has been Richard's obsession for twenty years.

In 2011 Lindsay McKenna was running corporate workshops from her farm in Ross-on-Wye. An animal lover as a child, when Lindsay came across a raccoon living in squalid conditions she offered to take it. But this was just the beginning. As word spread, Lindsay discovered more and more exotic animals in trouble. Today her farm is home to almost 200 exotic animals including Lemurs, Lynx, Mountain Lions, Coatis and Servals. Lindsay gave up her corporate work to look after these animals, but with food and energy costs on the rise things may need to change. Toby Field joins Lindsay as she prepares her feed mixes, and finds out why she refuses to let these animals become exhibits. There's a close encounter with a Mountain Lion, and some Capybara provide an unlikely backdrop to discussions about barn insulation and growing your own produce. Toby watches as Lindsay and her colleague Adrian capture Rudy the Wallaby for a trip to the vet, and Lindsay's husband Frank and daughter Caitlin talk about the origins and future of this extraordinary place. Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Toby Field.

GLOR1A has always dreamed of becoming a singer. Growing up in a Pentecostal Christian family near Blackpool, music was always part of her life and she spent her childhood summers performing on the pier before heading off to university to study business, finance and economics. But the siren call of music remained strong, with GLOR1A eventually moving to London and recording vocals for house music producers. Often unpaid and feeling overlooked, Gloria was close to giving up until she met Gaika, a musician and visual artist who encouraged her to find her own sound. She released her first EP as GLOR1A, starting to find her creative voice and a more experimental sound and look. Things were going well. So well, in fact, that she quit her day job in February 2020. Four weeks later the world shut down and with it all her gigs and income disappeared. With no money coming in, she reluctantly left London and moved in with her dad. Two years later with her savings depleted and no home to call her own, GLOR1A gave herself an ultimatum; six months to get her music to a level where she can find a label to back her, try and get a publishing deal and build back the momentum she needs to make singing a sustainable career. Now the six months is nearly up, can she do it or should she give up her dreams? Produced and presented by Emily Dicks

We’ve all done it, at some point: You walk past a shabby, ruined building, with boarded up windows and peeling paint, and you think: 'That could be really beautiful if we could only fix it up'. It’s a very human kind of fantasy. To take something shabby, and broken, and neglected, and make it beautiful, and loved once again. Whether it's your local crumbling church, a dusty old cinema, or a pub that's seen better days, we've all thought about buying it up, turning it around, and making it a focal point for a community who could come to love it. For most of us though, these are just passing fantasies, idle daydreams on a daily walk. But some people turn that dream into reality… Abbe is a musician and music teacher, in Exeter. Just behind her house is a small but very beautiful Georgian park, with pristine lawns, a rose garden, and a 100-year old wisteria archway. It's also got a Gatehouse; a beautiful old building at the entrance to the park. But it's covered in graffiti, with boarded up windows and rusting railings. The local kids smash the roof-tiles for fun, and mould creeps up the walls. It's been out of use for decades, but Abbe sees so much potential in it, and dreams of what it COULD be: a sweet little community cafe, and a meeting-hub for local groups. Abbe is a busy woman; juggling her career, her band, and now a new baby. Can she take on the mammoth task of restoring the Gatehouse too? Produced and presented in Bristol by Emily Knight

When P&O Ferries suddenly fired its staff on the spot on 17th March, there was an outcry from politicians, unions and the press with widespread scathing condemnation of the company. P&O claimed it had made huge losses during the pandemic and that its current business model was unsustainable. It offered severance packages but the nearly 800 staff who accepted them also needed to agree not to make any legal claims against P&O or talk to the media. Sous chef John Lansdown was the only staff member to reject the redundancy offer and to fight P&O, and their Dubai-based parent company DP World, in the courts for 'Unfair Dismissal'. As the only person speaking out, John was quickly thrown into the media spotlight for a rollercoaster ride he wasn't prepared for. He's also been navigating his legal options and coming to terms with the abrupt end of a relationship with P&O - which he joined as a 16 year old an apprentice chef - and a crew which was his second family. Untold producer Neil McCarthy follows John through the ups and downs of these turbulent 8 weeks as he prepares for a lengthy battle. With additional recording by Sara Parker

The covid-19 lockdowns were brutal for small businesses. They were particularly tough for barbers. In an industry when getting up-close and personal is the only way to get the job done, the business of hair-cutting was simply unworkable. Phil, a barber in Pudsey, West Yorkshire, knows that the gentleman's shaves, haircuts, skin-fades and beard-trims he offers can be so much more than just personal grooming - they can be a much needed self-esteem boost, a chance to chat to a sympathetic ear, or a moment of peace on a tough day. In March 2020, finding himself shut down like the rest of the industry, Phil was keen to find a way to stay connected to his customers, haircuts or no haircuts. He took to facebook and - reluctantly at first - started hosting live chat sessions... just a chance to connect, chill out and have a chat. As the world went in, then out, then back in to successive waves of lockdowns, Phil felt he was making it work. Weathering the storm, and making the best of a bad situation. But June 2021 was to bring a shock that no-one could have predicted, and which might just be the final straw. Produced in Bristol by Emily Knight

If you look out to the horizon from the coast of South Wales or North Somerset, you see two bumps on the horizon - one tall and one flat. These are the islands of Steep Holm and Flat Holm - the former is English, the latter Welsh. Since 2018, Mat Brown has been the warden of Flat Holm - an island of just 500m across, mainly populated by gulls. He is responsible for the island's nature reserve, its buildings (which include a lighthouse, a foghorn cottage, a Victorian barracks and a ruined cholera hospital), its tiny museum and its tinier pub. With the help of a team of volunteers, he welcomes daytrippers and conservationists to the island and maintains the natural and built environment. After four years of island life, he's decided that it's time to return to the mainland. Who will take on this very unique job and how will they fare? Produced by Mair Bosworth for BBC Audio

Will a woman be elected to the all-male Western Isles Council? Catrìona Murray on the Isle of Lewis is going to try. Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles Council) is the local authority governing the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. 5 May 2022 will see local elections across the UK and local government is particularly important to life on the islands. The council is traditionally male dominated and currently there are no female members, but Catrìona Murray wants to change that. This year she is running as an independent in her ward of Loch A Tuath. There are only a handful of women running across the whole of the islands and only time will tell if one of them will be elected. Catrìona, a university lecturer, already juggles her job with community leadership. Now, she is campaigning on a range of issues to bring a different voice to the council, hoping to make it truly representative of the people it serves. Produced and Presented by Sam Peach

In 2019 Abhi Gotadki came to the United Kingdom from New Zealand to pursue his dream of becoming a GP. This meant leaving behind his wife and daughter but they decided it was best for all of them for Abhi to complete his training. In March 2020 with the Covid pandemic gathering pace New Zealand introduced some of the strictest border controls anywhere in the world leaving Abhi in the UK with no means of seeing his family. Now with New Zealand's borders open once again Abhi has booked his flight home. It will be the first time he's seen his wife and daughter in over two years. Producer Toby Field follows Abhi during his final weeks in the UK and finds out how he turned this situation around and put his energy into helping others. Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Toby Field.

The staff of Cornwall Airport Newquay prepare to receive President Biden and other world leaders for the G7 summit in June. The stakes couldn't be higher for airport boss Pete Downes. This is President Biden's first foreign trip since taking office and receiving a huge aircraft like Air Force One presents a big challenge for this tiny airport. Preparations begin months in advance. Pete and his team must oversee the construction of a whole new parking area for the world leaders' aircraft, as well as a brand new building. Then they must seamlessly coordinate the arrival and departure of scores of aircraft carrying prime ministers, presidents and their entourages. For a weekend, the eyes of the world will be on Cornwall. Should anything go wrong, the team know it will be international news. Producer: Laurence Grissell

In 2005 Zoe McQuade and Pat Evans set-up the Little Bramley Farm Sanctuary in Polegate, Sussex, caring for sick, abused and unwanted horses. In 2020 they were told that their lease on the land was coming to an end and they would have to move on. Zoe and Pat have dealt with numerous challenges in the past, but for the first time they face the prospect of having to close the sanctuary down. Grace Dent and producer Toby Field follow Zoe and Pat as they weigh up their options and consider what future they can provide for their horses, like Chandler who was brought in and given less than five days to live, or Hope, a Shire with a cleft palate and a neurological condition that makes it difficult for her to walk. Toby meets volunteers who help at the stables: Tim, an operations manager who after bringing his daughter to the Little Bramley quickly found it helped him cope with the stresses of work and dealing with his ADHD; and Claire, a nurse who found her own sanctuary, away from the pressures of dealing with Covid patients and the effects of lockdown. Will Zoe and Pat find a new home for the sanctuary? Presented by Grace Dent and produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Toby Field

Nick has an unbearable tooth ache and has tried, and failed, to extract the bad tooth himself. He's homeless and, like many others, can't access NHS dental care. When a mobile dentist van arrives at a homeless support centre, Nick joins the queue. He's desperate but he was too late putting his name on the list. Will he get an appointment? The charity van roams Britain with a dedicated brigade of volunteer dentists, filling in wherever the need is greatest. As it parks up outside the support centre in Hastings, we hear the stories of those seeking help. There are many hoping to be seen. Presented by Grace Dent and produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Eliza Lomas.

On 22 March 2017, 25-year-old Will Dyson was walking along Westminster Bridge, when a vehicle mounted the pavement and hit him from behind. The Terror Attack left five people dead and more than 50 injured. Will was one of the injured. In the lead-up to the year anniversary, producer Georgia Catt followed Will as he faced up to his changing views of the incident. She also witnessed him receive the devastating news that his doctors weren't happy for him to take part in the Hackney Half Marathon, a long-held personal goal. Three years later Georgia meets Will again to find out how life has been in the intervening years, and watch him finally taking part in the Hackney Half. Produced by Georgia Catt and Ellie Bury

Bally, a fisherman on the West Coast of Scotland, navigates a year of Brexit, Covid, an environmental crisis and a broken down boat. Bally fishes off Isle of Skye and has been doing so for decades, but this year has been his most challenging yet. Having survived 2020 and the global pandemic, January 2021 brought a new lockdown and the departure of the UK from the EU. This changed everything for Bally. He fishes for langoustines, or prawns, and for these shellfish there was an entirely new set of legislation to adjust to overnight. The result was confusion and crashing prices in an industry already damaged by coronavirus. This edition follows Bally as he tries to make ends meet and adjust to the new world. He's not only got to look out for himself but also 24 year old Hayden, his crew. He's passionate about the environment and worried about the damage he has seen over his time on the water. If he can make if through a turbulent few months, what will be the future ahead of him? Produced by Sam Peach

James 33 and Courtney 28 were fed up of struggling to make ends meet and decided on a radical solution: they swapped their rented house for a bright orange sprinter van which they’ve converted and affectionately christened DeeDee. Instead of working longer hours, they’ve halved their working week and still think they can pay off their debts and save enough for a place of their own. Producer Sue Mitchell hears what happens as they put their plan into action and set off on the open road. They made their decision just before covid hit and as many people grappled with remote ways of working, James and Courtney were one step ahead. Their life transformation had entailed reducing their work commitments and ensuring that they could do everything online, with DeeDee’s excellent internet capabilities allowing them to work from the most remote locations. The move to this lifestyle has brought challenges of its own and particularly with their new travel companion, a Spanish rescue dog called Sally Sausage. Their adventures embrace storms, floods, frantic dog searches and costly breakdowns. But throughout it all their goal keeps them going and as covid restrictions lift they find themselves with difficult decisions to reach. The debts have been paid off and they’ve managed to save, so what will they do next? Courtney says the lifting of their financial woes has given them both a sense of empowerment: “making the decision to get the van was the catalyst for a complete mindset change, seeing the world is the bigger picture. We were both in full time employment earning a lot more and we couldn’t save. Now we are in part time employment we are able to save 1,000 a month. “We’ve designed our life around it. The life we had before wasn’t for us and I think the decision now isn’t about going back to that life. The idea of having a base to go back to that’s ours that feels like our home, is one we want. At the moment home is wherever we park our van, so I can see us having that base to put down roots and then we won’t have to carry everything with us. There are decisions ahead but we’ve proved that we don’t need lots of stuff to enjoy life.” The couple are also recording their travels for their You Tube Channel https://youtube.com/c/CourtsMeeks & Instagram Https://instagram.com/courtsandmeeks, Courts and Meeks, with thousands of followers tuning in to share in their adventures.

Alex Trenchard is the founder of Standon Calling, a 17,000-capacity festival that takes place every year in Hertfordshire. The festival brings together thousands of music fans and hundreds of talented workers who together are part of putting on something spectacular. But when festivals disappeared at the start of the pandemic - many of us didn’t realise just how much they meant to us. Over 85,000 people in the UK are employed by the festival industry, and for many the first few months of 2021 left them in limbo, not knowing whether they were going to have a job come summer. After Alex was forced to cancel the festival in 2020, the festival was left almost bankrupt. Alex faced losing his business and his livelihood. But as the vaccine programme progressed and case numbers for COVID-19 started to fall, it brought hope that the festival might be able to return for 2021. And so Alex started planning. Our producer Robbie Wojciechowski has been following Alex and some of the voices that make the festival industry happen over the last few months as they fight to go ahead. For bands and artists, festivals this summer will be their first live performances in 18 months. And for Alex, if he manages to run, he'll be one of the first independent festivals to do so. But it’s a mammoth task, as variants of the virus spread, and case numbers continue to rise. We find out what it took to get the festival industry and live music back on track. Produced by Robbie Wojciechowski

Andrew is a school refuser. He hasn’t done a full day of school since 2019. "He will just refuse to get dressed. He will hide under his bed. And if you physically try and get him out of the house, he is not a violent child in any way, but he will hurt you to get away from the situation." His parents are trying to pursue their careers but, even if they can coax him through the school gates, they often get a call an hour later to pick him up. Everyone has tried to understand why he won’t go. He has recently been diagnosed with autism which may be a factor. But Andrew can’t tell them. And no-one knows the answer or is suggesting a solution. Andrew has been blissfully happy in lockdown without the option or pressure of being made to go in. What will happen when restrictions are lifted and schools open again? Narrator: Grace Dent Producer: Sarah Bowen

A year of lockdowns has made a lot of us re-evaluate our lives and our priorities. For busy people, especially busy people who actually like their work, it can be a challenging thing to slow down. What happens when the thing at the centre of your life – the thing that makes your life make sense – ceases to be there? And what might that make space for, if you let it? Maybe you’d start to notice other things that you had overlooked, because you were so busy all the time… Grace Dent tells the story of a Leicester secondary school teacher whose life has been radically changed by a year of lockdowns. Produced by Mair Bosworth in Bristol for BBC Audio

Greg and David are desperate to get on the ladder. They rent a small flat together in Greater Manchester and have spent the last year of lockdowns living on top of each other. The dream is to get somewhere with a bit more space. A place of their own. It feels beyond their budget until they realise they can afford a new build house under the government’s Help To Buy scheme. The scheme works as an equity loan, where the government loans the buyer 20% of the house price to go toward the deposit. The buyer only needs to contribute 5% from their own savings. Which suddenly makes it doable for Greg and David. In August last year, their Help To Buy application was approved, and their offer on a house was accepted. It was a dream come true. The thing is, the house is still not built. Across the country, construction sites face inevitable delays to the new coronavirus measures. And on top of that, the current Help To Buy scheme is soon to close. There’s no way they can afford the house without the scheme. So the question is: will the house be built in time? Produced in Bristol by Becky Ripley.

Grace Dent follows Cornwall Airport Newquay over the tough pandemic winter. The Untold has been tracking the fortunes of the airport since March 2020, when the regional airline Flybe collapsed. Since then successive lockdowns and travel restrictions have left the airport close to permanent closure. The Untold follows the airport’s director and staff over the difficult winter months, as well as speaking to one of the airport’s taxi drivers and the owners of the nearby airport hotel, the Smugglers' Inn. As winter turns to spring, finally there's some much-needed good news. Producer: Laurence Grissell

In an unexpected twist of Lockdown 3, sea shanties blew up on social media. Suddenly, everyone was singing ‘Wellerman’, a mid-19th Century whaling song about life on-board a whaling ship. A song of hope and unity which brought people together via the power of the internet. JD, Dave, Andy and Robbie find themselves at the centre of this shanty storm. They are old friends who together make up The Longest Johns, a sea shanty band from Bristol. Back in 2018, they released a version of Wellerman on their second album, and now - suddenly - it's gone viral. They’ve been a band for years and they've never exactly been 'mainstream'. But now that 2021 has woken up to shanties, everything is about to change for them... Produced in Bristol by Becky Ripley.

John’s mother thinks he is involved with county lines. How can she get him to stop? From a fun and gorgeous, football-loving youngster John has turned into an uncontrollable teen. He has had several run-ins with the police, has vast amounts of money in the house and sleeps with a knife under his pillow. Tanya and Antony are middle-class professionals and had big dreams for their son. Now they just want to keep him safe. “I went from academic expectation, to no GCSEs - then I got down to be alive, and actually not harm anyone else." They’ve reached out for years for support as John has special needs; they have had to fight his diagnosis, for his education and now they are struggling to find a way to keep him from a life of drugs and crime. They’ve tried every parenting trick in the book. “‘It's all about setting boundaries’. Yeah, right! We're kind of beyond boundaries.” Now they might have to deprive him of his liberty to keep him alive. Producer: Sarah Bowen Narrator: Grace Dent

Young entrepreneur Jack needs to earn big this Christmas if he wants to save his global company. Jack is only 27, but he's already CEO of his own firm. He left school to start up an online business, establishing a successful international trade in fancy dress costumes...until the pandemic hit. With everything he'd built under threat, he's decided to risk it all on a new venture: BargainFox, an online store selling discounted items. It's an industry full of big players, with whom he'll have to compete. He's invested a lot and expanded the workforce, including hiring school friends, but needs to see huge returns if they are going to survive. Grace Dent follows Jack and his team through the autumn and into a make or break Christmas season. Producer: Sam Peach

In March this year the musical 'City of Angels' was about to open in the West End. Sadie-Jean Shirley was one of the youngest members of the cast. As well as a key role in the ensemble she'd also been chosen as a cover for one of the leads. After years of training and earning her spurs in the business this was a real breakthrough moment for the 24 year old performer. And then lockdown. 'City of Angels' didn't even make it to the first night. Producer Tom Alban has been in touch with Sadie-Jean since the summer as she faced the continuing hardship of a profession that couldn't operate and the desperate need to find income. Sadie-Jean's plight has been shared by thousands of others but that doesn't make it any easier, and as a BAME performer in a world which is only recently seeing increasing diversity, there's a danger that people like her will not be able to afford the luxury of waiting for the theatres to re-open. And if she can hold onto her chosen career, will 'City of Angels' still be viable? Producer: Tom Alban

24 year old Khady Gueye loves the area of Gloucestershire she lives in but doesn't want her young daughter to grow up facing the same prejudice she has encountered over the years. In June, she and her close friend set out to organise a small event in Lydney, a town in the heart of the Forest of Dean, in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. Initially, they were granted the permissions they needed, but as word spread, so did local opposition. We follow Khady through the summer and into the autumn as she tries to make the demonstration happen. Can she manage it, and will it mean anything more long lasting? Produced by Mair Bosworth Introduced by Grace Dent

Grace Dent follows a parent-led campaign to stop Ocado from opening a new distribution depot next to a primary school in North London. Yerbury Primary School in Upper Holloway backs onto a light industrial estate. Over the past year, Ocado has been developing a distribution centre at the site. With the Covid pandemic the demand for online grocery services has risen dramatically. But this has also led to a conflict with the school and parents who believe a depot like this, adjacent to a primary school, will be detrimental to the health of the children and the local community. Grace follows the 'Nocado' campaign from its early stages, through Lockdown, and into autumn as it tries to overturn the local council's permission for Ocado to operate from the site. Producer Neil McCarthy

Grace Dent follows Cornwall Airport Newquay as it fights for survival during one of the most difficult periods in aviation history. The Untold first visited the airport earlier in the year when the regional airline Flybe collapsed. Then the national lockdown forced the temporary closure of the passenger terminal. Now the terminal has reopened for business, but the airport continues its struggle to remain viable. The Untold follows the airport’s director and staff over a tough summer, as well as speaking to one of the airport’s taxi drivers and the owners of the nearby airport hotel, the Smugglers' Inn. Producer: Laurence Grissell

Grace Dent follows two young Hong Kongers over a crucial two weeks in their bid to make the UK home. Friends and housemates Chris and Louise have been living in the UK for the past two years. After the recent turmoil in Hong Kong, they now want to settle in the UK permanently. There's just one problem - Chris's visa is about to expire. The Untold follows them over a critical couple of weeks which will determine their future forever. Producer: Laurence Grissell

A year ago, when Sam graduated with a masters in Modern History, and headed back to his hometown near Bristol, he had no idea what the year would bring. But it wasn’t this. Suddenly, something Sam’s done has become an international news story. As he finished his degree, his friends convinced him to start up an Instagram page – rating public benches. It was a joke. But in the gloomy days of readjusting to life at home without a job, back sharing his childhood bedroom with his brother, it became a lifeline – something he bonded with his Dad over, and eventually, a hobby which got him a girlfriend. 180 benches later, he's never awarded a 10/10, but through the international trauma of 2020, his quest for the perfect bench has captured the imagination of the news cycle. With this unexpected fame, he’s been faced with a dilemma. One of the marking criteria is whether the bench is dedicated to anyone. The page has become a touching tribute to deceased strangers he has never met. Now, bereaved relatives have begun contacting him, asking him to rate their loved one’s bench. To Sam, it would undermine the integrity of the page, and he would never want to upset anyone by writing something which might disappoint. Yet, as a consequence of his principles, something remarkable happens. Presented by Grace Dent Produced in Bristol by Polly Weston

In the first of a new series, we hear the stories of people on different sides of isolation in the midst of the Coronavirus. OnHand is an app set up not long ago. Its purpose was to match older adults who needed help with verified volunteers in their local area. A way find someone to fetch the shopping, walk the dog or just come round for a chat. Then in March 2020, in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, everything changed. OnHand went from a source of help to a lifeline for vulnerable people. This episode follows its CEO Sanjay as he and his team adjust to taking on this challenge. Two users of OnHand offer different perspectives on our new world, from either side of isolation. Annie is 73 year old woman now required to isolate at all times and Nathan is a young volunteer in London looking to help those in need. Produced by Sam Peach

In Autumn last year AMIS, an organisation and helpline for Abused Men in Scotland based in Edinburgh, faced the prospect of closure. In spite of being busier than it had ever been in almost a decade of operation, a crucial element of their funding had been cut. It left them unable to pay for the office, phones and staff required to keep even the most basic Helpline service available. In the run up to Christmas Producer Joel Cox follows Iris, Alison and Elizabeth as they face the crisis while knowing that the service they provide is vital and not being covered by any other organisation in Scotland. Will crowd funding, grant applications and a raffle be enough to keep the lines open, and what does it mean to the women who strive to keep this unfashionable branch of victim abuse support running. Producers: Joel Cox and Tom Alban

Grace Dent follows the story - through the autumn - of the owner of a family business at the crossroads over Brexit uncertainty. For John Shirley the stakes are high: he's put his house up for sale because he believes leaving the EU Customs Union will ruin his Dover based freight agency company. We follow the Shirley's - who have different views about leaving the EU - through Brexit deadlines and the General Election as John works out what to do. Producer Neil McCarthy

Niyi's eating disorder has stopped him coming home for Christmas. This year, after nearly losing his mother to a brain tumour, he wants to change that. Niyi is a young, successful Cambridge student with a bright future ahead of him. But for the past few years, he has struggled with an eating disorder. It has made him very conscious of eating with others and the pressure of being around the family dinner table at Christmas has been too much. So he stayed away. But this year is different. When his mother was taken to hospital with a brain tumour she nearly lost her life. Niyi was there for her when she was ill and he knows how much it would mean to her for him to make it home. He's starting a new course of therapy to help him work through his eating issues, it might give him the help he needs. Amidst it all Niyi is trying to keep up with the rest of his life. He's deciding the next step in his academic career and attempting to negotiate the dating scene. Produced by Sam Peach

The Alabama 3 singer and co-founder Jake Black died in May: as the next tour date draws near band members must decide whether they can continue without him and how they mark his absence on stage. The decisions on a way forward started within days of Jake's unexpected death and whilst his body was still in the mortuary - moulds were taken of his face and hands in the hope that a death mask might help recreate his presence on stage. In addition of the death mask, sound experts have painstakingly resurrected early out takes of Jake - otherwise known as the Very Reverend D Wayne Love. As preparations gather for the new tour, the forgotten tapes of the talented singer are a constant reminder of his huge talent. The mask is made from the moulds taken by band member Nick Reynolds. He’s the son of Bruce, the great train robber and as well as playing harmonica he’s also a sculptor specialising in death masks. He's convinced that immortalising him in this way will be cathartic for all of them: During the grieving process band members travel to a huge Sopranos Convention in New Jersey, with thousands of fans eager to meet the musicians behind the Sopranos theme tune, 'Woke up this Morning.' It is a bitter sweet experience for Rob Spragg, otherwise known as Larry Love, who formed Alabama 3 with Jake in 1996: "Jake was larger than life, a real fusion of what we stood for and being in America without him is very hard." Rob has made big changes in his own life following Jake's death, largely giving up drugs and alcohol: "It's so hard - he should be here with us and hearing him during rehearsals and performances is bringing so many tears." Produced by Sue Mitchell

In a community centre in inner city Bristol, next to the nursery, and the café and the hall for local meet-ups and yoga, sits a very special place. The BCfm – Bristol Community FM – radio station. From their studio next to Easton community centre’s reception, 204 volunteer radio presenters broadcast to the city of Bristol and beyond. Dezzi Rankin (the resident Sunday morning reggae host), Shout Out (LGBTQ+), Silver Sound (for the older listener), Mid-Week Sports bar, Real Women – they’re all here. Pat Hart has been the station manager for ten years – and also the station’s breakfast presenter. “I don’t think there’s a single part of life in Bristol we don’t represent.” It is always a struggle, but with grants drying up, the station has found itself living more and more of a hand to mouth existence. At the beginning of 2019 he found himself asking the council for more support, but nothing could prepare him for what was around the corner. “If I’d have had a crystal ball, I might have run away at the beginning of 2019.” One fateful day in August at 11am, Tony Johnson launched his 50th Anniversary of the Moon landings special with Telstar. “I plugged my MP3 stick into the usual slot… and then I smelt something strange. Looked to my left, and saw the smoke coming from somewhere behind the desk.” He did his next link, alerted the receptionist to the need for a fire engine, and then as the studio filled with acrid smoke, he queued up an hour’s worth of music. “The radio host’s worst nightmare is dead air.” Pat arrived to find the studio completely destroyed, the insurance documents illegible from fire damage, and his thoughts turned to the listeners. The longer the station is off air, the more perilous their situation becomes. Can Pat get the station back on air - and fast? Produced by Polly Weston

This Christmas Eve, for the first time, Croydon Minster's midnight mass is being broadcast to millions. But when you're a choirboy whose voice is about to break, there's no guarantee you'll make it. In the edition of The Untold, two boys are coming to the end of their time in Croydon Minster Boy's choir. They're desperate to hold on until Christmas Eve, when they will have the chance to sing for the nation at BBC One's Midnight Mass. If they can hit the notes there's the chance of a solo, but with a voice deepening every day, only time will tell. Produced by Sam Peach with Andy Fallon

In 2017 Jay-Z phoned Hannah… three times… and she missed the calls because she was surrounded by fifty of her music students on a coach back from Leeds. For a decade, Hannah had been making soul music – juggling being head of music at the University of Winchester, fronting a soul band and being a mum to Leo. Her little known nine piece band, Hannah Williams and the Affirmations, had recently released an album. It turned out Jay-Z had stumbled on a song from her album, Late Nights and Heartbreak, and had written his public apology to Beyoncé for cheating on her around Hannah’s voice. After fourteen years at the University of Winchester, Hannah decided to quit her job to pursue music full time. Offers to play around the world started to fly in, and the press suddenly took an interest in what they were doing – yet Hannah quickly realised this was no fairy tale. The track was one of the few songs from the album which the band hadn’t actually authored. Their friend Kanan had written it. Two years ago, in the episode Jay-Z and Me, we followed Kanan as the revelation turned his world upside down – the song went platinum selling over a million copies, he was nominated for a Grammy, and the royalties began to roll in. But for Hannah, as a sampled voice – not a feature, and not a songwriter, this was no cash cow. The story was only just beginning. After putting everything on the line for her music career, can the band make it work? And what does it mean for the most important things in her life - her son Leo and her husband Dave? Produced by Polly Weston.

Hazel loves her job. She is very good at. But there is pressure on her to leave. An impressive career has led Hazel to a perfect job at The University of Chichester: it’s stimulating, she loves the students and she is widely respected. With no age discrimination, Hazel could continue forever. And she would like to. Work is her very identity and the idea of pootling around the garden and joining a choir fills her with horror. But Hazel suspects friends, family and colleagues think it is time to go. “The expectation seems to be, from a lot of people, that I will give it all up, that my right job is to look after the grandchildren a bit, do a bit of painting and care for Phil, but that isn’t me, it isn’t me at all.” When her husband, Phil, is diagnosed with Parkinson’s, the pressure escalates but Hazel doesn't see her future as just his carer. “The joy of Phil’s and my relationship is that we’ve always been independent of each other. I don’t want to rush off and leave him, but I don’t want the burden of having the life sucked out of both of us.” She feels judged for thinking this, for not abandoning her career to look after Phil, but if she were a man, would expectations be different? Hazel has always been a clear-headed decision maker. She knew within 10 minutes of meeting her husband she should marry him. She even wants to write her PhD on decision-making. But this choice is proving impossible to make. What should she and what will she decide? Producer: Sarah Bowen

Lacey is a drag queen. Her drag persona is Lacey-Lou, a pink, over the top, ultra fem with lots of feathers, pearls and lace. Lacey is also a woman and although she's been doing drag for seven years, she's been dogged by critics who screen-shot the dictionary definition to prove that drag is for men only. So Lacey approaches the Oxford English Dictionary in an attempt to get the dictionary definition changed, to remove its gender specificity and to give her detractors one less thing to throw at her and the many other female, trans and non-binary queens. But will she succeed? Producer: Sara Conkey

Selina Medford grew up in Port Talbot, South Wales, where people of West Indian heritage were in a minority. Now she takes her daughter back to relive her experiences. Touring around the town, they delve into the good, the bad and the ugly struggles that Selina and her family faced growing up during the 1960s. On the way, her daughter Sian, who was born and raised in Birmingham, begins to understand her mother’s experience and how the multi-cultural world she grew up in, and often took for granted, was denied to her mother. A Young Sel in a Small Town paints a retrospective picture that highlights the musical and cultural life of the time, navigating through Selina’s early years of growing up in a harsh household with her Jamaican father, step mother and four other siblings - yet trying to fit in with the everyday European white world around her. A trip down memory lane, meeting old friends and faces in a collage of sounds and music, bringing back hard memories and hope for the future. New Storytellers presents the work of radio and audio producers new to BBC Radio 4 and this first series features the five winners of this year's Charles Parker Prize for the Best Student Radio Feature. A Young Sel in a Small Town won the top award, the Gold Charles Parker Prize, for its producer Sian Medford in Parker's centenary year. Sian has just graduated from the University of West London and the Judges thought her colourfully creative feature was “such a lovely simple idea. An important piece of social history mixed with modern reaction as the family reunites – a rich, dynamic production, with its rich sense of hard lives lived to the full – a really worthy Gold Charles Parker winner.” Producer: Sian Medford A Soundscape production for BBC Radio 4

Three survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire - Alison Moses, Emma O’Connor and Antonio Roncolato - recount the hardships they have endured since that fateful night in June 2017. Starting with memories of the disaster, the survivors then describe what has happened to them since - from being re-housed in temporary accommodation to their feelings about the immediate and long-term political responses to the fire. How do you cope with losing friends and family and still living in the charred shadow of Grenfell Tower itself? New Storytellers presents the work of radio and audio producers new to BBC Radio 4 and this first series features the five winners of this year's Charles Parker Prize for the Best Student Radio Feature. The award is presented every year in memory of pioneering radio producer Charles Parker who produced the famous series of Radio Ballads with Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger. My Life After Grenfell was produced by Rhys Gunter who has just graduated from the University of Westminster. The Charles Parker Award judges said, “although Grenfell is a well-known story, this chilling retelling of the fire and its aftermath brings a new authentic perspective – a very high-level achievement.” Producer: Rhys Gunter A Soundscape production for BBC Radio 4

Fran De’ath is a retired UN Election Organiser who now lives on a houseboat in Bristol, but the voyage of her life is extraordinary - a true story of an ordinary person rising to meet extraordinary circumstances. She was a peacekeeper in 1990s South Africa and, in the 2000s, she de facto wrote the election law in Afghanistan, despite a suicide bomber in her office. But the work Fran is most proud of is what she did in East Timor’s independence referendum. Along mountain passes and into a besieged UN-Compound, she tells the story of how she put herself in harm's way to help bring freedom to the region, the toll it took on her mental health and the road she walked back to wellness. New Storytellers presents the work of radio and audio producers new to BBC Radio 4 and this first series features the five winners of this year's Charles Parker Prize for the Best Student Radio Feature. The award is presented every year in memory of pioneering radio producer Charles Parker who produced the famous series of Radio Ballads with Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger. Beyond the Ballot was produced by Rosa Eaton who is studying for a Masters in Radio Documentary at the University of the West of England. This winning feature was praised by the Charles Parker Award judges as a “beautifully layered, well told and edited story, with a great talker at its heart - a worthy winner.” Producer: Rosa Eaton A Soundscape production for BBC Radio 4

This documentary-drama presents a binaural experience which follows two very different true stories of abduction - one without long-lasting consequences, the other, devastatingly fatal. The feature asks if we are we blind to the possible risks in our everyday lives as, through the power of binaural surround sound, Kidnapped places you in the victim’s place giving the listener the experience of being abducted. For the best listening experience - put your headphones on, close your eyes, and allow the 3D binaural audio to immerse you in a kidnapping. New Storytellers presents the work of radio and audio producers new to BBC Radio 4 and this first series features the five winners of this year's Charles Parker Prize for the Best Student Radio Feature. The award is presented every year in memory of pioneering radio producer Charles Parker who produced the famous series of Radio Ballads with Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger. Kidnapped was produced by Harry Stokoe who has just graduated from the University of Salford. The Charles Parker Award judges were struck by the “great, direct interviews; it’s a well-crafted feature with interesting stories and is technically mature.” Producer: Harry Stokoe A Soundscape production for BBC Radio 4

While Grace and The Untold team are busy prepping the next series, we’ve got a treat for you. Five fantastic short documentaries from five fantastic new audio producers. The story of one family told through one object - a memorial to a much-missed matriarch as her family celebrate the life and cookery of Audrie Guthrie, an idiosyncratic and creative mother. Malcolm Guthrie was 94 when his youngest son Bruce returned to live with him in their family home after 31 years away. This is the story of one of the untold heroes of domestic life - the daily use of something seemingly inconsequential but full of memory, meaning and symbolism to their family. Documenting the ways in which the spirits of people can so often be captured within domestic objects. New Storytellers presents the work of radio and audio producers new to BBC Radio 4 and this first series features the five winners of this year's Charles Parker Prize for the Best Student Radio Feature. The award is presented every year in memory of pioneering radio producer Charles Parker who produced the famous series of Radio Ballads with Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger. The Flapper was produced by Bruce Guthrie, an MA student in Radio Documentary Production at the University of the West of England, who recorded his father and older siblings, Fiona and Tim, during the second Christmas after the death of their mother. It’s a celebration of what the Charles Parker Award judges called her “idiosyncratic, matriarchal ways – a radio feature which acts as a way of dealing with loss as well as containing quiet joy.” Producer: Bruce Guthrie A Soundscape production for BBC Radio 4

As Stanley Lane approaches his 81st birthday he's looking for someone to take over his letterpress printing company. After a small article appears about his search in The Telegraph newspaper, applications start pouring in from all over the world. Grace follows Stan's search for someone to take on the company; will he be able to step down from the business he's run for almost 40 years and hand over the reins to someone new? Produced by Mair Bosworth

Fifteen years ago Anna was diagnosed with cancer, and eventually had to have a double mastectomy. Now, as she turns 50, she returns to hospital for full reconstructive surgery. Presented by Grace Dent Produced in Bristol by Polly Weston For support with the issues in the programme, you can visit: Breast Cancer Care provides emotional support and tailored information to anyone affected by the disease. Phone: 0808 800 6000 www.breastcancercare.org.uk Breast Cancer Now provides information on the signs and symptoms of breast cancer and how it is treated. www.breastcancernow.org Macmillan Cancer Support provides medical, practical, emotional and financial support to cancer patients, their carers friends and family. Phone: 0808 808 0000 www.macmillan.org.uk Cancer Research UK provides easy to understand information to anyone affected or concerned about cancer. Phone: 0808 800 4040 (weekdays 9am-5pm) www.cancerresearchuk.org

Growing up, Georgia was always the fiery one. Independent, determined and committed, she was the kind of student who gave everything her all, and achieved whatever she put her mind to. When she set her sights on Oxford University she taught herself A-level Classics from the kitchen table to get there. In just one month’s time she’ll be competing in her first Strong Man competition. She’ll be pushing her body to its limits, running with 10 stone barrels, deadlifting 18 stone bars and pulling 20 stone sleds. But this is not just a story about getting physically strong. This is a story of pushing through mental and emotional challenges, it is about leaving the past behind and gaining strength after things go wrong. As we follow Georgia in the lead up to the competition, we get a rare glimpse into the Strong Man world: a male-dominated world that’s starting to open its doors to women. They say that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, but will weightlifting really help Georgia regain control of her life? Presented by Grace Dent Produced by Alice Homewood

Ellie and Ollie were once a lesbian couple. Then Ollie began the process of transitioning from female to male. Grace Dent follows the story, as the couple negotiate the change. Presented by Grace Dent Produced in Bristol by Polly Weston

Katie is 17 and a rising star of social media, followed by thousands. She's also a grade A student but is not sure she can do both. Will this mean dropping out of A-levels in Year 12? Grace Dent presents. Producer: JP Devlin

Laura from London visits a death row inmate in Florida to seek answers about her late father's final years. Laura's dad John was an alcoholic. He spent the last ten years of his life writing to Michael, a man condemned to death for murder. John confided things in Michael which he didn't share with his own daughter. 29 year old Laura enters a maximum security prison in Florida to find out what Michael knows. Producer: Laurence Grissell

Having already helped one couple become parents by being a surrogate, Linder wants to do it again. The joy of seeing new parents hold their baby for the first time was so wonderful, she wants to give that to someone else. This time, Linder is trying to get pregnant for gay couple Nick and Karl. But although she conceives very quickly, the path ahead is fraught with difficulties. Linder records an intimate and painfully honest diary as the pregnancy continues.

In many ways Silver Street in Halifax is a street like any other. Yet it also contains a scene you probably won't find anywhere else in the country. At the end of the street is Calderdale Women's Centre. It provides support to female victims of abuse, facing financial difficulties or suffering from health problems. Just a few yards across the road from the Centre is La Salsa, a lap dancing bar. Representatives from the Women's Centre have decided to mount an opposition to La Salsa's licence, and they are not alone. They're being support by White Ribbon UK, an international charity committed to ending male violence against women. White Ribbon's UK headquarters are just a few miles away from Silver Street. They believe the club forms part of a culture that leads to harmful behaviour toward women and a venue such as this directly opposite a haven for vulnerable women is unacceptable. La Salsa's owner, Eduardo, sees things differently. In his eyes he's running a legitimate business which is above the law and staffed by people who are happy and content to work there. The dancers agree, for them, its their choice. The objection will be heard by a meeting of the local authority, where the club will either close immediately or be permitted to remain open. Both parties will have their chance to make their case, but no one can be certain of the verdict. Produced by Sam Peach

Matt is attractive, dynamic and funny, but he has never had a girlfriend. As a blond 8-year-old, he was repeatedly abused by paedophiles and has resisted intimacy ever since. But is he now ready to date? A smiling and playful prep school boy, Matt loved life. Racing around town on his bike, playing hide and seek in the sand dunes, with professional parents and a gang of good friends, he wanted for nothing. But one hot summer's day, playing football in the park, a group of predatory paedophiles ensnared and assaulted him. And for 18 months he was subjected to horrific sexual abuse. “Nothing prepares a child for the experiences of three grown men threatening, blaming coercing; there is such a horrible atmosphere, it is like a presence of evil. You are so scared they might kill you. You feel so complicit and the manipulation forces your silence, so you don't tell people - you go out of your way to hide it.” Through his teenage years he pushed girls away and rejected relationships, “I remember saying to myself I am never, ever, ever going to let anyone hurt me again - and I kind of shut down.” Thrown out of university for drinking, his life was out of control. With unique access to his therapy sessions, to his fears about intimacy and sex, Grace Dent follows this powerful and poignant story as Matt fights for back to build a steady life, a successful career and family. So far love and intimacy have evaded him. Can he now make the huge step of finding someone to love? Producer: Sarah Bowen

Grace Dent presents the story of two councillors who've quit their parties to run as independents in the local elections. Rowan has left Labour over antisemitism, while Brian has quit the Conservatives over Brexit. Will their gamble pay off? Producer: Laurence Grissell

Grace Dent revisits four powerful stories recently featured in The Untold, to find out where life took them next. Will was a victim of the Westminster Bridge attack, now tasked with putting his life back together and managing serious injuries. Kanan's life was turned upside down when the song he wrote in a Bristol flatshare was picked up by Jay-Z and became an international hit. Other stories revisited are the case of two GPs fighting to save their practice and the mother whose child was separated from her and taken to live abroad, without her consent.

Shaish Alam's restaurant was once the top rated take away and curry restaurant in Wales. He'd won loads of awards, and appeared on national telly, demonstrating his home grown approach to cooking curry. In September 2017, everything changed, when he was found to be employing four staff who did not have the right to work in in the UK. It wasn't the first time - but with unpaid fines amounting to more than £70,000, this time the authorities came down much harder. Now, he says he can't get more staff to help in the kitchen and he would have to pay a salary of £30,000 to bring anyone over - which he says he can't afford. He comes up with another solution. He decides to slash his menu to make it possible for him to do the cooking himself. His team are up in arms - they think you can't say no to customers, and they say curry menus must be extensive because that's what British people want. Shaish says they've been catering to the public's every demand for too long, and things must change. But how will this Welsh town respond to the prospect of having their favourite curries taken away?

Grace Dent presents the story of a Hastings high street in the run-up to Christmas, and three shops fighting for survival. For many years, businesses on Queens Road came and went. Many windows were boarded up, shop faces were rundown. So a few years ago it was seen as a sign of successful regeneration when new independent businesses began to move in and shop fronts were repainted. It became known as a destination for people wanting independent shops, run by people with a passion for what they're selling. But in the last year, the retail environment has become subdued. It has been an uncertain and difficult twelve months, and the final weeks of the year are looking no easier. This is the story of three shops on one street, in the run down to a vital shopping period which they need to go well to survive into 2019. Vicky opened White Rhino in 2014, and used to specialise in furniture from independent designers. But demand dropped and now she must earn a living from smaller, less lucrative products like loose leaf tea and trinkets. Lee opened Printed Matter bookshop in 2017. Hastings was set to be a university town but as soon as he opened the shop, that fell through. He hopes to get 1% of the town's population as regular customers, but he's got tough competition. Jez opened Queen's Deli in 2017. He's taken a big risk in opening on this street, and has everything on the line for it. By the time their shop doors shut on Christmas Eve, Jez, Vicky and Lee need to know there is enough money in the till to see them into the new year. And it's looking very uncertain. Presenter: Grace Dent Producer: Georgia Catt

The recordings follow Anoushka as she tours the Cambridge colleges and debates what she should do. It's a difficult choice and one that is made all the harder by the University's poor record in relation to black students, who make up just 2.2 per cent of the under-graduate population. In talking to her friends she discovers that some of the more able students are clearly put off from even applying to Oxbridge because of the compromises they would have to make. They talk to her about concerns over what they say is a lack of racial diversity and worries about so many students coming from fee paying schools. Anoushka's parents, Anjula and Roy, are patient and supportive as she debates the merits of her top choices, including the London School of Economics, Queens’ College Cambridge and Kings College London. They feel that an Oxbridge degree would set her up for life and that she would also flourish within the small teaching groups offered in the history department. But this is her decision and it's one she's determined to get right. Producer: Sue Mitchell

For Steph, family comes first. As a self-described 'dance mum' she frequently drives the youngest of her three children around the country for classes and competitions. Steph was adopted, and although her own upbringing was a happy one she has always wanted to know more about her birth mother and blood relatives. Now for the first time she has decided to try to find them and contact them. She has no idea whether her mother's relatives know of her existence, and what effect her search for them may have on their lives - or her own. Presented by Grace Dent. Producer: Viv Jones

Roni never got to learn to ride a bike as a child. Her dad died when she was nearly six years old, and her Mum was left to bring up five children on her own so there was no-one to teach Roni or help her. As Roni grew older, it just became embarrassing to talk about it, and it made her feel inadequate, so she stopped even mentioning it to anyone. But the longing for the freedom and independence she thought cycling would bring has never left her. So, when her friend Clare bought her a second-hand pink bike, she decided it was time to turn her dream into action. Producer: Sara Conkey

James is 24 and dreams of being a farmer. He’s got sheep, but nowhere to keep them. A sought-after farm in Cornwall is open for applicants. Will he find a home for his flock? But if you’re a first-time farmer without the money to buy, even finding a farm is difficult. James has been trying for years and has applied to 6 farms. He’s recently heard about a farm to rent in Cornwall. He and his fiancé, Isobel, have visited it and fallen in love with it. So they’ve decided to throw their heart into this one last application and if they don’t get it, they’re going to sell their 400 sheep and their sheep dogs and buy a house. They'll stop chasing their dream. And there’s one more complication: alongside tending to his sheep, James is also running a family business with his brother and father. He’s farming insects to feed fish. It’s a business with international growth potential and great career prospects but James has found that spending all day in a workshop doing experiments is not what he wants to do for the rest of his life. James’ Dad Andrew isn’t very enthusiastic about James dream to be a livestock farmer. He wonders what will happen to the family business. And he worries that there’s not much money in farming. James’ Dad worked in the oil and gas industry for 40 years and has helped James set up the insect-farming venture. He feels that farming livestock on a small scale in Cornwall is not a viable business for his son. James meanwhile is determined to pursue the outdoor farming life. "If it pays off, our children will have an amazing life. We’ve got one chance and we have to make the most of it.”

When Kirsty's youngest son goes to university, she decides to go in search of adventure. At the age of 47 she buys an old plasterer's van, and moves into it - knowing nothing about vehicles or DIY, and with a fear of heights so strong she gets scared of big hills. She starts a Youtube channel to record her journey, and over the next eighteen months goes through a radical change. But through the story of this change, we hear about her past - and what she's left behind. Produced in Bristol by Polly Weston.

Min is determined to only marry a Sikh who wears a turban. But after a decade of looking her family and friends want her to widen her search by the time she turns 38. As the only daughter, her mum and dad just want her to be happy but also married and settled with her own family and they don’t mind who she marries. Min’s mum thinks not only should her daughter abandon her search for a turban-wearing Sikh but she should widen her search further to include non–Sikhs. With only three months to go before Min turns 38 the clock is ticking. Will Min consider someone without a turban, let alone out of faith? The producer is Perminder Khatkar

Grace Dent presents the story of Amanda and her fight to get 24 hour care for her 96 year old dad who has dementia - before it's too late. Alan calls his daughter Amanda up to twenty times a day, confused and paranoid. But he's adamant he doesn't want to go into a care home. We follow Amanda's struggle to get him the care she feels he needs. Producer: Laurence Grissell

This is the 100th episode of The Untold. Grace Dent follows the story of an unidentified woman found washed up on a beach in East Sussex in 2017. Who was she? And why has no one come forward to claim her body? Despite the best efforts of the police and a long-running missing persons appeal, she has never been identified. A year on, Christina, an employee of the Rother District Council’s Environmental Health team has been given the task of organising a funeral for the woman. She is determined to solve the mystery of the woman's identity and to track down her relatives. And to ensure that, even though no loved ones have come forward, her passing will not go unmarked. Produced by Mair Bosworth Office Ambience Copyright 2013 Iwan Gabovitch, CC-BY3 license.

The town of Corby faces a rough-sleeping crisis, but the community is strongly divided over a proposed solution. Does a homeless shelter belong by the side of a care home? Nicola is the manager of Corby's homelessness charity Nightlight. For several years they have been helping the growing number of homeless people in the small town by arranging temporary night shelters and paying visits to the homeless community in the woods. The volunteers believe they have found what they need: an unused public building big enough for 35 guests. A permanent home and a warm place for the coming winter. Yet in other ways the site is not ideal, it lies just feet away from a care home and sheltered housing complex. Despite this, Nicola and the other volunteers have decided to push on with obtaining planning permission to develop the building. They have faced stern opposition from a community of residents and relatives who fear a rise in crime, anti-social behaviour and a risk to their security. Nicola has given up paid work in order focus full time succeeding in this application. If approved, they will be a considerable step closer to obtaining funding and employing full time staff, including herself, at the shelter. After months of consultation, the decision comes down to one council meeting and a vote of 8 councillors. Both sides are seeking to protect the vulnerable, but whose voice will the council listen to? Produced by Sam Peach

38-year-old entrepreneur Simon fights to become his teenage niece's legal guardian after she was placed in care. Until last year, Simon was a highly successful businessman with a city lifestyle to match. Then his business went under - and with it his sense of purpose in life. At around the same time his 13-year-old niece was placed into local authority care because of her mother's drug use. Simon resolves to get his niece out of care and become her legal guardian - but it involves a fraught legal process and a massive life change. Presenter: Grace Dent Producer: Laurence Grissell

From this week, you can find brand new episodes of The Untold first on the BBC Sounds app

On a busy street in Reading - at the front of the shopping centre - you might catch the distinctive smell of peri peri chicken. This is Fernando's. Opened in Autumn 2017, it's a halal restaurant, belonging to Asam Aziz. A huge fan of the ITV dating show, Take Me Out, Asam says he named his restaurant after the fictional island where couples are sent : "the isle of Fernando's". Some customers did wonder whether Nando's might take issue with the name - but "I just couldn't see that. Why would Nando's have a problem with that?", he says. This is Asam's first venture of his own. His Dad arrived in Reading in 1965 from Pakistan "with nothing but 50p in his pocket and the trousers he was wearing", and Asam moved here in the 70s when he was one. His Dad saved and saved until he could afford their first convenience store in 2000 and now, with Fernando's, Asam is branching out on his own. 200 people came to their opening in September, as the local Imam blessed the restaurant. The restaurant was a huge success in the community. Busy all the time, Asam seemed to be succeeding in his first year in business. But then, in March, a letter arrived from Nandos' lawyers - it stated that Fernando's was in breach of the company's copyright. Not only with the name, but with the Portuguese Chicken Barcelos symbol he'd chosen as his logo, and other branding inside. Now he faces a dilemma that could bring him down: should he totally re-brand, or refuse to make changes and be taken to court. Clearly, as a small business, the risk in fighting a huge global chain is enormous, but there's a problem - Asam isn't the sort of person who backs down easily: "I can't just hang my gloves up". But, it's still early days in the life of his restaurant. What choice does he have? Produced in Bristol by Polly Weston.

Lloyd Grant came to the UK when he was eleven, joining his parents, who had found jobs and set up home here. As a victim of the unfolding Windrush scandal he has suffered greatly. Having worked for London Transport and had four children here, Lloyd was completely unprepared to find himself on the wrong side of what was to become an unfolding immigration nightmare. Within weeks he lost his job, was told that he was ineligible for benefits or even health care: eventually he was forced out of his home through mounting debt and started sleeping in hospital waiting rooms and in the foyer of the local YMCA. He feared that he would be deported back to Jamaica - a country he left at eleven, when he came to join parents who had made a new life in London. The Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, last week announced the launch of a consultation so that people can have their say on how compensation for victims like Lloyd should work. The process is being overseen by Martin Forde, QC, who is himself the son of Windrush parents and in the programme he meets Lloyd and considers some of the aspects raised by his story. He is keen to understand both the financial and the psychological impact on the 5,000 or so victims of the scandal and although he is unable to put a figure on likely payments, he thinks there will be a cap on the amount people receive. Lloyd is one of many who have suffered through the Government's 'hostile environment policy,' which requires employers and other bodies to demand evidence of citizenship. Although he had held a British passport, he had lost it and his original landing card proving his legitimate entry into the country had been destroyed. The result was that he could not even return to the Caribbean for his mother's funeral and he has lost everything he built up in this country. Now he is starting from scratch, with a temporary place in a hotel and a promise that he will be given citizenship. The Untold follows his efforts to rebuild his life. Produced by Sue Mitchell and Viv Jones.

Grace Dent follows Jade, a games designer with autism. She's heading to a world famous games festival in New York. Can she navigate her condition and make the trip a success? Coming to the end of University, Jade is determined to build herself a career in the gaming industry. In the games she designs, players are immersed in a simulation of Jade's experience, they must manage some of the effects of autism to advance to the next level. An opportunity has arisen for her that might be the opportunity she is looking for... a major convention in New York and a platform to share her work so far. It's a chance she just can't miss, so Jade has spent her savings on a ticket to the Big Apple. Jade's autism presents challenges to her daily life. It sometimes makes busy spaces problematic, and can create a lot of anxiety in social situations. A bustling convention, in the middle of one of the world's busiest cities, could present a lot of difficulty for Jade, and she will be travelling there alone. As the flight draws closer, Jade must manage her nerves and prepare for what could be the trip of a lifetime. She will need to face an environment she has never encountered before in order to follow her dream. Producer: Sara Parker.

One man believes the Isle of Sheppey needs a new town council, but there are many who disagree. Grace Dent follows his campaign to restore an island identity, beyond the mainland. Brian is a retired businessman and coastguard. He's dedicated his life to improving the town of Sheerness, his home for 40 years. He's felt the town he loves had become neglected, and wanted to breathe new life back into the community. So he began a campaign to get a new voice for Sheerness, a Town Council elected separately from the Borough Council across the water. It's a divisive issue however, and there are many who disagree that a new council is the answer to the problems of an old Kent seaside town. The tension is heating up on both sides of the debate, ahead of a decisive Borough Council vote: whether to give more control to an island community, or to keep power on the mainland. Produced by Sam Peach.

Beth has vision in just one eye. Gary is her driving instructor. Can she pass her test? Gary is a former medical rep turned driving instructor who became bored teaching 'ordinary' pupils. He now specialises in lessons for people with particular challenges, whether they have autism, or a missing limb, or - in Beth's case - just one useful eye. Beth's in her early 20s and has Stickler syndrome, a condition which led to the retina in her right eye detaching when she was 11 years old. That eye has almost no useful vision, certainly nothing that helps when it comes to driving. Beth first took lessons when she was 18, but her instructor made her feeling too nervous to continue. She thought she would never drive. But then she found Gary. With his vast well of patience, not to mention his car which is kitted out with all kinds of accessories including a huge panoramic mirror, her confidence has improved to the point where she can take her test. Beth's life is about to completely change: she's starting university in a new city and her partner works away from home, so she needs the independence that driving bring. But will she pass? Producer: Karen Gregor.

Down a side street in Weston-super-Mare, a tailor is working at his sewing machine. This is Vaughan. "I'm alright, it's everyone else that's the problem." Born in Lancashire, he doesn't mince his words. And he's the go-to for any alteration you might need - particularly prom dresses. He works with the dress shop across the road, making any dress work for any girl. Last year he altered and modified 130 dresses for prom season - but it landed him in hospital with a heart attack, so this year he's afraid of the sequin busts as they start to come through the door. He's disparaging of many of the dresses on the rail - "females have no taste" - except one. The black dress. "That... Is this season's challenge. It'll take a brave girl to carry that off." As prom fast approaches, no one has chosen the black dress. Until Carmen walks in... Produced in Bristol by Polly Weston.

On 22nd March 2017, 25 year old Will Dyson was walking along Westminster Bridge, when a vehicle mounted the pavement and hit him from behind. The Terror Attack left 5 people dead and more than 50 injured. Will was one of the injured. In the lead up to the year anniversary, Will faces up to his changing views of the incident.

The Untold follows an international child custody case which has caused enormous stress and pain to the Bradford born mother, Tracy, who has not seen her daughter for sixteen months. Grace Dent follows what happens as Tracy seeks access to her little girl, who was taken to the Czech Republic by her former partner during an access visit. He was within his rights to petition the courts there under the Hague Convention, which considers residency based on the length of time spent in an area and the roots put down there. The recordings follow Tracy's fight to see her daughter and the legal obstacles in her way, from language barriers in proceedings to the contested factors at the heart of the relationship break-down. She has enlisted the help of her MP, Philip Davies, who wants the Foreign Office to consider helping the increasing number of parents in similar situations. Tracy is heartbroken without her daughter and wonders how she will cope - they last saw each other as she kissed the little girl goodbye. That was over a year ago and just before her ex-partner took her for what was meant to be a sleep-over in Bradford. The next day he phoned from his village in the Czech Republic to say they were there and wouldn't be returning as planned. "It was the worst moment of my life, I think I collapsed and can't really remember what happened next. It was like everything collapsed and the nightmare that's been my life since had begun. I want to be with my daughter and know that she feels the same, to separate us like this is cruel beyond belief." Producer: Sue Mitchell.

After meeting in prison, two men want to make a fresh start as barbers in a Welsh village. Grace Dent follows them as they strive to make life outside a success in a small community. Tom and Leon met on a prison barbering course in the middle of their prison sentences. They had always shared 'jail talk' of opening a shop together but after being released they decided to make it a reality. Together they invested their money in a barber shop nestled in the Welsh Valleys, new arrivals in small village. Can they convince potential customers to give them a chance - and make a return on their investment? Produced by Sam Peach.

Ruth Bowie returns home to Ireland to witness the Irish Abortion Referendum and the result of the vote up close. Nine years ago, she travelled to the UK to have a termination of a much-wanted baby for medical reasons. She felt guilty but she also felt abandoned by her country, where the abortion would have been illegal. Since then, she has campaigned so that other women in her position would not to have to 'travel', the euphemistic term for women who come to mainland UK like she did. She settled in England a few years later. Now she's about to return home to the land that she left and find out if the Irish people will vote to change the law. Tensions are high, and the result of the referendum could go either way. There are strong feelings on both sides of the debate, and the lead up to the referendum has brought this divide in Ireland to the fore. Producer: Sara Conkey.

Grace Dent follows Alan, the postman who dreams of making it as a professional actor. He has landed a role in a hit stage play, but he will have to overcome his dyslexia in order to succeed. Alan has worked as a postman in Liverpool for years, but he's now ready to pursue his true passion of a career in acting. Things have gotten off to a promising start as he has been cast in a leading role in a professional stage play. The play follows the story of the band Joy Division and is a celebrated production with a huge fan base. This could be Alan's chance to establish himself in the world he has always wanted to join. A winning performance could be Alan's chance to make it, but it won't be easy. Alan's dyslexia presents a challenge to his day job of delivering letters. It makes memorising an entire script a difficult task, and Alan has just a few weeks to do so. It's the performance of a lifetime, and the pressure is on to be ready for opening night. Will he be able to impress an audience of critics and industry figures who could turn his dream into a reality? Producer: Sam Peach Researcher: Tabitha Konstantine.

Grace Dent presents the story of Leisa Taylor: a feminist politician with purple hair and piercings who wants to make waves in Worcester. Worcester is a traditional place. It markets itself through Edward Elgar, the Cathedral and its 'Faithful City' status during the Civil War. The local political scene is almost entirely male dominated and - at the moment - Conservative. Leisa is standing for the Women's Equality Party in May's local elections - when the odds are stacked against her, what's driving her on, and can she make her mark? The moniker 'Worcester Woman' was coined because the city's female vote is regarded as having the potential to change the political scene. However this particular Worcester Woman is pushing for a 'feminist lens' to be applied to everything that the city council does. Is it a step too far in a ward where the issues that exercise voters appear to be potholes, parking, and pavement-cyclers? Produced by Karen Gregor.

Anna Hursey has been playing table tennis for as long as she can remember and has managed to combine her school work with extended trips to train in China, where her mother is from and across Europe, where she can challenge herself against the top players. Her success has been remarkable and as her family prepare for the Commonwealth Games they reflect on what it means longer term and how Anna might continue to straddle the world in her quest to compete at the 2020 Olympics.

The nephew of an elderly brother and sister fights to save their home, a thatched cottage near the shores of Lough Foyle that has belonged to their family for over 300 years. Grace Dent tells their story. The Quigley Cottage in Magilligan lies near the shores of Lough Foyle in Northern Ireland. It has belonged to the same family for over 300 years and has listed heritage status. Edward was born in it, and lives there with his elderly sister Eileen, without electricity or an indoor toilet. They cook with gas, and use gas lights. It is thought to the only cottage thatched with marram grass on the island of Ireland and dates from an age when local people scavenged the grass from nearby sand dunes to roof their homes. In 2014, when a severe winter storm badly damaged a rear wall and caused part of the roof to collapse on top of Edward's bed, he was lucky to escape with his life. Now the cottage is almost too dangerous to live in. The rest of the roof and the rear wall could collapse at any time, and with winter storms approaching, they are desperate to find the money to their family home. Their nephew Mark, an IT consultant who lives in Coleraine, has driven the campaign to save the cottage, but so far they haven't been able to secure the necessary funds. As winter draws in, Edward and Eileen must decide if they should leave their beloved cottage, and Mark makes one last attempt to raise the money for much-needed repairs. Producer: Conor McKay.

Grace Dent tells the story of Yeovil Town Ladies, a team of part time players who must raise £350,000 in order to turn professional and stay in the top tier of women's football. In November 2016 Yeovil Town Ladies Football Club hit the headlines with a fairy tale story. They were the part time team who had won their way to Women's Super League 1, the highest level of football in the country. A team of students, nurses and firefighters would rub shoulders with Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City. Yet just a few weeks into their first season in WSL 1, the club was hit with devastating news. In order to remain in the league next season, they need to apply as a fully professional club and raise £350,000 to pay their players. With just a few weeks before the application must be submitted, Grace Dent follows the club as they raise funds while facing gruelling matches against the best players in the world. Producers: Mohini Patel and Sam Peach.

Fourteen year old Mohammed was excluded from school over a year ago: his poor behaviour culminating in an incident involving a firework in a classroom corridor. His Mum has been trying to get him back into education for many months now and as time passes she sees little hope of success. At first she opted to home school him, but with her work and family responsibilities she found this too difficult. She wants him to get a school place but worries about how he will settle and whether he can catch up the months of education that he's missed. Grace Dent follows what happens. Mohammed is being helped by staff at Raising Explorers, an inspirational after school club in Bradford, which provides input on the academic side, along with Islamic study. Abu Mustafa, who oversees the team, says that however much work they do at the centre it will not be enough to compensate for the loss of a school education. He is supporting the family with efforts to get Mohammed back into lessons, whilst also addressing the behavioural issues which have seen him excluded in the past. Teachers at Raising Explorers know that Mohammed and his family are not alone in the challenges they face and they see particular challenges for teenagers wrestling with competing priorities. They feel that schools properly resourced to get to the bottom of problems once they arise and parents are not involved in putting things right. The after school club tries to close this gap, particularly for youngsters who are balancing community and family expectations alongside finding their own path in life. Abu Mustafa is pleased with how Mohammed is responding to this input and hopes that he will be able to make a real go of things once a school place is found.

One man's bitter battle over his freedom to use a washing machine. Steve Norman - Stormin' Norman to anyone who knows him - is a big, loud, gruff, heavy smoker who's made it his mission to hold the authorities to account. "Facetious, obstinate, difficult - yeah I am. But I think I've got every right to be". At 59, he lives in a council block in the shadow of the M5. The flats are too small for washing machines so the block uses a shared facility, but in 2017 the council began to restrict usage to Monday to Friday 8am-8pm. Steve's retaliation? He took them to court for failing to consult the residents on the changes - and a baffled judge concluded that there was a case to answer, and gave the council two weeks to reach an agreement, or else it would go to trial. Stormin' Norman left school at 16, with no qualifications. Through 30 years in the merchant navy, he learned to love to read, and subsequently, he taught himself how to understand the law, and how to use it. Now every councillor in Bristol knows his name - he's the guy at every protest cursing at them through a loud hailer. The laundry is his opportunity to get the council in to the court room and to say his piece, publicly, in a court of law. "It's a circus... You can have all the fancy lawyers in the world, but if you're in breach of an agreement and I can prove it, you lose... simple as." The laundry is the fight he wants. But, as the year progresses, the fight he faces is very different. This programme is broadcast on Steve's 60th birthday. Produced by Polly Weston.

Jackie Harrison has a 50-50 chance of developing Huntington's disease. Her grandfather, mother and uncle all died young with this devastating, neuro-degenerative disease and she cares for her younger brother who has it too. In December 2017 it seemed that there might have been a breakthrough and there's been a surge of people at risk asking for a predictive test. It's a blood test which simply tells you if you will develop the disease - but currently there is no cure. Jackie has previously shied away from the test, but is now considering it. The test is a gamble. A bad result can be devastating. Having lived all her life thinking she has Huntington's, Jackie hasn't learnt to drive for fear she will have her license taken away. She hasn't had children, for fear that any child would have to look after her when she became ill. "There are very few days you're not thinking about it," she admits, checking herself for symptoms, "I twitch my shoulder and I know I do. Sometimes I've a twitchy eye or one time my thumb was shaking or shivering for no reason. I'm being bad tempered and I'm shouting at people - so you think is this the start of it?" As Jackie approaches 50, she is increasingly persuaded to have the test. Her partner Tony describes it as a horrendous Catch 22, "Do you want to live the rest of your life in the hope that you may be free of the disease or do you want to toss the coin, with the negative of that being you find you're not free of it and you then you have no hope left?" Should she have the test and could she cope with the result? Narrated by Grace Dent and produced by Sarah Bowen.

Grace Dent follows what happens when 43 year old Sharon embarks on a search for love. With two failed marriages behind her it would be easy to feel disappointed about the possibilities: not Sharon, who is optimistic that the right man is out there somewhere. When nights out at a local club fail to reap rewards Sharon turns to the internet but with mixed success: some of prospective suitors look nothing like their profile photos and whilst one or two prove to be decent, there are others who are not. Over visits to Sharon's Rotherham flat, Producer Sue Mitchell gets to know more about her and her family. She has three children and helps pitch in to look after her grandchildren and keep an eye on her 23 year old daughter, Jessica, who is single and sometimes accompanies her on nights out. She has a dog, Molly, who gives birth to eleven pups and many friends call in and out on an evening. As well as looking for love, Sharon is also keen to get a job and already has a plan in place when it comes to spending her wages: a trip to Benidorm and perhaps even a holiday romance! At the start of recordings she is with Serge, who has come from Cameroon and quickly moves into Sharon's flat, where he learns to make Yorkshire puddings and immerses himself in the goings on in Coronation Street. But strains quickly develop and before long they are arguing over his wish to have a child and her worry about what she sees as his controlling behaviour. When the relationship breaks down it is back to the drawing board: how is she going to find Mr Right and exactly what is she looking for in a partner?

Kanan is a 30-year-old software consultant in Bristol, but for years he was a struggling musician. A few years ago after 15 years of trying to make it in the music industry, he got a day job. His first solid 9-5. To his surprise, he loved the new structure to his life. His life changed completely - he has stability and he's happy. But his secure life has now been overtaken by unexpected events. Two years ago, he wrote a song in his bedroom about a break-up he was going through. He gave it to some friends, the band Hannah Williams and the Affirmations, to record. At the beginning of 2017 the unthinkable happened - by a twist of fate, Jay-Z heard the track, liked it, and sampled it. It's become part of the song 4:44 - Jay-Z's public apology to Beyoncé. It's the title track on his platinum selling album, and the first single he released earlier this year, and Kanan is listed as songwriter without ever having spoken to Jay-Z. He had no idea any of this was going to happen until June when the album was released. In song writing terms, it's like winning the lottery - but what does it really mean for his life? Produced in Bristol by Polly Weston.

Grace Dent revisits four of the most intriguing Untold stories from recent series to discover what happened next. This includes Rachel Burns, the former care home manager who was sacked after posting a photo of one of her residents on Facebook. Another update is from Deborah, the cancer patient touring the world as a barbershop singer. We also hear the latest from the retired couple establishing their own Marigold Hotel and Nick, the 25 year old determined to get his life back after a brain injury. Producer: Sam Peach.

My Lost Brother

Paul Mosby was a professional oboist. Now with advanced Alzheimers, he is largely non-verbal, and spends his days walking the corridors of his care home. His wife Yvonne and daughter Helen hope that music therapy might awaken his connexion with music, and with himself. Paul made the decision to stop playing the oboe nearly twenty years ago. He put it away in a box, and has not played since. And the early music sessions don't go well - Paul only stays a few minutes and then again begins his endless walking. Then his daughter brings in an old oboe that he gave her many years before - will it evoke any memories in Paul and re-connect him with his past?

Jonathan's app could be a lifeline for job seekers in the gig economy. Grace Dent follows the Essex entrepreneur as he tries to get his app off the ground before funding runs out. Jonathan's a former supermarket worker inspired by the poverty he's seen in his local area. He's created an online recruitment app that aims to help those left behind by the gig economy and zero-hour contracts. For a year he struggled to make progress, but now he's finally got his big break. A backer will fund him for 3 months. For the first time he's been able to pay himself and call the business his job. Yet when funding stops, there's no guarantee he'll be able to continue the enterprise. We're with Jonathan over the course of a make or break 12 weeks. It's a race against time to grow the business and make it succeed. Can he make enough profit to find a living for himself, as well as others? Producer: Sam Peach.

Nouri is Syrian and Mike is Scottish. It is a new friendship formed around fishing and coffee and leads to Nouri confronting some painful memories.

28 year old Liam Rogerson was crossing the road near his sister's home in Kent when he was knocked over and killed on Christmas Eve last year. The car did not stop. Grace Dent tells the story of a family trying to come to terms with the loss of the eldest son. As the court date approaches for the sentencing of the driver, Liam's family prepare themselves for a result they may not feel is fair. Producer: Georgia Catt.

This is Rob's story - a man who lost his voice and is trying to get it back. Rob is a warm and charismatic man who says he's an extrovert. He's a successful business-coach - a people-centred job he loves. But two years ago he lost his voice. At first he thought he'd shouted too much at the rugby, but then he discovered he'd developed the rare neurological condition, Spasmodic Dysphonia, which has severely affected his ability to speak. It's having a serious impact on both his social and working life. Producer, Karen Gregor, follows Rob for six months as he tries to improve his voice: he gets treatment at the QE hospital in Birmingham with Consultant ENT surgeon, Declan Costello; he seeks out voice coaching with Christina Shewell in Bristol; and he meets a woman with the same very rare condition who might, just might, shed some light on what on earth he should do. Grace Dent tells the story. Karen Gregor produces.

Grace Dent returns with a new series of untold stories from modern Britain. The new series opens with the story of former care home manager Rachel Burns who was sacked after posting a photo of one of her residents on Facebook. Though Rachel Burns admitted she'd made a number of mistakes in her use of social media, she felt that dismissal was too draconian after 21 years working for her employer, the local council. The Untold follows Rachel over a twelve month period as she pursues an unfair dismissal claim. The odds seem stacked against her in the employment tribunal. While the council is represented by a barrister, she has no formal legal representation. And as the case drags on, Rachel's debts mount and the experience starts to take a severe emotional toll. Will the employment tribunal rule in her favour - or dismiss her claim? Producer: Laurence Grissell.

17-year-old Maya is struggling with anorexia. Her life at home is volatile and her A levels are looming. It will mean the world to her if she can do well in these exams, but she can't concentrate to revise. Anorexia has been explosive within the family and Maya captures, with a raw honesty, the agonising rows they have. Combining extremely candid audio diaries with behind-the-scenes confrontation, Maya gives us an extraordinary insight into the life of a family living with an eating disorder. No one shies away from explaining the deceptive, manipulative and painful nature of this illness. Maya was a loving, fun and happy teenager, surrounded by friends and with a world of opportunity ahead of her. But at 16 her life changed and when admitted to hospital, she was so unwell, she was told she was lucky to be alive. Now doing well in the A levels this summer has become crucial, "The exams are the key to going to university, proving to myself that I can beat this illness. I just get so scared because, if I fail the exams how am I going to get better, how am I going to succeed in life?" She needs to get to AAB to read Zoology at Bristol University, but the disease is all consuming: "I think it's more than just starving yourself of food, it's starving yourself of everything because everything becomes about using as much energy as possible. So I starve myself of friends, I starve myself of family, I starve myself of education because I can't dedicate any time to sit down and work because the thought of sitting down and not constantly moving and constantly using energy is too stressful." With 6 weeks to go, will Maya be well enough to sit the exams and get the grades she needs? Narrated by Grace Dent and produced by Sarah Bowen.

One day, when Alice was 15, she discovered Japanese Rock music - and discovered a post from a girl called Mimei about an obscure J Rock band. They started talking online - and over the years the relationship developed as the world's online platforms developed - through blogging, online messenger services, social media and video calls. Alice tells Mimei everything and says she's been one of the biggest influences on her life. As they grew up, Mimei moved to Japan, became a professional youtuber with hundreds of thousands of followers, and got married - Alice became an accountant, moved to London, and took up ice hockey. But they've never met...until now. Mimei is flying to London and together they're going travelling round Europe. Four countries, ten days, and two friends who know everything about each other, but have never met before. This is the story of what happens when best friends meet for the first time. Produced by Polly Weston in Bristol.

Neil Francis loves the outdoors. There's nowhere else he'd rather be than stretched out in a field gazing at the sky, with his dog Bouncer by his side. From his front room he can see the hills that he used to play in as a child. But for now, he can't get up them. 25 years ago, an accident left Neil paralysed from the chest down and since then he's had to rely on 24hr care at home. His wheelchair gives him some freedom but it can only take him so far. Uneven paths, muddy fields and steep hills are out of bounds and being trapped in the same position day after day, for over two decades, is taking its toll. His spine is curving and he endures debilitating seizures. Neil needs to find a way out of pain and back into the landscape that he loves. He discovers there's a wheelchair that could help him, but it costs a lot of money - too much money. It doesn't look like he can get it. But then, enter two guardian angels.... Presenter Grace Dent. Producer Nicola Humphries. Further information SSAFA - The Armed Forces Charity www.ssafa.org.uk Southern Spinal Injuries Trust www.ssit.org.

Grace Dent revisits four of the most intriguing Untold stories from the past few months to discover what happened next. This includes 'Missing', the story of Zack and Kirsty in the wake of Zack's disappearance.

Amir is twenty five and can't work - he has a rare neurological condition and is waiting for surgery to correct foot deformities. His doctors agree, but the Government does not and he has six weeks to appeal the decision denying him disability related payments. It was all a far cry from the life Amir imagined when he left school and set out to follow his Dad's advice: get a job, start saving and put together enough money to buy a house. He started down that path, working for Morrison's and later for Next. But as his health deteriorated he was forced to give up his job and last October he claimed disability related support. He has Charcot Marie Tooth disease, a progressive condition which he hopes will be alleviated by reconstructive surgery on his feet. His GP, Dr Anne-Marie Killeen, agrees that he is too ill to work and has supplied medical evidence showing that he can't walk far and frequently falls. His GP says he should qualify for the additional payments that would help him with his mobility and give him the support he needs. The Department of Work and Pensions says that during a period of sickness it tailors work-related activity to specific circumstances and Amir is on an extended sick note until August 8th. This means he does not have to apply for, or take up, work. For his part, Amir thinks this is not good enough and he can not cope without the money he and his GP believe his disability should entitle him to.

Gubs and Gary are getting married. They've been preparing for this day for over a year. Gubs is Sikh and Gary is white. Gubs has already told his dad he is gay, and his father managed to accept it. But it looks like a wedding is just one step too far. Now, there are only weeks to go. Final preparations are being made for the outfits, the photography, the food. But Gubs wonders if his Dad will change his mind before the big day. And if he does relent, how will Gubs feel about it? Producer in Bristol: Sara Conkey.

Isobel is a much longed for baby for Catherine and James, who want to spend as much time as possible with her on Bradford Infirmary's neo-natal unit. Being born at just 26 weeks old means she needs a good deal of mechanical intervention to survive and she has a dedicated nursing team to closely monitor her progress. As Grace Dent hears, her chances of survival are good, but there is vigilance about possible longer term complications and in the early weeks she is very closely monitored. As tests continue, there is an added burden for her parents, who both work: Catherine's job takes her round West Yorkshire collecting and cremating dead animals and helping owners overcome their grief at losing much loved pets. She also runs a busy service putting down sick and dying horses. Leaving Isobel on the unit whilst she works is hard to do, but all seems to be going well - and then there is a change. It is a testing time for Catherine, James and their Consultant, Dr Chris Day. He knows how difficult it is to predict who will do well and although girls born early tend to do better than boys, Isobel still faces challenges as she learns to breath and feed on her own. He and his team are dedicated to doing all they can to improve the chances of these very premature babies. Producer: Sue Mitchell.

Mary is 86 and facing an eye test to decide if she can continue to drive. Will the test put an end to her 65 year driving career - or can she carry on? She's been diagnosed with several eye conditions including glaucoma, cataracts and macula degeneration, and now she faces the field of vision test - the test which will decide whether she's fit to continue to drive. She lives in rural Somerset, where public transport is scarce. For 40 years she had the same Morris Traveller and now she drives a Fiat. Although she says, "a car is only necessary in that it has four wheels. And a roof is quite useful." If she has to stop driving, she'll have to depend on her daughter - this is not what she wants. "It's absolutely typical of my age - we fear that if we once give way, the flood gates will open, and we will become dependent." This is more than a story about driving - it's about independence and the possible loss of it. But is there something else in Mary's life that could pose a greater threat to her driving than any eye test? Produced in Bristol by Polly Weston.

One day Ray finds out he's the father of a newborn baby who has been taken into care. He's now in another relationship with girlfriend Cally. Together they begin the the fight for custody of his daughter otherwise she'll be given up for adoption. Ray spent his own childhood in care and is determined to avoid that fate for his daughter. The process has been arduous and the outcome - in the weeks before the final hearing - is far from certain. Grace Dent presents. Producer Neil McCarthy.

This is Nick's story; and it's a story of grit and determination; of ambition and limitations; of one young man's struggle to get his life back, after a car accident that's left him with a brain injury. Nick was 23 when his life changed forever. He's lucky to be alive. He was driving home late one night when his car came off the road. He thinks he fell asleep at the wheel. Luckily no one else was involved, but the consequences for Nick and his family have been immense. He was in hospital for months. At first Nick was wheelchair bound. Slowly, slowly, he's getting his independence back. He's now up and about - walking and talking and cracking jokes, but his injuries were serious - apart from the ones to his body, his brain injury means his short term memory is impaired. Before the accident, Nick was a bar manager, and independence for him means getting back his old job. That's what keeps him going. But will he manage it? From brain injury rehab unit, to sheltered accommodation and then back to living with his mum, his greatest champion - he's a man on a mission: to get his life back. But the road of progress is long and winding and Nick is impatient. Produced in Bristol, by Jo Dwyer.

Grace Dent follows 23 year old Koye as he weighs up whether to abandon his homegrown fashion label for a corporate job in the City of London. Koye's Nigerian parents - who've spent a fortune on his education - are desperately keen for him to get a job in the City. But Koye himself is torn. He's also the sole force behind successful African street wear brand Mojo Kojo. This is where his heart truly lies. We follow him as he goes through the gruelling process of applying for City graduate schemes and confronts the possibility of leaving behind the business he's worked so hard to establish. Producer: Mariana Des Forges Original music by Mina.

A local radio journalist is celebrating her silver wedding anniversary when she picks up her microphone and starts to record. The police have decided they have enough evidence to take the entertainer Rolf Harris to court and they want her to testify. Can she do it, should she do it, would she be believed? As a child, Karen Gardner was a huge Rolf Harris fan. And at 16, she volunteers to help look after him during the recording of an ITV show, Star Games. It is then that she says he assaulted her. But if this goes to trial how will she prove it? Assault cases are often very difficult to prove and hang on one person's word against another. Although Karen has experience with the court process, she is totally unprepared for the year ahead. Friends don't want to talk about it, it is difficult at work, and then family say they don't believe her. This is not a re-examination of the evidence, but one woman's story as she heads towards the court. The programme culminates in the trial of May 2017 when Rolf Harris is cleared of all the four sex assault charges. Narrated by Grace Dent and produced by Sarah Bowen.

Corpus Christi Church in Oldham and its parish priest Father Heakin face an uncertain future. The Diocese of Salford proposes to close a quarter of its churches and Corpus Christi is on the shortlist. Due to a shortage of priests and lack of attendance in certain parishes, the Bishop calls it "pruning for growth". The parishioners are fighting the decision. Father Dermot Heakin (also a windsurfer and a musician) leads a busy parish life. We follow him around the community on his pastoral activities. But as Christmas approaches, apprehension grows as both priest and congregation await the Bishop's final verdict about the future of their church. Grace Dent presents Producer Neil McCarthy.

Grace Dent follows Miguel Marcus Almeida who has always dreamed of making luxury, British designer shoes and selling them to global markets like Japan and the US. But with no financial backing and no family lineage, he's a tiny fish in a massive pond. Can he really pull this off? He's always loved shoes, a passion he's had since childhood. Growing up on a council estate in London, he said he didn't have much but it was his grandfather who instilled in him his love of shoes and told him that a man is "measured by his shoes". Miguel has now been given his biggest break. He has been asked to design some men's shoes by an agent in Japan, the world's biggest consumer of British luxury brands. But he's under pressure. At the same time, he's getting a collection of shoes ready to showcase in Florence, at one of the most prestigious international men's fashion shows. Here, he'll have the opportunity to meet buyers from around the world and there's a chance he might even meet his prospective Japanese buyers who could take a chance and invest in this little known shoemaker. Can this dreamer who dreams big really crack this? Producer in Bristol: Perminder Khatkar.

A father faces eviction after the house he's lived in for 20 years becomes the final marriage asset to be divided in his daughter's divorce settlement. He's 81 and frail; he suffers from emphysema. But he's independent and wants to die in the place he knows as home. His daughter has decided she won't tell him - she worries the news would kill him. Instead she must find a way to secure the house and his future in it. She hopes he'll never know how close he was to losing it.

Grace Dent follows Doncaster businessman Eddie Todd in his colourful campaign to be the town's Mayor. Rejecting traditional politics, Eddie's standing as an independent - but without a party machine behind him can he convince enough voters to put a cross next to his name? Eddie starts his campaign with high hopes but as 4 May approaches he realises he's got a mountain to climb. We're with Eddie from the moment he unpacks his megaphones right through to the nail biting tension of election night and those all important results. Producer: Laurence Grissell.

Can Duncan and Sian, a doctor husband and wife team, save their surgery from closure? Duncan and Sian Shaw are both GPs. They live in Bournemouth with their young family and, for fourteen years, have been based at the same surgery, working hard for the thousands of patients on their list. But, like the situation facing many GP surgeries in the country, things have become critical: in the last three years, several doctors have resigned and Duncan and Sian have not been able to recruit new ones. When they started at the surgery it had eight doctors; now it has five, and soon there will be just three. It's no longer viable. They are at crisis point. Can they save the surgery? Or will they have to sell up and walk away, leaving 10,000 patients to find another GP? Producer in Bristol: Karen Gregor.

At the beginning of November, an advert appeared on the lost and found section of a well-known website. Amongst the pictures of misplaced iPads, recovered wedding rings and lost drones, was a photo of a smiling young man, holding a new-born baby. 'Father and partner missing', it said. Zack's in his late 20s. He has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. On medication, he has it mostly under control. He and his girlfriend Kirsty had just moved into a new flat and become proud parents of their first child together. Life, they thought, was good. But one day in early November, on their five year anniversary and when the baby was just 5 weeks old, Zack left for work and never came home. Producer: Georgia Catt.

At the beginning of November, an advert appeared on the lost and found section of a well-known website. Amongst the pictures of misplaced iPads, recovered wedding rings and lost drones, was a photo of a smiling young man, holding a new-born baby. 'Father and partner missing', it said. Zack's in his late 20s. He has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. On medication, he has it mostly under control. He and his girlfriend Kirsty had just moved into a new flat and become proud parents of their first child together. Life, they thought, was good. But one day in early November, on their five year anniversary and when the baby was just 5 weeks old, Zack left for work and never came home. Producer: Georgia Catt.

At the beginning of November, an advert appeared on the lost and found section of a well-known website. Amongst the pictures of misplaced iPads, recovered wedding rings and lost drones, was a photo of a smiling young man, holding a new-born baby. 'Father and partner missing', it said. Zack's in his late 20s. He has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. On medication, he has it mostly under control. He and his girlfriend Kirsty had just moved into a new flat and become proud parents of their first child together. Life, they thought, was good. But one day in early November, on their five year anniversary and when the baby was just 5 weeks old, Zack left for work and never came home. Producer: Georgia Catt.

At the beginning of November, an advert appeared on the lost and found section of a well-known website. Amongst the pictures of misplaced iPads, recovered wedding rings and lost drones, was a photo of a smiling young man, holding a new-born baby. 'Father and partner missing', it said. Zack's in his late 20s. He has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. On medication, he has it mostly under control. He and his girlfriend Kirsty had just moved into a new flat and become proud parents of their first child together. Life, they thought, was good. But one day in early November, on their five year anniversary and when the baby was just 5 weeks old, Zack left for work and never came home. Producer: Georgia Catt.

At the beginning of November, an advert appeared on the lost and found section of a well-known website. Amongst the pictures of misplaced iPads, recovered wedding rings and lost drones, was a photo of a smiling young man, holding a new-born baby. 'Father and partner missing', it said. Zack's in his late 20s. He has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. On medication, he has it mostly under control. He and his girlfriend Kirsty had just moved into a new flat and become proud parents of their first child together. Life, they thought, was good. But one day in early November, on their five year anniversary and when the baby was just 5 weeks old, Zack left for work and never came home. Producer: Georgia Catt.

Irene is 73. She has severe kidney failure. She is frail, and walks with a stick. And she may be about to be deported. Grace Dent gets inside the complex deportation process with a family stuck right in the middle of it, through the highs and the lows, the emotional turmoil, the applications and appeals and the long monotonous waiting. Grandmother Irene first came to the UK 4 years ago, in 2012, to visit her family. She travelled from South Africa on a 6 month tourist visa and settled in at the family home in North Bristol. Soon after arriving however she fell ill, was rushed to hospital, and was put on emergency dialysis for acute renal failure. This treatment is keeping her alive, and it is all being provided by the NHS. Her family are British. But Irene is not. So she is here illegally, and there's no guarantee she can stay. This is the story of a short drive to a police station and a meeting with immigration officers, in which the future of a family hangs in the balance. Produced in Bristol by Emily Knight.

David is a hoarder and lives alone in a house in south Belfast that's reached gridlock. Rooms are filled with his accumulated belongings and doors won't open against piles of furniture and random possessions. He hasn't dusted for years, hasn't had any form of central heating for longer and won't let anyone come round for a visit - not even members of his own family. Now David has discovered the house has a potentially devastating case of dry rot. Floors and ceilings may be in danger of collapsing but with all his piles of stuff, dealing with it is a far from straight-forward process. Will the dry-rot be the catalyst that lets David break the hoarding habit of a lifetime? And will he be able to invite his daughter Ruth into the house for the first time in years? Presenter: Grace Dent Producer: Conor Garrett.

Charlotte and husband Ian really want a baby, but she has epilepsy and pregnancy is likely to be fraught with difficulties. There is a balancing act between drugs that will keep Charlotte seizure-free but can pose risks to her unborn child. And if all goes well, then even after the birth, Charlotte has been advised that she will need to be careful: she's been told it's best she doesn't hold her baby when she's alone. For example, she should feed the baby on the floor and when she needs to go upstairs, carry her baby up and down in a secure car-seat. Even the pram she's going to use has a dead-man's brake, in case she has a seizure while out and about. Charlotte has had epilepsy since she was eleven years old, and her seizures meant she had to leave University and has been unable to hold down a job. But Charlotte is determined to have a baby, and says: ' I won't let epilepsy take away my chance to be a mother.' Producer in Bristol: Sara Conkey.

With unique access to Craig and the team working with him in Forest Bank, Producer Sue Mitchell records for six months before the October release date. Drug worker Paul Curran helps Craig navigate some of the issues behind his heroin and cocaine use and equips him with new ways of coping with the pressures he might face when he's free. He is now 36 and has been in and out of custody for most of his life, starting with an eight year sentence when he was just seventeen. Forest Bank, on the outskirts of Manchester, prides itself on the close links between the drug unit in the prison and the community team ready to take over on release. Craig's partner has had enough of raising three children on her own and wants him to finally get settled: some of the work involves family meetings as the couple discuss what life might be like. Another strong element rests with two former prisoners, themselves ex-addicts, who now work mentoring Craig and others as they detox on the wing and embark on therapy and group work. The recordings reveal the struggle Craig faced following the murder of his older brother and how drugs became his way of coping with the pain. On his last release he was doing well until he lost his job and after that things quickly deteriorated. This time round he feels better able to cope with knock-backs and is working on his temper, his expectations and how his hopes for a normal life can be realised. As his release date draws near listeners are taken into his cell as he packs and waits: will this be the time he finally manages to start his life in earnest.

A mobile food van takes on a catering giant at a Wiltshire army base. Linda and Jacqui Clark have been serving bacon baps to the soldiers of Larkhill Barracks in Wiltshire for 27 years. Now they've been given their marching orders as the army's official caterers launch their own van. 8000 soldiers have signed a petition in support of Katie's Kitchen - but will top brass take notice and grant Katie's Kitchen a last minute reprieve? Producer: Laurence Grissell.

Grace Dent follows BHS worker Anthony as he hunts for a new job - one of 11,000 BHS staff made redundant in 2016. The story starts in August as BHS Cardiff Bay closes its doors for the last time. Furniture sales consultant Anthony resolves to leave retail and find a job with more sociable hours. But the 50 year old finds changing direction is more difficult than he'd hoped. Producer: Laurence Grissell.

At a garden centre in Derbyshire, marketing manager Ben needs six Santas and two dozen elves to staff his Christmas grotto. Plus two Mrs Clauses. He's spent a fortune on what he hopes is the biggest, best garden centre grotto in the region, and needs the customers to have a satisfying 90 minute Santa experience. But good Santas are hard to come by. He's had to offer a Santa finder's fee and even approach Santa agencies. Will he pull it off? Presenter: Grace Dent Producer: Jolyon Jenkins.

As you drive into Bridgwater, a sign reads "The home of Carnival". The town prides itself on being the oldest and biggest carnival in Europe, and it's the biggest event of the year. For hundreds of years they've held a carnival here. This is an industrial town - a town full of engineers and tradesmen - and this is their creative outlet. Every November, thousands of people flock to see the show of carts come through the town centre. Enormous moving feats of electrical engineering, which are covered in lights and animatronics. At the end of it, one cart will be crowned winner of the Ker Cup - the most prestigious prize at the carnival. Alan Windsor, or Winds, is our guide. Born and bred in Bridgwater, Alan is captain of the Marketeers carnival club. All year round they fundraise and build towards the big night. They're known as the Bridesmaids - the club that always come second. Across the industrial estate are their arch rivals - if you want to win, you have to beat the Gremlins. They've won 23 of the last 31 carnivals - and for those 31 years, the Marketeers have consistently been on their tails. This year, the Marketeers are building something special: a 100ft space machine, covered in 250,000 LED lights - "nothing like this has ever been seen on the streets of Bridgwater before." Could this year be the year that the Marketeers’ luck changes and they beat the Gremlins to the Ker Cup? This is a story of dedication, loyalty - and never giving up. Producer: Polly Weston

Grace Dent tells the story of a maverick lawyer and his attempt to win asylum for a Pakistani man who says that - because he's gay - he will be persecuted if returned to Pakistan. Mike McGarvey is the lawyer: He's eccentric, disorganised and very dyslexic; he failed at school and didn't pursue education until his adult years. He runs his own business which is based in a small suite of offices near the main station in Cardiff. One wall in his office has a distinctive collage of pictures from Disney, Star Wars and the Blues Brothers: things that are 'designed to cheer me up' because 'nearly everyone who comes here tells you they're going to be killed'. We follow Mike for five months as he tries to find ways to prove that his client is indeed gay. This involves mining his phone for evidence of activity on gay dating sites, and seeking witnesses who will be prepared to say in court that they had a relationship with him. Producer: Karen Gregor.

Kira is an 18 year old Gloucester teenager who has just got her A level grades. The only girl from her school to be offered a place at Cambridge University, Kira is meant to be off to read history at the end of September. But she is a carer for Rachel, her mum. Rachel is bipolar, diabetic and arthritic. Virtually bedroom bound, she is heavily dependent upon Kira. Although hugely proud of her daughter, Rachel is not sure how she will cope if her daughter leaves. Kira is keen for a new start. Perceived to be the poor kid at school, her teenage years were not particularly happy. And caring each evening for her mum, means parties, sleepovers and teenage freedoms have somewhat passed her by. But Kira is consumed by worry and guilt. Can she find a way to leave her mother and if she did, would she actually enjoy life as a Cambridge undergraduate? Narrated by Grace Dent and produced by Sarah Bowen.

17-year old Rachel Carstairs speaks and sings in Doric. It's a dialect not commonly used outside Rachel's native north-east Scotland, but she has grown up unusually steeped in local folk traditions. She started singing the area's unique traditional farm-worker's songs, known as 'Bothy Ballads', aged just 4, when she entered a music festival competition. This is why her music teachers now see her as an exciting 'tradition bearer'; with the potential to be a leading voice in the Scottish folk scene's next generation. But before that can happen, she has just 15-minutes to impress an audition panel at the world renowned Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Will she take her place at Scottish traditional music's top table? Producer: Dave Howard.

Rob Lawrie first met four year old Bru and her father when he volunteered at the Calais jungle. He ended up on trial in a French court after being arrested trying to get the girl to her relatives in Leeds. With the jungle demolished his search to find out what's happened to them takes him to the streets of Paris. There are thousands of refugees sleeping rough in Paris and as the police step up their efforts to clear the makeshift camps from the streets, Rob Lawrie focuses on the Afghan refugees, finding out what's been happening to them and also whether they know where Bru and her Dad have ended up. The Untold first reported on Rob Lawrie's work with the refugees earlier this year, with listeners alongside him as he awaited trial in France. He was given a suspended sentence following his attempt to smuggle Bru across the border in his van. He had been taking donations of clothes to the Calais jungle and her father had begged him to take the little girl to relatives living close to his own home in Leeds. Listeners moved by the story sent in money and letters of support for Bru and her Dad, who described their long trek to safety after fleeing Afghanistan. In Paris Rob hears from many others who have made that same journey, including Ali, who lost his leg in a Taliban bomb blast. He describes being wedged into a small gap under a lorry and travelling for 36 hours just inches from the ground. He, along with so many others, are now waiting to see what happens next as Europe wrestles with the growing refugee crisis.

Twenty three year old May Brown needs a bone marrow transplant to survive: her sister's a perfect match but she lives in Nigeria and has been refused a visitors visa to enter the UK. For May and her husband, Mike, the Home Office decision is a huge set-back. They had their hopes resting on the transplant and fear what will happen next. There are no other matches for May on the register kept by the African and Caribbean Leukaemia Trust, where staff have mounted a social media campaign to challenge the Government's decision. The Home Office reasoning is that May's sister, Martha, doesn't meet the income threshold for a visitor's visa - as a teacher her wages are only around £200 a month. For Orin Lewis, from the ACLT, this overlooks the compassionate grounds which he is urging the Minister to take into account. Grace Dent tracks May's private fight against acute myeloid leukaemia alongside the public pressure for a reversal of the decision May is in an isolation unit in the hospital at the start of the recordings and hasn't seen her two year old daughter, Selina, for three months. With her chemotherapy underway she is discharged to be seen as an outpatient and goes back to Weymouth to be with Mike and Selina. The couple's marriage was investigated for more than two years before immigration officers were satisfied that it was genuine. Now it's another waiting game as the case for allowing Martha in is reconsidered: Grace Dent tracks what happens next.

Grace Dent follows Untold listener Shirley as she tries to find out the exact circumstances of her estranged son's death from drinks and drugs. Shirley had just arrived at work when she got a phone call which changed her life - the student finance company wanted her son's death certificate for their records. Six months previously Ben, who was sleeping rough, had disappeared - but Shirley had no idea he'd died. Shirley needs to know more about her son's death. Three years on, she hopes to meet the rough sleeper who was with him when he died - and visit the drop-in centre which tried to help him. Producer: Sara Parker.

Mark Godwin has a problem. "A lot of the animals don't really like me. I'm usually the bad news person - if something bad's going to happen, I turn up." Head keeper at the Cotswold Wildlife Park, he wears sunglasses to avoid upsetting the wolverines, the zebras and the giraffes he sometimes has to dart. There's one lioness who would love to have him for lunch. The rhinos do seem to like him, but now he has to move one of them on the back of lorry around the M25. Astrid is a celebrity rhino, a bit of a diva they say. When she was born even the Prime Minister came to pay his respects. But now Astrid is three years old she has to be moved, or her dad Monty could try to mount her. But Astrid won't even go in her crate. Grace Dent introduces a zoo tale with a difference, featuring a blunt speaking keeper just trying to do his job. The producer is Miles Warde.

With Grace Dent. Since leaving the army, John’s never slept in his bed. He barely sleeps at all, but when he does, it’s on the floor of the living room in the sheltered accommodation for army veterans suffering post-traumatic stress disorder - PTSD. Now it’s closing. And John has no idea what to do. He fears he could end up on the streets. John left school at 16 and trained as a bricklayer, but after a fortnight of work being rained off and his girlfriend breaking up with him, he headed to the army careers office to sign up. He was 18 and went on to serve in Northern Ireland and both Gulf wars. It’s been 20 years since he left, but he hasn’t been able to move on. Like the other war veterans in the house in Wolverhampton where he lives, PTSD has scarred his life. In the past decade he has shut out friends and family. Panic attacks, injuries sustained in service and drug addiction have left him unable to work, and he has served prison sentences. And now he is about to lose his home – purpose-built accommodation for army veterans with mental health issues. He fears he’ll end up on the streets. Grace Dent follows John as he tries to arrange somewhere to live, and as he makes the first tentative steps towards reconnecting with old friends and family, seeking help, and starting to live again. Producer Georgia Catt

In the Northumberland fishing village of Newbiggin by the Sea, local ice cream van owner Tommy Brash has lost the prime spot in the car park for selling ice creams. The council put it out to tender, and the tender was won by 'foreigners'. Variously described as Polish and then Iraqi, it seems no one actually knows who they are, and they've kept a low profile since winning the tender, even though the news made the headlines. A local petition is launched to get Tommy's patch back, a march is held, but the newcomers are staying. Tracking them down for this programme, we discover who the new ice cream sellers really are and follow them over the summer as they battle local hostility, rain, Brexit and health issues. As they prepare for Newbiggin's big annual event, the Lifeboat fund-raiser - a sure-fire money-spinner, will they finally make their new business a success and will they get the welcome they're looking for? Grace Dent presents. Producer: Alice Lloyd.

Sherrie Smith, a florist and Romany Gypsy from Hertford, wants to take the first ever UK Gypsy and Traveller group to an annual Holocaust memorial event at Auschwitz-Birkenau. She sees it as vital for getting up to half a million Roma deaths more widely acknowledged, and - by extension - improving the lives of modern day Gypsies and Travellers. But the cost of flights has tripled and Sherrie's meagre budget means it might no longer be possible. Can she raise the extra funds to get the trip back on track? Grace Dent follows her story. Producer Dave Howard.

Paddy Davison is 77 years old and possibly the oldest rowing coxswain in the country. He's also never rowed a stroke in his life, and only discovered the sport five years ago. Despite the late start, he commands a crew of eight ladies at the City of Bristol Rowing Club and is desperately hoping for success at this year's Henley Women's Regatta. But this isn't really a story of a rowing race. This is a tale of recovery from grief, and how teamwork and friendship can be a powerful salve. Paddy lost his wife, Jules, nearly two years ago in sudden and unexpected circumstances. It knocked him for six. But his 'rowing girls' have been there for him, and are helping him get his life back on track. Grace Dent presents. Producer: Karen Gregor.

Grace Dent tells the story of a white-collar-criminal's pregnant fiancée, trying to organise their prison wedding. When Veronica's partner - a successful businessman - was sent to prison for what is sometimes called a 'white-collar crime', she was pregnant with his child. On her first visit to him behind bars, he proposed. At a time of such uncertainty the prospect of marriage was something that kept them united. But they want the marriage to take place before the birth of the baby - just 9 weeks away. And they're not even sure if it's possible to get married in a prison at all. Producer: Georgia Catt.

A headteacher's fate hangs in the balance as she awaits a visit from a school inspector. When Sue Vermes became headteacher of struggling Rose Hill Primary School less than two years ago, she hoped to reverse its fortunes. Instead, an Ofsted inspector labelled the Oxford school 'inadequate' and placed it into so-called 'Special Measures'. Now Sue's future is in question as she awaits the verdict of a follow-up visit by Ofsted. Have Sue and her team done enough to arrest the school's decline? Producer: Laurence Grissell.

The idea for a guest house came after Phillida and Christopher Purvis spent time travelling with charities working in the Nilgiri Hills. They had heard Indian community leader, Stan Thekaekara when he gave a guest presentation at Oxford University's Said Business School and were impressed by the work he was doing. He and his wife Mari have been alongside the Adivasi community in the Nilgiri Hills for more than three decades, working with those living in more than 300 villages and settlements stretching over a 40 mile radius. They set up a charity to help tribal villagers reclaim land and businesses to trade in tea and honey, for example. They have also overseen new community provisions, including a school and a well-regarded hospital. As a former merchant banker Christopher already had experience of working abroad and being thrown in at the deep end. He had overseen the setting up of Warburg's Tokyo branch and it was in Japan that he and Phillida met. When he retired from banking he turned his hand to charity work, opening the Handel House Museum in London and working to help disadvantaged youngsters get into University and adjust to life there. He and Phillida decided to commit to sustained periods of volunteering in India with Stan and his community. They also thought that some of their retired friends might also like to help and the idea of the guest house was born. The couple have put in a third of the money needed to buy the land and build the guest house and are lending a further third to the charity they've set up to oversee things. They want to raise the last £100,000 from friends and people they know, in part because it signifies a commitment and desire to join the venture. As Grace Dent hears, this will enable people with a range of skills can join together to help and it will also be fun sharing the guest house with like-minded people. There will be terraces, an area for yoga and even for Ayurveda medicine and meals will be specially prepared in the purpose built kitchens. The unveiling of the idea to friends is met with a mixed response: on the one hand some are happy to commit to the kind of time share arrangement proposed, with £6,000 securing a month's stay every year for a decade. Others are more reluctant without visiting first and instead offer donations to help get things started. With the Monsoon fast approaching the work on clearing the land needs to start for things to be up and running on time. The rallying of the uncommitted begins in earnest and Grace Dent follows what happens Produced by Susan Mitchell.

Teenagers Mohammed and Jess are both auditioning for the National Youth Theatre - with just a one in ten chance of success. And the stakes are especially high for them, because they're a couple. Both are desperate to progress with their acting careers: Jess won a drama scholarship to her boarding school, while Mohammed attends a performing arts Academy. Grace Dent follows their story, from the auditions to the nail-biting wait on results day.

Lister has taken redundancy, sold his home - a narrowboat - and is trying to make it as a professional poker player. His aim is to go to Las Vegas. But a run of bad luck has put him in "tilt" - the mental problem that can affect poker players when their luck goes bad and they start to play badly as a reaction. Can he get his head straight and start winning again? Maybe, with the intervention of a top poker psychologist. Presenter: Grace Dent Producer: Jolyon Jenkins

Grace Dent follows 21-year-old footballer Brandon Coleman, who is hoping to get his first cap for England. Brandon is a typical 21-year-old. He's good looking, says "like" a lot, and takes a great interest in girls, and drum and bass music. Then there's football. He loves football. Not just watching, but playing too. His coaches say he's a "freak". They've never seen anyone train as hard as him before. Grace Dent follows him in the run up to England's match against France in May - will Brandon make the grade? It's been a long road for Brandon to get here. Four years ago, aged 17, he was in and out of work, and getting into trouble. Then, suddenly, his eye sight began to deteriorate. Six weeks later, he was blind. After trying to pretend his situation wasn't real, he eventually enrolled at the Royal National College for the Blind in Hereford, where he learnt to play football. Just eighteen months later, he's been training with England's blind football team, and if he can make the grade, he'll be getting his first cap for England. The team suffered a bitter defeat at the euros on their home turf last year - depriving them of a place in this year's paralympics. Brandon's first match will also be the team's first game together since then. England manager, Jonathan Pugh, has to pull the team back together again - and Brandon is part of the plan. Producer: Polly Weston.

Grace Dent tells the story of an 82 year old sailor, forced to rebuild his life from scratch after a disaster at sea leaves him with nothing. From the Norwegian lifeboat that had plucked him from the waves, 82 year old Julian watched his uninsured sailing boat that was his home sink to the bottom of the North Sea - with it, all of his belongings. For most of his life he had lived conventionally - working as an architect, bringing up children - but in the back of his mind was always the feeling there was more to life. Taking early retirement he put all his money into pursuing his dream - sailing. Living on a 26 foot boat, he circumnavigated the globe, visiting some of the wildest places of the world. Forced back on land, with no home or belongings, Julian must pause and reflect on what he wants from life. As he considers whether he is too old to continue the nomadic seafaring lifestyle that is his dream, he also faces up to something he has been putting off for decades - how to reconnect with the daughter he has not seen since a bitter divorce 30 years before. Producer Georgia Catt.

Grace Dent tells the story of Deborah, a dynamic barbershop singer, in the lead up to the biggest competition of the year. Deborah loves her family, her dog and, possibly most of all, barbershop singing. She would drive hundreds of miles each week to sing in the best choruses in southern England. Now living in Christchurch, she sings with Wessex Harmony and music runs through the fabric of the house; her husband directs her current chorus, her daughter sings in her barbershop quartet and her desk drawers are stuffed with singing medals. Once a year the Ladies Association of British Barbershop Singers holds a convention to find the country's most talented chorus. Over two thousand women in sparkling outfits and identical makeup and jewellery, are pitted against each other. And Deborah starts to plan for this wonderful weekend a year ahead. But in May she finds a lump on her breast. It is cancer. Grace follows her through the year, looking at what Deborah is prepared to do to compete, the risks she wants to take, the sacrifices the family are prepared to make and asks what happens if she doesn't get there. Producer: Sarah Bowen.

Grace Dent follows the story of a fourth generation Herefordshire beef farmer during his most stressful time: the TB Test. Matthew Oliver wants to sell around fifteen cattle at a local market, but to do this they have to be free of TB. It's a nervy time both for Matthew and his 87 year old mother - they have failed the test before. If the TB test is positive, cattle movement is banned for 120 days, the affected animals all culled. The farm, set up by his great grandfather in 1892, is in a high-risk area and Matthew knows local farmers who have never been free of TB; one neighbour was forced to leave farming altogether. So the stakes are high for Matthew, and the future of his family farm. Producer: Karen Gregor

Mandy was shocked to discover how much the funeral for her ex-husband was going to cost. But she was also determined that her three children should not be forced to carry the cost alone. Matt the eldest is her carer, and legally liable for all costs, but his carer's allowance was never going to cover the costs - embalming, cremation, flowers, the hearse. So the idea of a fundraising day at the local pub slowly emerged. But despite the best efforts of the community, Mandy and Matt still struggle to settle the bill. And more bills keep coming in. Grace Dent presents one family's struggle to grieve for their dead father while dealing with the spiralling price of his death. The producer is Miles Warde.

Salma is having a baby, but as the due date draws near she's forced to confront unresolved issues with her last pregnancy: her baby was born with Down's syndrome and she's yet to tell her in-laws. Grace Dent follows what happens. The shock of the diagnosis and the way Salma was given the news contributed to a long period of struggle and shame. As she reveals in The Untold, she was fearful of letting others know what had happened and to this day she's still not been able to bring herself to tell her in-laws. For the first few months she didn't even tell her own parents as she feared that others would see her responsible and would feel differently about her, her husband and their children. Following the diagnosis she lost confidence, wouldn't go out in public and cried constantly. The turning point came after a chance meeting with another Asian Mum whose son also has Down's syndrome. Soon Mariam had introduced her to a third mother in the same position, Bilkish, and the three women have formed a strong friendship. Producer: Sue Mitchell.

Grace Dent tells the story of a clash between a bestselling author and a millionaire hotel developer in the idyllic setting of Babbacombe Bay. Millionaire businessman Peter de Savary has applied to build a car park on the hill overlooking Torquay's picturesque Babbacombe Bay. The car park would service the expansion of the Cary Arms, a luxury hotel on the bay. The car park is opposed by million selling author Lesley Pearse along with a number of other local residents, who mount a vocal campaign against the plan. The decision will be made at an all-important meeting of the council's planning committee. As crucial vote approaches, which side will emerge victorious? Producer: Laurence Grissell.

In the first of a new series of The Untold Grace Dent looks at the case and asks what you would have done? Bahar and her Dad, Reza, fled from the Taliban in Afghanistan and made the journey across Europe to reach Calais. They have relatives in Leeds and had struck up a friendship with Rob Lawrie when he was working in the camp as a volunteer. At the end of his time there they begged for help and he agreed to put the little girl in the cabin of his lorry. His actions were foiled when sniffer dogs at the border found two Eritrean men who, unknown to him, had stowed in the back of his van. He faced a prison sentence of up to five years following his arrest. Producer Sue Mitchell has been alongside him following his return from France. The January court hearing in Bologna was a media frenzy, with people across the world debating the rights and wrongs of his actions. He was found guilty of 'child endangerment' for his attempt to smuggle Bahar into Britain and was given a suspended fine of 1,000 Euros. But he has paid a heavy price for his actions on many fronts: his wife has left him, taking the four children with her and he now faces the task of rebuilding his own life whilst also trying to help Bahar and Reza reach Britain He has struggled to cope and on his return he attempts suicide. He sold his carpet cleaning business to go to France, a move he took after seeing the images of three year old Syrian refugee Alan Kurdi. Because he was in care as a child he wanted to try and help other children neglected by the system. He has bi-polar disorder and staying well is difficult, but what eventually helps is the huge swell of public opinion in favour of his actions, with many well-wishers spurring him on and sending donations for those in the camps. This interest in his story and the prominence it gives to child refugees has sparked interest from Hollywood and longer term there might well be a movie. But for now there are these recordings, made in the weeks following his return home as he contemplates his future and shares his story with the Untold, which is presented by Grace Dent. Produced by Sue Mitchell.

The British steel industry is in meltdown. But one person believes he has worked out how to make it profitable, and he's investing millions. Grace Dent and her producer zoom in on events to try and discover his secret. At stake are thousands of jobs, so does Sanjeev have what it takes to make British steel rise again? Producer: Melvin Rickarby.

Grace Dent presents untold stories of modern Britain. Today, a tale of homelessness in Poole as we follow the life of Mel. From a career in high finance, Mel has ended up sleeping rough in the stairwell of a multi storey car park. We follow her daily - and nightly - routine as she tries to survive with no fixed abode. Events conspire to raise the stakes for Mel and the need for a roof over her head becomes more urgent than ever. Producer Neil McCarthy.

Grace Dent presents a new series documenting the untold stories of 21st century Britain. Today she follows the Gold Man of Farnworth market as he tries to save his business. John Hill is a gold trader who set up a stall at a traditional market, in Farnworth near Bolton, six years ago. He is a big character who isn't afraid to fight for what he believes in. John turned his back on an IT career to run his own stall and has led the battle to keep the traditional market going but now the local Council has written to John and his fellow traders to tell them their time is up: February 26th is their last day. John has consistently come up with alternative plans to keep the market going but, right now, it looks as if he will be the last man fighting. He needs a new site to keep his tribe of traders together but that means getting the council's permission and the other traders on side. Grace Dent wants to know if John can persuade them to go with him as he searches for hope, even at the 11th hour. Producer: Karen Gregor.

Grace Dent presents untold stories of 21st century Britain. After a week-long fling with a girl he met on Tagged, 21 year old Thomas is shocked to hear she is pregnant. He stands up to the mark, offering support and going with her to the scans, but she suddenly cuts off all communication. She doesn’t return his calls or messages and Thomas can only guess what is going on. Has he done something wrong? Does she just want to do this on her own? The ex- boyfriend has moved back so perhaps the child isn’t actually his? In October he sees a baby girl being pushed around town. He sees her photos on Facebook. He knows his life will change forever if he is found to be the father, but Thomas can’t cope with not knowing. He is going to court to force a DNA test to find out one way or another. Producer: Sarah Bowen

Grace Dent follows pop star and mum Stacey Jackson as she launches a career in business. Stacey Jackson is no ordinary working mum - she's a successful pop star with a very wealthy husband. But for Stacey, that's not enough. She's about to launch a career in business. Why does she keep chasing new dreams when she already has all the money anyone could wish for? Producer: Sara Parker.

Grace Dent presents untold stories of 21st century Britain. Young black film director Michael Jenkins is making a film about Padstow's Darkie Day. It's a long standing tradition where local residents black up their faces and process through the streets singing and dancing. The locals are defensive about their celebration which is part of their Cornish identity. Despite what outsiders think they say it has no racial overtones, but they did change the name to Mummers Day after complaints prompted MP Diane Abbott to call for the festival to be stopped. As a young Black British man Michael wants to experience it for himself and capture it on film. Will any of the town's residents accept his invitation to sit down and have an honest conversation with him about Darkie Day's origins and meaning? Is political correctness making it worse? This is a story where modern Britain meets medieval history in a clash of cultures. Producer: Maggie Ayre.

Laurence Bolwell has been dressing as David Bowie and singing his songs on stage for 18 years. One Monday morning, early in January, he hears the news that his idol has died. That Friday night, he is due on stage with his act in a theatre in Carmarthen. Grace Dent tells the story of Laurence's week, and finds out what it's like to be a tribute artist the day your hero dies. Producer: Chris Ledgard.

Grace Dent tells the story of Jean, 73, who's being harassed by her 80 year old estranged husband, George. After over 40 arrests, a judge must decide whether George's actions are the result of dementia. Jean and George finally split up in early 2015 after nine years of unhappy marriage. But for George, that wasn't the end of their relationship. For months, George has been harassing Jean: writing her love letters, verbally abusing her and coming to her flat trying to gain entry. Jean now feels like a prisoner in her own home, scared to go out alone. Despite over 40 arrests, George won't keep away. As the day of George's court appearance approaches, a judge must weigh up whether George's actions are deliberate or if they stem from dementia. Producer: Laurence Grissell.

In July last year, veteran Bristol DJ, Derek Serpell-Morris, known as "DJ Derek", went missing. He was last seen on CCTV camera leaving a pub, but after that, nothing. He might as well have vanished into thin air. His great niece, Jennifer Griffiths, used to be his PR manager, and for the last six months she has been the public face of the campaign to find Derek. Over those months, we follow Jennifer as she goes through the cycles of hope and despair, following leads that go nowhere and clues that seem to mean either everything or nothing. It's a detective story, but one where the final chapter is still unwritten. What does it do to a family to live with such uncertainty? Presenter: Grace Dent Producer: Jolyon Jenkins and Polly Weston.

Grace Dent documents the untold dramas of 21st century Britain. Boxing Day, 7.30am: flood sirens sounded in Todmorden, West Yorkshire. As the waters rose rapidly, Mandy and Paul faced a unique rescue mission. They share their terraced house on the outskirts of Todmorden with their student daughter, her boyfriend, three dogs, four cats and 27 tortoises. The Untold follows them as they attempt to meet their first objective: getting one room clear of the water so that they can close the door on the chaos in the house and take stock. Sharing this one room with their many pets, they face numerous challenges. The town is cut off, roads are closed, they have elderly relatives in need of care, and a baby tortoise in need of emergency treatment, after it was stepped on in the chaos. Mandy also stands in the road, asking drivers to quell their speed: moving vehicles create waves which add to the water in the house. As the rain eases, The Untold finds out how Mandy and Paul try to restore some normality to their world under water. Producer Sue Mitchell.

Grace Dent presents a new series documenting the untold stories of 21st century Britain. Langport in Somerset has a secret. Not a dark secret, quite a happy one really - a dance competition to blow away the winter blues. Grace Dent and her producer zoom in on events and discover a classic tale of good vs evil - a sparky 70 year old widow called Mo doing the salsa; and opposing her a tango-ing video technician called Ferg. At stake, a small silver trophy and eternal local glory. So who will win Strictly Come Langport this year? The producer is Miles Warde

Grace Dent presents a new series documenting the untold dramas of 21st century Britain. The stakes couldn't be higher for 26 year old Steve: he needs to prove he's quit gambling by Christmas in order to move back in with his partner and two kids. Steve and Stacey met as teenagers ten years ago but Stacey kicked him out when she discovered he was gambling away thousands of pounds on smartphone apps. Things came to a head when Steve blew his entire wage packet in just one hour - on payday - leading Stacey and their children facing eviction. Steve lost everything - can he win back Stacey's trust in time for a happy Christmas in the family home? Producer: Laurence Grissell.