NEWS & UPDATES
A louder voice for people living with Cerebral Palsy
08 Jul 2024
Have you heard the news? There’s a new podcast that we think you really should listen to. It’s about Cerebral Palsy, by people living with Cerebral Palsy, for people living with Cerebral Palsy.
The Cerebral Palsy Podcast launches on July 15 – you can listen to the trailer here: https://fb.watch/taKiBruNYq/
Listen to The Cerebral Palsy Podcast
| Spotify https://tinyurl.com/2pwwjawj |
iHeart Radio https://tinyurl.com/zp6h24m7 |
| Apple Podcasts https://tinyurl.com/2dd2xvww |
Rova https://tinyurl.com/4wu2c6y9 |
Athletes, adventure junkies, community-minded dads, academics, families and clinicians – The Cerebral Palsy Podcast has it all!
The series is hosted by Kris Edwards, with Nathan Hart as Executive Producer/Researcher. It features members of the Cerebral Palsy Society, among others, talking about their lives, struggles and successes.
Kris, who has spent 37 years working in radio, lives with Cerebral Palsy – Hōkai Nukurangi, and Nathan is dad to a 7-year-old Cerebral Palsy Society member.
With the support of the Society and MediaWorks, the pair have created The Cerebral Palsy Podcast.
Kris, an announcer, programmer and manager for The Breeze Radio Network, is the winner of multiple New Zealand Radio Awards.
“My motivation for starting this podcast came from a realisation that the Cerebral Palsy community (and the disabled community for that matter) needed a louder voice, and that I could literally help by sharing my story and inviting others to do the same thing,” Kris says.
“I was also ready to reconnect with the disabled community after spending my whole adult life being fiercely independent.”
Kris hopes the stories will resonate with listeners.
“However Cerebral Palsy has touched your life, The Cerebral Palsy Podcast will show you other people have faced the same issues as you, that parents have all had that moment when the doctor has delivered the news….and if becoming a Para athlete is your dream that you can do it!
“If I can help even just one person with Cerebral Palsy get through the day, let a parent know they are not on their own or just to say ‘thank you’ to a business that supports us, then The Cerebral Palsy Podcast is a success.”
Kris says he has been “blown away” by the people he has met in the process of recording the series.
“What you will hear is that they are just like you and me.
“You’ll hear some incredibly inspiring stories, like the teenage boy who went from struggling with bullies at school (I had tears in my eyes as he told me about that) to representing us on the Halberg Youth Council, to a family man with Cerebral Palsy who does so much for his local community.”
From left to right: The Cerebral Palsy Society Podcast host Kris Edwards with guests Kurt Peterson, Rorie Poff, Troy Robertson, and with producer Nathan Hart and
Tracey Winstone and her family.
Nathan says until his daughter was diagnosed, he was “completely ignorant” about Cerebral Palsy – Hōkai Nukurangi.
“I had heard of it and knew it was a disability of some sort, but I hadn’t needed to care too much about it because it didn’t affect my day-to-day life.”
Nathan says that now he is a father of a child living with Cerebral Palsy – Hōkai Nukurangi his knowledge, learnings and experiences might be of use to others.
“This is an opportunity to get it out of my head in the hope that it helps someone else.
“The Cerebral Palsy Podcast offers the chance to influence conversations around Cerebral Palsy, and with Kris and I experiencing Cerebral Palsy in different ways we know we can help others by sharing these daily stories, challenges and even joys from different angles.”
Nathan says each of the guests is “inspirational in so many different ways”.
“I’ve loved being better informed, learning simple tips to try at home and being amazed by the courage they show every single day.
“We all approach our challenges differently, so we thought why not create a platform to learn and share with as many people as possible because it’s nice to be reminded that we aren’t alone in this journey,” Nathan says.
Cerebral Palsy Society General Manager Clare Williams is looking forward to the series being heard far and wide.
“Everyone’s experience of living with Cerebral Palsy is different and that’s what makes this podcast so valuable – everyone who listens is going to get something different out of it,” Clare says.
You can read about Kris in this Stuff article https://tinyurl.com/56jezpf5 and listen to him in this Radio NZ interview https://tinyurl.com/j8k6y45y
Follow The Cerebral Palsy Podcast on Facebook.
* A huge thank you must go out to Kris and Nathan for dedicating so much of their time to creating this podcast series and to MediaWorks who kindly donated their studios so Kris and Nathan could record and produce the interviews.
We’d also like to thank all the CP Society members, families and support people who made the time to be interviewed and to share their story. Thank you for being honest, candid, and willing.
For more information:
Melanie Louden
Communications Manager
melanie@cpsociety.org.nz
Mobile: 022 087 819
