In Conversation with Nickie Aiken

I visited the Fair Shot Cafe in Covent Garden, an incredible social enterprise cafe which opened its doors in 2021. Not only do they serve speciality coffee, but they help young people with learning disabilities into the hospitality industry. Founder Bianca Tavella joins me in this episode.

I recently brought together employers and fertility charities to Parliament to discuss the progress we are making on workplace rights for people undergoing fertility treatment.  Millions of people in the UK are struggling with infertility — and they are having to deal with multiple cycles, side effects and complications in silence in the workplace.  In this episode, I speak to Becky Kearns from Fertility Matters at Work and Laura-Rose Thorogood from LGBT Mummies about our Workplace Pledge (almost 50 companies have now voluntarily signed up);  my Parliamentary Bill which aims to give people the right to take time off work for treatment; and what else we need to do to end this issue being taboo in the workplace. If you need information or support, visit: https://fertilitymattersatwork.com or https://lgbtmummies.com

My latest episode comes from the streets of Soho, where I joined PC Andy De Santis on part of his patrol route. Andy is a dedicated police officer for Soho, and we spoke about his work in cutting crime and keeping the community here safe. 

Meet my latest Two Cities Hero — Jane Doyle. Jane has lived in Soho for more than 50 years, and she is Chair of the Soho Safer Neighbourhood Ward panel. Soho has gone through some huge changes in Jane’s half century as a local resident — I'm pleased to be joined by her in this episode from St Anne's Church in the heart of Soho.

Superintendent Beth Pirie joined the Met recently from Hampshire Police, and now leads Westminster's Neighbourhood Policing. I caught up with her on a range of pressing issues from licensing and public order in the West End, policing at night, my crime and anti-social behaviour survey, and the culture within the Met.

For Pride Month, I caught up with human rights and LGBTQ+ campaigner Philip Baldwin in Soho. Philip also campaigns and raises awareness of HIV. He was diagnosed with HIV during a routine check-up and he was later diagnosed with Hepatitis C. Thankfully, neither are the life sentences they once were — and with the proper diagnosis and treatment, you can lead a very healthy life. Philip joins me in this episode, and remember, if you’ve been affected, there is lots of information out there.  Useful information from NHS UK:  http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/hiv-and-aids  http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/hepatitis-c  http://www.nhs.uk/medicines/pre-exposure-prophylaxis-prep https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/sexual-health/sexual-health-for-gay-and-bisexual-men/?/ 

For the latest in my Two Cities Heroes series, I speak to Jens Jakobsen — a local florist and the most amazing urban gardener. He has the most beautiful garden with over 150 different plants and a huge onion tree right in heart of Victoria just behind City Hall. I myself discovered it just by walking past one day. Everybody is welcome so if you need a quiet spot to think, read a book or just relax and just get away from it all, make sure you pay it a visit. Jens joins me in this episode.

Zurich Insurance were one of the first companies to sign up to my recently launched Fertility Workplace Pledge — the idea behind it is to get employers of all shapes and sizes to sign up to a set of basic principles that improve the workplace rights for people going through treatment. I was delighted to visit the team in their City office — and their Head of People, Steve Collinson, joined me on my community podcast to explain why they signed up and how it is going. 

Meet Hamza Taouzzale — Hamza was born in Westminster, and is now our First Citizen. He has broken the mould by becoming the youngest Lord Mayor and the first from an ethnic minority background. He’s a Two Cities Hero — and he joined me in this episode.

In the next of my Two Cities Heroes series, I went to The Abbey Centre, run by the fantastic Caz Gandy-Brown. It’s an incredible hub serving our Westminster community which hosts activity groups, a social supermarket and so much more. Caz joins me in this episode 

For the latest in my Two Cities Heroes conversations series, I met up with Rabbi Morris at Bevis Marks. If you haven’t been, Bevis Marks is situated in the heart of our City and is believed to be the longest continuously operating synagogue in the world. Rabbi Morris has been busy overseeing the restoration of the old building, the synagogue is now complete for everyone to visit — and I can tell you it looks stunning!

I’m pushing a Bill through try and get better workplace support for people going through IVF. Infertility affects 3.5 million people in the UK, it affects people of all backgrounds and ethnicities, and did you know it affects more men than women? I was joined by Anya Sizer from Fertility Network UK and racing driver TAG Toby Trice in this episode, to discuss this further. 

Meet Jeremy Goring - a member of the Goring family, who owns the Goring Hotel in Victoria, and they are helping people who have been homeless into careers in hospitality. They provide work experience, mentoring and introductions to employers.

I talk to Christabel Flight for the next episode in my Two Cities Heroes series. Christabel is an old people's champion, a former Councillor, and a true hero!

Acoustic cameras to deal with supercars; better support for people juggling IVF treatment and careers; and regulating pedicabs — here's a round-up of my work over the past month. 

Meet John Fletcher - he's a Common Councillor and he has done some incredible work for the local community over many years. I met him at Aldgate Square for the latest in my Two Cities Heroes conversations.

MEET THE TWO CITIES HEROES! This year marks my 25th year of living in the Two Cities, and to celebrate this special anniversary, I am beginning a series of conversations with the local people who are doing incredible things and make it so special. We kick off the series with Jane Buttigieg. You may have seen Jane at The Cave in Pimlico, and she is a Pimlico legend. Thank you to Jane for everything she is doing for our community - and she joins me in this episode. 

Did you know 1 in 6 couples are affected by infertility and it cuts through all socio-economic backgrounds and ethnicities? Undergoing IVF treatment while juggling a career is tough - over 36% of staff undergoing treatment have considered leaving their job. We need to improve IVF support in the workplace. In my this episode I talk to Becky Kearns and Claire Ingle from Fertility Matters at Work - they educate businesses and organisations about the reality of IVF at work. I'm also joined by Natalie Sutherland from Burgess Mee, a law firm that helps families with fertility law.

We have got to take our online safety as seriously as our physical safety. I’m working with colleagues in government to make sure scams are included in the forthcoming Online Harms Bill. People are sadly losing thousands of pounds via fraudulent advertising, emails, texts and cloned websites. Some have lost their entire life savings, their mental health has suffered, and there have even been cases of suicide. Debt charity StepChange is working to help victims - Petter Tutton, their head of policy, joins me on this episode of my community podcast. 

Short term lets on sites like Booking.com, Tripadvisor and Airbnb have a big impact on our neighbourhoods in Westminster. I was joined by Cllr Ian Adams from Westminster City Council, and we got together some residents from the Hyde Park Estate to listen to their stories, discuss what more we can do to make the system work for them, and I updated them on my progress with Airbnb and government ministers.