Assa Marra

Part 5Lyn Cavaghan | Always Another WayIn August 2026, four women took on the Cumbria Way, walking from Ulverston to Carlisle over five demanding days to raise awareness and funds for Always Another Way, a West Cumbrian charity supporting people experiencing mental health challenges.Five days of challenging terrain, torrential rain, aching limbs and extraordinary companionship created memories that will stay with the walkers for years to come.But beyond the physical challenge was something far more significant.Along the route, the women met people whose lives had been profoundly affected by mental health difficulties and suicide. People who gave their time, shared their experiences and helped bring home the importance of the charity’s work.At the heart of the challenge was Lyn Cavaghan, Chief Executive of Always Another Way.Although Lyn wasn’t one of the four women walking the route, she was the driving force behind the fundraising initiative and witnessed the extraordinary commitment of those who stepped forward to support it.From the moment Catherine Williamson met Lyn, she was struck by her determination, compassion and commitment to making a difference.When Lyn called for support for the fundraising walk, Catherine was quick to rally the troops, perhaps slightly overselling the holiday element along the way!What followed was an extraordinary five days.In this final episode of the Cumbria Way series, Lyn joins Catherine to reflect on the experience as a whole.What was it like to have these women take on the challenge? What did Lyn make of their determination, their friendships and the extraordinary people who came forward to support them?And what has the experience meant for Always Another Way?Lyn reflects on the fundraising, the generosity of those who supported the cause and the difference that support can make to people and communities across West Cumbria.A fitting conclusion to five extraordinary days and five very different conversations.And a reminder that, even in the darkest moments, there is always another way.*****Did you know that Assa Marra has become a community interest company?We work specifically in West Cumbria to help young people develop confidence around communication.To donate please click on the link.https://www.givengain.com/project/Always-Another-Cumbria-Way-Team

Part 4Val Madine | A Moment Etched in the FellsFive days walking the Cumbria Way, from Ulverston to Carlisle, brought together a group of women raising awareness and funds for Always Another Way, a West Cumbrian charity supporting mental health and wellbeing.The August challenge was considerably tougher than anticipated, with relentless rain, demanding terrain and miles that seemed to stretch endlessly ahead.But it also brought extraordinary friendship, laughter and moving encounters with people whose lives had been affected by mental health challenges and suicide.Amongst a group of predominantly foreign marras was Val Madine, the only true West Cumbrian, although she has lived away from the area since she was 18.Val had never undertaken anything quite like the Cumbria Way and, by her own admission, may have been in considerable denial about what lay ahead.On the very first day, things took an alarming turn.Val developed exercise-induced vasculitis, leaving her legs in such a state that there were genuine concerns about whether she would be able to continue.But continue she did.And in doing so, Val demonstrated a determination that perhaps even she hadn’t fully appreciated she possessed.In this episode, Val joins Catherine Williamson to reflect on the experience and answer one of the Assa Marra questions.What is the moment she remembers most acutely, and exactly where was she when it happened?A conversation about determination, friendship, unexpected challenges and those moments that remain etched in our memories long after the journey has ended.*****Did you know that Assa Marra has become a community interest company?We work specifically in West Cumbria to help young people develop confidence around communication.To donate please click on the link.https://www.givengain.com/project/Always-Another-Cumbria-Way-Team

Part 3Zelda Wilson | Finding Gold in the Cumbrian DarkIn August 2026, a group of women took on the Cumbria Way, walking from Ulverston to Carlisle to raise awareness and funds for Always Another Way, supporting mental health and wellbeing across West Cumbria.Five days of demanding terrain, torrential rain and extraordinary companionship brought challenges that were as much emotional as physical.Along the way, the walkers met people whose lives had been profoundly affected by mental health challenges and suicide, bringing home the importance of the cause they were supporting.For one of the women, however, the challenge carried an additional significance.Zelda Wilson was undergoing aggressive chemotherapy while preparing for the walk, having reached a point where immunotherapy was no longer working.At a time of enormous uncertainty, training for the Cumbria Way provided much-needed structure, purpose and something positive to focus on.One of the questions explored in Assa Marra is about resilience and finding the gold in the dark.And few people embody that sentiment quite like Zelda.Her determination to prepare for and undertake the challenge, while navigating the realities of cancer treatment, brought an extraordinary perspective to the experience.In this deeply personal conversation, Zelda joins Catherine Williamson to reflect on resilience, determination and finding meaning and purpose even in the most challenging circumstances.A remarkable perspective from a remarkable woman, and a reminder that sometimes the brightest gold is found in the darkest places.*****Did you know that Assa Marra has become a community interest company?We work specifically in West Cumbria to help young people develop confidence around communication.To donate please click on the link.https://www.givengain.com/project/Always-Another-Cumbria-Way-Team

Part 2Julie White | The Gobsmacked MomentFive days walking the Cumbria Way, from Ulverston to Carlisle, brought together a group of women determined to raise awareness and funds for Always Another Way, a West Cumbrian charity supporting mental health and wellbeing.The August challenge delivered considerably more than anyone had bargained for.Driving rain, demanding terrain, aching limbs and extraordinary encounters with people whose lives had been touched by mental health difficulties and suicide.But amongst the physical challenges were moments of real joy, friendship, laughter and surprise.Julie White brought her own professional experience and perspective to the challenge, alongside her enthusiasm for supporting a cause that matters.One of the signature questions in Assa Marra is about the Gobsmacked Moment. That extraordinary experience which takes someone completely by surprise and stays with them long afterwards.For Julie, the Cumbria Way provided just such a moment.In this episode, Julie joins Catherine Williamson to reflect on the experience and share the particular moment that left her truly gobsmacked.And if anyone needed evidence of just how physically demanding those five days were, consider this.At the time of recording, more than two months after completing the walk, Julie had lost her fifth toenail.The Cumbria Way was clearly a gift that kept on giving!An unforgettable experience, wonderful company and a reminder that sometimes the most extraordinary moments happen when we least expect them.*****Did you know that Assa Marra has become a community interest company?We work specifically in West Cumbria to help young people develop confidence around communication.To donate please click on the link.https://www.givengain.com/project/Always-Another-Cumbria-Way-Team

Part 1Catherine Williamson | The Price of AdmissionIn August 2026, Catherine Williamson joined a group of women walking the Cumbria Way, from Ulverston to Carlisle, raising awareness and funds for West Cumbrian mental health charity Always Another Way.Catherine freely admits she’s not a natural hiker. For her, walking is often simply the price of admission to spending time with extraordinary people.From the moment she met Lyn Cavaghan, Chief Executive of Always Another Way, Catherine was hugely impressed by her energy, determination and commitment to making a difference.So when Lyn called for support for the fundraising challenge, Catherine was quick to rally the troops. Although, with hindsight, she suspects she may have rather oversold the holiday element!Because none of them quite appreciated what they were signing up for.While much of the country basked in sunshine, the walkers battled torrential rain, challenging terrain and conditions that tested them physically and emotionally.What followed was five days of aching limbs, laughter, friendship and profoundly moving encounters with people whose lives had been affected by mental health challenges and suicide.In Cumberland, suicide rates have been recorded at approximately 78% above the England average, a sobering reminder of why organisations like Always Another Way matter so much.In this opening episode, Catherine reflects on the experience, the extraordinary people she met and why her love affair with West Cumbria continues to deepen.And why, despite everything the weather threw at them, the company made every mile worthwhile.*****Did you know that Assa Marra has become a community interest company?We work specifically in West Cumbria to help young people develop confidence around communication.To donate please click on the link.https://www.givengain.com/project/Always-Another-Cumbria-Way-Team

Imagine being moved through more than 100 foster homes and care homes. Seriously, just think about that.When we recorded Terry Galloway for Gobsmacked, we weren’t looking for a West Cumbrian story.Turns out, we got one anyway.Terry is care experienced. There has been loss in his life, real loss, the sort that could quite reasonably have silenced somebody. It hasn’t. He’s become a formidable campaigner, determined to change things for the people coming behind him.And then two names kept cropping up. Josh MacAlister and Emma Williamson.Josh is our local MP and now Minister for Children and Families, driving change in children’s social care nationally.And Emma? Well, Emma knows this stuff from the inside. She’s Deputy Leader of Cumberland Council, care experienced herself, left school at 13 having been through 12 junior schools and four secondary schools, and later went back into education. Today she’s using all of that to make sure care-experienced people are not just talked about, but heard.So we asked Emma to introduce Terry.Because these two know only too well that when you start life in care, you’re not necessarily starting at the same line as everybody else. You can spend years making up the distance.And both of them have done something pretty extraordinary with that distance.We didn’t go looking for West Cumbria in this conversation.It found us.So this one had to come to Assa Marra.

Men in West Cumbria are still dying too young and too often in silence.In this conversation with Colin Cox, Director of Public Health for Cumberland, this episode looks at what sits underneath that reality.West Cumbria is a place of contrasts. Beautiful landscapes and strong, close communities sit alongside real and persistent challenges, poverty, poor health, isolation and suicide rates that remain far too high, particularly among men.This is not about labelling a region. It is about trying to understand it more honestly.Colin speaks with real clarity and care about that. During COVID, many people locally came to rely on public health voices for reassurance and direction. Colin became one of those trusted figures, helping communities make sense of an uncertain time.His latest report, Man up?, challenges something deeper than behaviour. It asks whether the old ideas of masculinity we have inherited are still helping men or quietly harming them.In a place shaped by hard, physical, often dangerous work, stoicism was once a strength. It got people through. But it may also have left a legacy where too many men still feel they have to cope alone.So perhaps the question is not “man up”.Perhaps it is, how do we make it easier for men to open up?How do we build communities where strength includes vulnerability and where asking for help is recognised as courage, not weakness?This is a thoughtful and compelling conversation about place, identity and what might need to change.

A tiny yellow bird. A mining community. A producer and broadcaster back on patch. Throw in a surprising number of coincidences and two people who can’t resist following the next question, and you’ve got a conversation that goes to some wonderfully unexpected places.Heather Dempsey is one of West Cumbria’s own—a girl who’s gone out into the world and done good.An astute observer of people, life and her own generation, Heather has the rare ability to spot a story, trust her instincts and follow an idea wherever it leads. That instinct has already seen her build an impressive start in broadcasting and podcasting, working with the likes of Simon Mayo, Mark Kermode and Kirsty Young.Now she’s back on patch in West Cumbria, researching and recording a story that begins with canaries and their connection to the region’s mining heritage. What starts as an exploration of a tiny yellow bird soon opens up a much richer story about mining, family, identity and belonging.

In this episode of Assa Marra, Janine Ward shares a story that begins with the rejection of infidelity. While that may seem to be the story, it quickly becomes clear that it is only the gateway.Speaking with striking honesty and openness, Janine reflects on the diagnoses, counselling and soul-searching that followed as she tried to make sense of a life that no longer resembled the one she had imagined.As the conversation unfolds, it becomes clear that explanations can only take us so far. Whatever has happened, life still asks us to get up each morning, put one foot in front of the other and decide who we are going to be.For Janine, that journey led her back to West Cumbria, the place where her story began. Today, she has channelled her lived experience into the charity Together We, believing that the chapters we would never have chosen to write can still become chapters that help someone else.This is an episode about heartbreak, identity, healing and hope. It is also a reminder that while we cannot always choose what happens to us, we can choose what comes next.