The Extraordinary Ordinary

Saying that this episode's guest holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon run dressed as a nut, doesn’t even begin to do justice to the absurd number of ridiculously difficult physical challenges that former Major in the Royal Army Medical Core, Sally Orange, has undertaken in her on-going quest to raise awareness of mental health issues. This is a woman who has

Our guest today is Hasina Rahman, a young woman whose unwavering determination and courage led her to embark on a transformative martial arts journey starting when she was a teenager. Her story is a testament to the power of self-belief, resilience, and passion. Hasina founded Pink Diamond Martial Arts in 2015 in Luton. The idea had come to her while she was at home looking after

If you’ve ever considered making a career pivot, we can pretty much guarantee it wouldn’t be quite as life-changing as the one made by our guest on this episode of the Extraordinary Ordinary. When she decided to sign up for a fishing trip off the coast of Norfolk in 2012, Ashley Mullenger could never have imagined she would fall in love with being out at sea and fishing and t

A 30 year career as an NHS nurse didn’t help Jo Tosh to piece together the strange symptoms she started to experience as being the first signs that she was suffering with Parkinsons Disease. But them why would she, she was only in her mid forties and Parkinson’s is an old persons disease isn’t it? It was one of the many lessons Jo has learnt in the eight years since her d

Our guest today is Stacey Copeland, a trailblazer in the world of sports and a champion for gender equality in athletics. Stacey Copeland is not just an accomplished athlete; she's a history-maker. In 2018, she became the first British woman to win a Commonwealth title in boxing, a groundbreaking achievement that showcased her incredible skill and determination. Her victory in the

Our guest today is Gillian Millane, a mother whose life was forever changed by a heartbreaking event that captured the world's attention. In December 2018, a young woman named Grace Millane was traveling in New Zealand. What was meant to be an exciting adventure for the bubbly 21 year old turned into a nightmare that no family should ever have to go through. On the eve of her 22nd

Karen has always been passionate about exploring the great outdoors. But when she was just 21 years old, she fell while climbing a sea cliff. The life-changing accident left her paralysed from the chest down. But she didn’t let that stop her from doing what she loved the most - going on adventures. She has since skied across icecaps, hand-cycled the world’s biggest mountain ran

Imelda Poole is a nun. But I can confidently say she's quite unlike any nun you've ever met. Because for the past 17 years, Imelda has been leading the fight against modern slavery in. Albania. She co-founded Mary Ward Loreto, an organisation which addresses the root causes of trafficking, rehabilitates victims and brings the perpetrators of slavery to justice. She is also the pres

Sue Fish spent her entire career in the police, working her way up to Nottinghamshire chief constable. In a field dominated by men, Sue did radical work to champion women both in and out of the force. In 2016, she became the first chief constable to record misogyny as a hate crime. During her career, Sue saw the best of the police but also the worst. Since retiring, she’s opened

Julie Siddiqi is someone who finds it impossible to stay silent when she sees injustice happening. She's a Muslim convert, a campaigner and a women's rights activist, with a list of accomplishments so long it would take a whole episode just to go through them all. Among them are the Open My Mosque campaign, which fights inequality in UK mosques, and Together We Thrive, an organisat