The UK feels like it is returning to darker days. Divisive language is back in public life, symbols of exclusion are resurfacing, and many organisations are unsure how to respond without retreating into silence or statements.

Hosted by Joy Warmington, CEO of brap and a veteran of 25 years at the sharp end of the equality sector, this five-part series takes listeners inside the rooms where the real work is happening. From NHS trusts to major charities, we follow the collisions, the resistance, and the breakthroughs that occur when principles meet power.

This is not a podcast about quick fixes, toolkits, or tick-box equality. It is a space not to be performing, but for doing what matters. It explores the human cost of measuring progress differently and the personal liberation that comes from staying with the discomfort.

The Quiet Revolution launches February 2026.

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This is a brap production by www.wearefieldwork.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this debut episode of The Quiet Revolution, host Joy Warmington sits down with brap colleagues Cheryl Garvey (brap Associate) and Lakshnie Hettihewa (Psychotherapeutic Lead) to ask a difficult question: Have we gone backwards?

As racist rhetoric returns to public life and flags appear on our streets, they explore whether the last few decades of progress were real, or merely a veneer that hid a society in deep distress. This raw conversation moves beyond the diagnosis to ask how we hold space for grief without validating hate, and why true progress means fixing the conditions where racism grows.

In this episode, we cover:

• The Veneer of Progress: Why the "politically correct" era forced honest conversations underground, only for them to explode now.
• Backlash as Evidence: Why the current unrest might actually be a sign that the old systems are under threat.
• The Politics of Grief: Understanding how survival mode and loss of identity fuel division, and how to address the fear without validating the racism.
• Hope in Resistance: Why the counter-resistance is just as important as the backlash.

Guest Bios: Cheryl Garvey and Lakshnie Hettihewa are senior brap Associates and long-time activists at brap, bringing decades of experience in navigating systemic oppression, community cohesion, and organisational change.

Resources Mentioned:

• brap Website & Tools
• Join the Equality Republic

Music featured:

• Melting Glass by Eden Avery
• Floods
• Neutral State by Blue Saga
• Entanglement by Luba Hilman
• Missing Memories by Christopher Moe Ditlevsen
• Out of the World by Axon Terminal
• Fauna

This is a brap production by www.wearefieldwork.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"I have felt a fraud at times."

Next Tuesday, we go behind closed doors at The Royal Free.

Subscribe now so you don't miss it.

This is a brap production by www.wearefieldwork.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In Episode 2 of The Quiet Revolution, we step behind closed doors at The Royal Free London, one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, to witness a profound shift in leadership.

Host Joy Warmington takes us inside the room where Group Chief Executive Peter Landstrom and his executive team stop "performing" equality and start confronting the reality of it. In a system that rewards certainty, metrics, and control, Peter admits to feeling like a "fraud" and discusses the moment he realised that his own leadership might be upholding the very norms he thought he was challenging.

We also hear from Crystal Akass (former Chief People Officer), the strategist who lit the spark. She explains her radical approach to flip the traditional EDI model on its head: instead of focusing interventions on those experiencing racism, she focused accountability directly on the white leaders who hold the power to dismantle it.

This is not a story about a perfect plan. It is a raw, honest look at the paralysis of white leadership, the "iceberg of racism," and what it takes to build the stamina for a quiet revolution.

In this episode, we cover:

• The "Fraud" Confession: Why Peter Landstrom felt daunted by the "huge beast" of systemic racism and why standard NHS problem-solving skills don't work here.
• Flipping the Model: Crystal Akass’s strategy to stop fixing the people experiencing racism and start fixing the white leadership who run the system.
• The "Dinner Table" Moment: The breakthrough where anti-racism moved from an intellectual exercise to a "whole body response" of passion and shame.
• The Trap of "Zero Tolerance": Why relying on data and statements often hides the fact that leaders are upholding discriminatory norms.
• Imagination vs. Metrics: Why the NHS needs to stop looking for new data and start looking for a new imagination.

Resources & Links Mentioned:

• brap Website: https://www.brap.org.uk
• Equality Republic: https://www.brap.org.uk/republic
• Anti Racism for White leaders: https://www.brap.org.uk/coaching
• https://www.royalfree.nhs.uk/news/royal-free-london-celebrates-double-win-hpma-awards

Music Featured:

• Melting Glass by Eden Avery
• Floods
• Neutral State by Blue Saga
• Hara Noda, Wood and Skin
• Ostinato Vieveri
• The Great White North by Eden Avery
• Missing Memories by Christopher Moe Ditlevsen
• Crucial Calculations by Gavin Luke
• Out the the world by Axon Terminal
• Fauna

This is a brap production by www.wearefieldwork.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It sounds completely ridiculous. But as we explore in our next episode, that is exactly how "bonkers" the concept of race actually is when deciding human value and worth.

In Episode 3 of The Quiet Revolution, we hit pause on our external case studies to take you inside the "brap engine room." Joy Warmington sits down with senior brap Associates Cheryl Garvey and Lakshnie Hettihewa to break down the six core principles that guide their anti-racism practice.

They start with the most fundamental truth: "race is an idea, it's not a fact." If you want to know what it actually takes to dismantle systemic racism beyond toolkits and tick boxes, this episode is the map you need.

This is a brap production by www.wearefieldwork.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.