
Show Notes
For more than twenty-two years, Dr Cynthia Ward has quietly stood beside families experiencing every parent's worst fear. As the founder of True Colours Children's Health Trust, she has built one of New Zealand's most respected children's support organisations, providing counselling, nursing care and education for children living with life-limiting illness and the families who love them. Remarkably, she built it without government funding—through community generosity, unwavering determination and a belief that every child deserves to be heard. In this deeply moving conversation, Annah Stretton explores the moments that shaped Cynthia's extraordinary journey, from a twelve-year-old boy who changed the way she understood childhood and dying, to walking through a gang guard at the gate to reach a critically ill child, and the story behind the name True Colours, gifted by Tim Finn. This isn't simply a conversation about illness. It's about courage, compassion, grief, hope, and what it means to dedicate your life to helping others through their darkest days.
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Peta Mathias has never been very interested in standing still. At 76, she is still travelling between New Zealand and France, leading culinary adventures, running Supper Clubs, writing books and finding new reasons to say yes. From washing dishes in a Paris kitchen to owning a restaurant, becoming one of New Zealand’s best-known television food personalities and now releasing her 20th book, Peta has built a life around food, colour, curiosity and a considerable amount of courage. She joins me from her home in Uzès, in the South of France to talk about the risks that worked, the ones that didn’t, Dolly Parton, rejection, reinvention and why she has absolutely no intention of disappearing quietly into retirement. Recipes from the Supper Club: A Ritual of Togetherness is out in October. Connect with us on socials 🎧 Stretton Unfiltered Instagram 🎧 Stretton Unfiltered Facebook 🌸 Annah Stretton TikTok 🌸 Annah Stretton Instagram 🌸 Annah Stretton Facebook 🌸 Join our VIP page 🌸 www.annahstretton.co.nz
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