Aroundtown Meets Tony Batty

Aroundtown Meets Tony Batty

He might call himself the Sweeny Todd of Barnsley. But barber Tony Batty is anything but demonic. He’s shear saintlike, a breath of fresh hair who’s changing lives one haircut at a time. Over the last few years, 58-year-old Tony has made it his mission to give back to the...

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Aroundtown Meets Lynsey Lockey

Aroundtown Meets Lynsey Lockey

If there’s one person you’d want in your corner, it’s Lynsey Lockey. A force to be reckoned with in women’s boxing, she’s a fighter in every metaphorical way. She’s fought gender bias and injustice, battled melanoma, depression and personal loss, and combatted the struggle of being a busy working mum...

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Aroundtown Meets Billingley Christmas Tree Farm

Aroundtown Meets Billingley Christmas Tree Farm

The big man in red might get all the glory, but there’s someone here in South Yorkshire without whom Christmas might not be so magical. His black boots are covered in mud, not soot, he carries loppers rather than a sack of presents, and in place of a sleigh is...

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Aroundtown Meets Tom Masters

Aroundtown Meets Tom Masters

He’s the Barnsley lad with the big voice, big heart and big hair. And it’s clear to see why Tom Masters has instantly struck a chord with audiences across the region. Over the last few years, we’ve seen Tom mature from this young tenor in the award-winning Barnsley Youth Choir...

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Aroundtown Meets Dr Bijoy Mondal

Aroundtown Meets Dr Bijoy Mondal

As specialist in ageing, it comes as no surprise to hear that geriatrician Dr Bijoy Mondal is still working at 82. Many of his patients are younger than he is. But his motto – to himself and his patients – is ‘use it or lose it’. “Working keeps my brain...

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Aroundtown Meets Cynthia Shaw MBE

Aroundtown Meets Cynthia Shaw MBE

When a letter from the Cabinet Office came through the letterbox at her home in Harley, stating that she was to be made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in King Charles’s 2023 New Year Honours List, Cynthia Shaw put it down in semi-disgust.  Thinking it was...

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Aroundtown Meets Wilson Design Collective

Aroundtown Meets Wilson Design Collective

It’s strikingly obvious that the two women we’re here to meet are identical twin sisters. But theirs is a story of life imitating art around the fabled connection between twins.  Doncaster artists Caroline Perkins and Louise Draper have been inextricably bound to each other since doctors failed to spot one...

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Aroundtown Meets Kelly Clark

Aroundtown Meets Kelly Clark

Age doesn’t have to be a barrier. Rotherham powerlifter, Kelly Clark, was 54 when she made her international debut with Team GB at the 2019 World Championships in South Africa. She placed fourth in her category and achieved a personal best – a huge feat for someone who’d only started...

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Aroundtown Meets Labre’s Hope

Aroundtown Meets Labre’s Hope

We meet the founders and staff at Labre’s Hope, a community interest company that is ending homelessness – one bar of ethically made soap at a time.

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Aroundtown Meets Ian McMillan

Aroundtown Meets Ian McMillan

We meet the Bard of Barnsley, Ian McMillan to hear more about how hardly saying no has led to him becoming one of poetry’s most recognisable faces.

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