The opportunity to be creative plays an important role in a child’s cognitive development. But in UK 3.7 million children live on or below the poverty line. That is about 30% of people aged under the age of 18. For those children art resources are often an unaffordable luxury.

During the COVID lockdowns when schools were closed children continued their education at home. Completing the projects they had been set was impossible in homes without access to art resources.

In this episode of the Abeceder work life balance podcast Rest and Recreation Olivia Buckland explains to host Michael Millward how connecting these two facts became the inspiration that led to her establishing Art Cycle.

Olivia recounts the experience of setting up Art Cycle and how quickly it grew. She explains the process of preparing an art kit from recycled resources and how they are distributed.

Now that Art Cycle is a reality Olivia explains the need for funding and her plans for the future.

Olivia is always interested in hearing from organisations that are rebranding or changing a logo and have branded items, like paper pads in all sizes, notebooks, pens, pencils, pencil sharpeners, etc that are no longer needed.

Instead of discarding those items Olivia asks that organisations send them to Art Cycle.

Rest and Recreation is made on Zencastr, because creating podcasts on Zencastr is so easy, you can as well by visiting Zencastr and using our offer code ABECEDER.

Travel – at trade prices anywhere in the world at trade prices on flights, hotels, trains, and holidays as members of The Ultimate Travel Club.

Health – York Test provides an Annual Health Test. An experienced phlebotomist will complete a full blood draw at your home or workplace. Hospital standard tests covering 39 different health markers are carried out in a UKAS-accredited and CQC-compliant laboratory.

A Personal Wellness Hub gives access your easy-to-understand results and guidance to help you make effective lifestyle changes anytime via your secure, personal Wellness Hub account.

Visit York Test and use this discount code REST25.

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If you have liked this episode of Rest and Recreation, please give it a like and download it. To make sure you do not miss future editions please subscribe.

Remember, the aim of all the podcasts produced by Abeceder is not to tell you what to think, but we do hope to make you think!

Being a Guest

If you would like to be a guest on Rest and Recreation, please contact Abeceder.

Matchmaker.fm introduce many guests to Rest and Recreation. Matchmaker.fm is where great hosts and even greater guests are matched, and fantastic podcasts are hatched. Use code MILW10 for a discount on membership.

We recommend that potential guests take one of the podcasting guest training programmes available from Work Place Learning Centre.

Thank you to you for listening.

We appreciate every like, download, and subscription.

Nate Mayes is an actor, artist, writer and producer who grew-up in Arkansas before moving to Hollywood to pursue his artistic ambitions.

The Wall Street Times have described Nate as “gradually establishing himself as an up-and-coming talent in Hollywood”.

In this episode of Rest and Recreation, the work life balance podcast from Abeceder Nate tells host Michael Millward about his varied work, his career strategy and how he spends his free time.

Michael compares the acting work that Nate has done with the work of actors like Brad Pitt and Richard Gere.

Their discussion covers everything from parental influence on career choices, to a comparison of different aspects of life in Arkansas, and Hollywood.

During their conversation Nate and Michael also touch on the joys of boondocking

You can find more information about Nate Mayes and Michael Millward at Abeceder.co.uk.

Audience Offers

Rest and Recreation is made on Zencastr, because it is so easy to use. You can as well. Visit Zencastr and use offer code ABECEDER.

Travel – at trade prices to anywhere in the world at trade prices as a member of The Ultimate Travel Club.

Health – The Annual Health Test from York Test is conducted by an experienced phlebotomist at your home or workplace. Hospital standard tests for 39 health markers.

A Personal Wellness Hub provides easy-to-understand results and guidance for effective lifestyle changes anytime.

Visit York Test and use this discount code REST25.

Tech Problems? – Visit Three for information about business and personal telecom solutions from Three, and the special offers available when you quote our referral code WPFNUQHU.

Be a Guest Visit Matchmaker.fm. Use code MILW10 for a discount on membership.

We recommend that potential guests take one of the podcasting guest training programmes available from Work Place Learning Centre.

Thank you to you for listening.

We appreciate every like, download, and subscription.

Ricky Rebel was 11 years old when he joined No Authority a boy band that was signed by Michael Jackson until he sold the contract to Madonna.

Now Ricky is a solo artist.

To celebrate the launch of the tenth anniversary edition of his Blue Album Ricky meets Michael Millward for a chat on the Abeceder work life balance podcast Rest and Recreation.

Ricky gives Michael an insight into his career, which now extends beyond music to include acting, art and fashion.

The highs include

· Touring with Aaron Carter and Britney Spears.

· Make-up company Mustaev supporting his video for Boys and Sometimes Girls

· Collaborating with an expanding range of high-profile artists

And the lows, which include the fallout from making a political statement on a jackethe wore to the Grammy Awards. He now keeps politics out of his social media.

Ricky explains the inspiration for his work and the artists that have influenced him. He also discusses the importance of making time for yourself, even when you are busy and like a long nights sleep.

Audience Offers

Rest and Recreation is made on Zencastr, because it is so easy to use. You can as well. Visit Zencastr and use offer code ABECEDER.

Travel – at trade prices to anywhere in the world at trade prices as a member of The Ultimate Travel Club.

Health – The Annual Health Test from York Test is conducted by an experienced phlebotomist at your home or workplace. Hospital standard tests for 39 health markers.

A Personal Wellness Hub provides easy-to-understand results and guidance for effective lifestyle changes anytime.

Visit York Test and use this discount code REST25.

Tech Problems? – Visit Three for information about business and personal telecom solutions from Three, and the special offers available when you quote our referral code WPFNUQHU.

Be a Guest Visit Matchmaker.fm. Use code MILW10 for a discount on membership.

We recommend that potential guests take one of the podcasting guest training programmes available from Work Place Learning Centre.

Thank you to you for listening.

We appreciate every like, download, and subscription.

In July 2025 C.J. Shaman was described by the Wall Street Times as The Rock Outlaw Ready to Ignite the Music Scene.

Journalist Nic Abelian described C.J. as being from the windswept deserts of Arizona to the neon lights of Las Vegas, C.J. Shaman has carved a path as a dynamic rock artist who fuses the raw energy of country rhythms with the electrifying pulse of rock ‘n’ roll.

In this episode of the Abeceder work life balance podcast Rest and Recreation C.J. Shaman discusses with host Michael Millward.

· His musical influences from discovering Elvis and Johnny Cash in his parents record collection to the punk rock and heavy metal of his elder brother’s collection.

• The inspiration for his latest album El Diablo del Ocho
• How he spends his free time
• The role of music as a unifier of all people

During their conversation Michael and C.J. discuss C.J’s cover of the Ricky Martin hit, Living la Vida Loca

Many music industry experts see C.J. Shaman as being on the verge of the big time. As a result, you might reasonably expect a guarded conversation. On the contrary C.J. Shaman provides an authentic insight in to the man behind the artist.

It is only when he talks about what will come next that C.J. keeps his cards close to his chest. There will be exciting things to come.

Audience Offers

Rest and Recreation is made on Zencastr, because it is so easy to use. You can as well. Visit Zencastr and use offer code ABECEDER.

Travel – at trade prices to anywhere in the world at trade prices as a member of The Ultimate Travel Club.

Health – The Annual Health Test from York Test is conducted by an experienced phlebotomist at your home or workplace. Hospital standard tests for 39 health markers.

A Personal Wellness Hub provides easy-to-understand results and guidance for effective lifestyle changes anytime.

Visit York Test and use this discount code REST25.

Tech Problems? – Visit Three for information about business and personal telecom solutions from Three, and the special offers available when you quote our referral code WPFNUQHU.

Be a Guest Visit Matchmaker.fm. Use code MILW10 for a discount on membership.

We recommend that potential guests take one of the podcasting guest training programmes available from Work Place Learning Centre.

Thank you to you for listening.

We appreciate every like, download, and subscription.

Madhur-Nain Webster is a licenced Marriage and Family therapist, and accomplished author. In this episode of the Abeceder work life balance podcast Rest and Recreation Madhur-Nain discusses her latest book Beyond the Pain with host Michael Millward.

Many people structure to cope with the pain that is created by negative experiences like separation, divorce, bereavement, job loss. Each person deals with this pain in a different way. Some people allow the negative experience to control their future. This makes it difficult to move on from the negative experience.

In her conversation with Michael, Madhur-Nain describes how negative experiences impact our physical, mental, and emotional health. Madhur-Nain explains how anyone can take a proactive approach to managing how negative experiences impact them.

They explore the practical advice and tools that Madhur-Nain has included in her book Beyond the Pain.

This episode will inspire you to be honest about how you currently manage negative experiences, and provide some information about how you can improve how you manage these experiences.

Audience Offers

Rest and Recreation is made on Zencastr, because it is so easy to use. You can as well. Visit Zencastr and use offer code ABECEDER.

Travel – at trade prices to anywhere in the world at trade prices as a member of The Ultimate Travel Club.

Health – The Annual Health Test from York Test is conducted by an experienced phlebotomist at your home or workplace. Hospital standard tests for 39 health markers.

A Personal Wellness Hub provides easy-to-understand results and guidance for effective lifestyle changes anytime.

Visit York Test and use this discount code REST25.

Tech Problems? – Visit Three for information about business and personal telecom solutions from Three, and the special offers available when you quote our referral code WPFNUQHU.

Be a Guest Visit Matchmaker.fm. Use code MILW10 for a discount on membership.

We recommend that potential guests take one of the podcasting guest training programmes available from Work Place Learning Centre.

Thank you to you for listening.

We appreciate every like, download, and subscription.

Dr Kyle Elliott is the founder of Caffeinated Kyle a career coaching company focused on the sort of executives that work in places like Silicon Valley..

Kyle offers trauma-informed career coaching, interview coaching, and executive coaching for senior managers, executives, and C-suite leaders in technology companies.

You will find his clients working at Meta, Amazon, Google, and nearly every other tech giant you can imagine. Kyle’s approach helps his clients to find success at work and happiness in life.

In this episode of the Abeceder work life balance podcast Rest and Recreation Kyle explains to host Michael Millward how his own career trauma led to him reassessing life and work and creating a new way of living and working.

Michael and Kyle discuss what it means to be a workaholic and the impact that state of mind has on every aspect of life.

They also explore different ways to reassert your identity as an individual instead of a job title.

Kyle describes how he uses boundaries to manage the relationship between his work and his life.

Those boundaries include planning rest and recreation time and the activities that will fill that time, which for Kyle includes regular visits to Disneyland.

Rest and Recreation is made on Zencastr, because it is so easy to use. You can as well. Visit Zencastr and use offer code ABECEDER.

Travel – at trade prices to Disneyland or anywhere else in the world at trade prices as a member of The Ultimate Travel Club.

Health – The Annual Health Test from York Test is conducted by an experienced phlebotomist at your home or workplace. Hospital standard tests for 39 health markers.

A Personal Wellness Hub provides easy-to-understand results and guidance for effective lifestyle changes anytime.

Visit York Test and use this discount code REST25.

Tech Problems? – Visit Three for information about business and personal telecom solutions from Three, and the special offers available when you quote our referral code WPFNUQHU.

Be a Guest Visit Matchmaker.fm. Use code MILW10 for a discount on membership.

We recommend that potential guests take one of the podcasting guest training programmes available from Work Place Learning Centre.

Thank you to you for listening.

We appreciate every like, download, and subscription.

WPLC.

Kate Ottavio Kent is a mother, wife and the founder of KOK PR in Connecticut USA. Kate is also a volunteer at Ridgebury Farm.

Ridgebury Farm provides equine based therapy that supports individuals of all backgrounds and abilities in working to become the best version of themselves.

A similar organisation in the UK is Riding for the Disabled. In 1975 the BBC Children’s TV show Blue Peter annual appeal raised funds to provide Riding for the Disabled with a new pony. Viewers voted in a poll to select the name and called the pony Rags.

In this episode of the Abeceder work life balance podcast Rest and Recreation Kate explains how she planned her work commitments to enable her to volunteer.

Michael and Kate share experiences of learning to horseback riding, and the benefits of spending time with horses.

Kate explains her volunteering role at Ridgebury Farm, and the impact she has helped to create for the people who receive therapeutic services at the farm.

You will leave this episode understanding that the rewards that volunteering provide make the effort required to volunteer well worthwhile.

Rest and Recreation is made on Zencastr, because it is so easy to use. So can you. Visit Zencastr and use offer code ABECEDER.

Travel – at trade prices anywhere in the world at trade prices as a member of The Ultimate Travel Club.

Health – The Annual Health Test from York Test is conducted by an experienced phlebotomist at your home or workplace. Hospital standard tests for 39 health markers.

A Personal Wellness Hub provides easy-to-understand results and guidance for effective lifestyle changes anytime.

Visit York Test and use this discount code REST25.

Tech Problems? – Visit Three for information about business and personal telecom solutions from Three, and the special offers available when you quote our referral code WPFNUQHU.

Be a Guest Visit Matchmaker.fm. Use code MILW10 for a discount on membership.

We recommend that potential guests take one of the podcasting guest training programmes available from Work Place Learning Centre.

Thank you to you for listening.

We appreciate every like, download, and subscription.

Parody often includes adult language. Please use headphones if listening in a public place.

Dee Pelisser, also known as Lady Laquelle is a musical parodist and drag performer.

In this episode of the Abeceder work life balance podcast Rest and Recreation Dee tells host Michael Millward about how they came to accept their gender fluidity discovered their passion for performance and creating parodies of songs they liked like The Banana Boat Song. or somethings loathed like Bubbly.

Dee explains parody referencing parodists like Paul Sherman and Weird Al Yankovic, Dee discusses the history of drag including Shakespear, pantomime, and TV shows like Are You Being Served.

Dee discusses the process of discovering their drag persona including references to drag performers like RuPaul and Paul O’Grady.

Dee reflects on performances at clubs like the Purple Rhino in Sarasota and the support they received from other drag performers like Berry Ayers, AKA Beneva Fruitville

At the time of recording Dee was preparing to move to Cleveland Ohio to further their performing career.

Audience Offers

Rest and Recreation is made on Zencastr, because it is so easy to use. So can you. Visit Zencastr and use offer code ABECEDER.

Travel – at trade prices anywhere in the world at trade prices as a member of The Ultimate Travel Club.

Health – The Annual Health Test from York Test is conducted by an experienced phlebotomist at your home or workplace. Hospital standard tests for 39 health markers. A Personal Wellness Hub provides easy-to-understand results and guidance for effective lifestyle changes anytime.

Visit York Test and use this discount code REST25.

Tech Problems? – Visit Three for information about business and personal telecom solutions from Three, and the special offers when you quote our referral code WPFNUQHU. If you have liked this episode of Rest and Recreation, please give it a like and download it. To make sure you do not miss future editions please subscribe.

We do hope to have made you think!

Be a Guest Visit Matchmaker.fm. Use code MILW10 for a discount on membership.We recommend that potential guests take one of the podcasting guest training programmes available from WPLC.

Thank you for listening, liking, downloading and subscribing.