This episode of Assa Marra was recorded live at Energy Coast UTC in Lillyhall, West Cumbria, the first Assa Marra recorded on location as part of Assa Colours, whose raison d’être is to reach young people in communities through storytelling, building confidence, and helping them find their unique voice.

And what a venue it was. It felt like being on the set of Grange Hill.

Then the conversation with Cherry Tingle unfolds and honestly, it has more layers than the onion in Shrek.

At points it almost beggars belief what Cherry has surmounted whilst remaining so positive, philosophical and able to find remarkable gold in extraordinarily dark places.

This is a life that takes us through single parenting, mental health, Africa, leadership, education.

At 17, Cherry was literally thrown out by her mother and left to fend for herself. Yet what emerges through this conversation is not bitterness, but wisdom, perspective and enormous humanity.

And that is why the audience in the room were so utterly rapt. This podcast moved into pin-drop territory.

At the core of everything Cherry does is the cellular belief that young people deserve access to a good education, the chance to thrive, and somebody who believes in them.

Cherry is one extraordinary woman.

Episode 25 of Assa Marra is sponsored by Axiom and produced by Assa Colours

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