Guest: Piers Shepperd is director of international technical production practice, Wonder Works. His three-decade career has spanned design, production management, audio, lighting, automation and the development of cutting-edge manufacturing. He has been involved in over twelve Olympic Ceremonies, helped build the largest ever World Expo site in Dubai and can name both Her Majesty the Queen and Queen the rock band as clients.

He is also a Trustee of Backup and became Backup Chair in 2022. He is an expert in managing multiple stakeholders, mindfully guiding talented teams through a myriad of obstacles to deliver work in sometimes challenging environments, all of which he brings to his role at Backup.

Host: Sarah James runs PR agency Gasoline Media and is proud to be able to help spread the word about the great work Backup does, taking care of their Press & PR.

In this conversation: Sarah talks with Piers about his role in Backup as Chair, current needs of the industry, how Backup looks after recipients and the role Backup plays in supporting education on issues that effect the industry.

Episode key topics + chapter markers :
2:58 –Piers talks about his history with Backup and how and why he got involved in the first instance.

4:15 – The changes Piers has seen in the intervening years and how Backup has adapted.

7:10 – Current needs of the industry; increasing need for help with mental health, pressures people are facing.

9:12 – Sarah asks Piers if there are any plans he has in mind for the coming months. Piers talks about listening to recipients to make sure the process is managed and follow up care is put in place along with other initiatives that mean Backup is there to help ahead of a time, heading of problems before they become crises.

12:07 – Sarah and Piers talk about the need for education on current issues, both within Backup itself and the industry in general.

15:00 – Piers highlights the fact that change doesn’t happen overnight and the need for long term programmes to ensure that change happens to ensure people’s welfare, including training people as Mental Health First Aiders.

17:30 – How enabling people to g

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