Meet my second Human Hero: Maggie Doyne, co-founder of BlinkNow. In this episode, Maggie shares her extraordinary story of how she left home for a gap year at 18 and ended up as a surrogate mother for more than 50 Nepali children! Alongside her Nepali co-founder Tope Malia, Maggie runs the BlinkNow Foundation – a pioneering organisation which changes the lives of hundreds of children and their families in Nepal every single day.

To find out more and to support BlinkNow's essential work, visit blinknow.org. You can also follow @blinknow and @maggiedoyne on Instagram.

To read my two-part article for Permaculture Magazine about BlinkNow's inspirational new GREEN school, visit permaculture.co.uk and order issue 103 and 104 (or sign up as a subscriber).

Meet my first hero, Monica Nyiraguhabwa, co-founder of Girl Up Initiative Uganda. Monica tells us about her childhood growing up in the slums of Kampala and how the gender inequality she faced inspired her to co-found an organisation which has empowered over 40,000 youth to date. We discuss her highs and lows, the people who inspire her and the mantras which keep her changing the world!

An introduction to Human Heroes and the story behind the podcast. Plus special guest Lelo Maseko and I discuss our childhood heroes and what we’ve learnt from them.

A teaser episode for my upcoming podcast, Human Heroes: an interview series with ordinary people doing extraordinary things to improve our world.