Starting The Zero Podcast

I’m Ruo and I’m a volunteer at Zero. I recently started the Zero Podcast series, which serves as a platform for the Zero community to share their stories and experiences volunteering. I’d like to introduce the series and talk about why I decided to undertake this project in the first place.

Since joining Zero, I’ve managed to gain a deeper insight into the meaningful projects run by passionate volunteers. As a full-blown charity, Zero has a wide range of projects, and things often go on simultaneously. Through project involvement or, at times, just by engaging in chats with other volunteers, I felt genuinely impressed by how the project teams contribute to the local community and the scale of the impacts these projects brought upon the environment. Therefore, I began contemplating a way to keep track of these conversations and share them with the wider community.

That was when I thought of using a podcast series as a medium to amplify the significance of these impactful initiatives. Through a conversational approach, there will be an anecdotal touch to the discussion, helping listeners gain a thorough understanding on the thought processes driven by the people behind the projects. It goes without saying that these projects came together as a result of tremendous determination and relentless commitment from many people. Therefore, the podcast series will also serve as an opportunity for them to share the project outcomes from their perspectives and to include interesting stories that occurred behind the scenes.

It took some time to flesh out the idea and get the preparatory work done. It all came together eventually, and the first episode, ‘The Story of Zero’, has now been successfully published! In this pioneering episode, I invited Ben McCallan and Olivia Carpenter-Lomax, two founding members who are also the former and current chairs of Zero, to join as guest speakers to kickstart the series. It felt like a walk down memory lane, where we discussed how the charity was set up by the team back in 2020 and all the milestones achieved along the journey. They also shared the ups and downs they encountered throughout the process and some constructive advice on starting up a charity.

Listen to Episode 1 Now!

The series will continue to flourish as more project leads and volunteers come forward to talk about their projects in upcoming episodes. Following the release of the first episode, Zero Podcast will continue its mission as a storytelling vessel, capturing all the unique stories and accomplishments and sharing them with a broader audience!