Post Office scandal, RFU President Deborah Griffin, Annie & The Caldwells

Woman's Hour

BBC

Society & Culture, Health & Fitness, Personal Journals

4.2 • 2.9K Ratings

🗓️ 14 August 2025

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Rooprit Gill ran the Post Office in Handsworth, Birmingham, a business started by her father. But that came to an end when, like hundreds of other postmasters and mistresses, she was falsely accused of stealing money due to a faulty Post Office computer system. Rooprit — known as Roopie — joins Anita Rani on her first day back in the family Post Office after more than a decade. As rugby fans across the UK look forward to the Women’s Rugby World Cup, Anita speaks with rugby trailblazer Deborah Griffin. An amateur player since university, Deborah co-organised the first ever Women’s Rugby World Cup, held in Wales in 1991. Earlier this month, she became the first woman to take up the role of President of the Rugby Football Union. Annie & The Caldwells are a powerhouse gospel-soul family band from West Point, Mississippi, led by matriarch Annie Caldwell — a former member of the trailblazing 1970s gospel group Staples Jr. Singers. Formed in the 1980s with her guitarist husband Willie Joe Caldwell, the band was created to keep their children rooted in gospel music. They recorded their album Can’t Lose My (Soul) live in their hometown church. The Caldwells join Anita to talk about family, faith, and funky gospel soul. Filmmaker Victoria Mapplebeck discusses her new documentary, Motherboard. The film captures the highs and lows of motherhood, her son Jim’s adolescence, and the deep maternal bond they share — much of it filmed on her smartphone. Motherboard is in cinemas from tomorrow.

Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Dianne McGregor

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio Podcasts.
0:05.3	Hello, I'm Anita Rani and welcome to Woman's Hour from BBC Radio 4.
0:10.1	Just to say that for rights reasons, the music in the original radio broadcast has been removed for this podcast.
0:16.5	Good morning and welcome to the programme.
0:18.9	And welcome to what is going to be a very inspiring hour of radio.
0:22.5	I know because I've seen the line up of what's to come.
0:25.6	Your hearts will expand and your soul will be filled this morning.
0:29.6	Gospel group and family band, Annie and the Coldwells will be here to share their story.
0:34.1	Now ahead of the Women's Rugby World Cup, which begins next week.
0:37.5	Today I'll be speaking to the pioneer Deborah Griffin,
0:40.5	who organised the very first Women's Rugby World Cup back in 1991.
0:46.5	And Victoria Maplebeck was a documentary maker.
0:49.6	Then, after becoming pregnant at 38, she began to document the life of her son and her own journey over 20 years.
0:58.5	The result is a very honest film of their life together.
1:02.0	But this morning, I'd like to hear from you about how you capture or have captured precious memories in your own life.
1:07.9	Maybe you too have been filming your children and have turned it into a
1:10.9	mini home movie. Personally, I love looking at old photo albums or home movies, but does anyone
1:17.1	do that anymore? Print out photos, make films. Which are the most precious ones in your life,
1:22.7	the photos? Maybe you've got a home full of framed photographs, which is the one that you treasure the most.
1:28.1	Or is everything now documented in your life digitally, stored away on a hard drive never to be thought of again?
1:34.6	Or is social media documenting everything?
1:37.3	What is personal and only for you?
	...

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