02 May 23
Affinity Water’s Podcast Media Queen talks through her career highlights and leaves an astonishing legacy after a victorious retirement
With just under 50 years of experience across media, print, radio, television, and podcasting, to then meeting the queen and gaining media exclusive interviews with John Major to Colin Michael Foal OBE, first British-American astrophysicist to walk in space. Boni isn’t shy when it comes to fishing out a good story.
Now interviewing Affinity Water's very own, Boni Sones talks to us about her upcoming retirement. She's the voice behind the podcast, and she's here to tell us all about her career and what she's learnt from interviewing the people behind Affinity Waters operation.
‘At Affinity water, I’ve learnt so much. Going out to the reservoirs, seeing the water towers, hearing Steve Baker the Affinity Water history man who recently retired, it’s been wonderful to learn.’
With her extensive journalism experience, Boni set up one of the first broadcast online podcast channels after she left the BBC: Women's Parliamentary Radio with the support of senior women MPs in the Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet across party.
In 2019 Boni helped Affinity Water launch an earlier campaign called "Why not Water" which successfully called for the water labelling of white goods and individual water use targets amongst other measures which are now to be made law in the new Environment Bill going through Parliament. Her podcast interviews included economists; industry representatives and Lord Deben head of the government's Climate Change Committee. She has subsequently supported the SOS campaign with additional podcasts including the head of the manufacturing organisation; and the chair of the APPG on chalk streams.
Boni has used her broadcast journalist and podcast skills to enable Affinity Water to use the local media to communicate with its 3.6 million customers across North London and the Eastern Region to inform them of the economic help and payment breaks available to households who have lost income as a result of the pandemic. This is in line with what the water regulator OFWAT has asked all the 11 water and sewage and 9 water only companies across the UK to do. To date over 9000 AW customers have been given payment breaks and others helped financially in some way.
‘I’ve really enjoyed treading over the fields and going to these festivals that Affinity Water sponsors to hear how we can make our rivers cleaner, how we can provide better food sources and the groups we’re working with to do that.’
Boni proudly retires after 3 years at Affinity Water and leaves on her legacy as launching the Affinity Water podcast 3 years ago.
You can listen to Affinity Water podcasts here.