CLD Talks

This week on CLD Talks Conor and Ben have a chat with Vicky Wilson who is a Community Development Team Manager for Fife Council. Vicky kindly travelled to Larkhall Universal Connections to record this episode. We have a great chat about how Vicky started her career within CLD, her time at university, going back to do her masters, work during lockdown and the Covid 19 pandemic, national pieces of w...

This week on CLD Talks Ben and Conor go to Fuse Youth Cafe and speak with Sharon and Ashley about the amazing work that they do. We also have Caitlin and Keigan who host the young person led podcast “Talk 2 Me”. Fuse Youth Café Glasgow is a charity working in East Glasgow providing a variety of services to young people of the area. The area has a high level of deprivation and the young people face...

Welcome to CLD Talks Shorts - A new segment for the Podcast were we highlight some key topics within CLD where I encourage dialog and conversation with us over on Twitter and more importantly with your colleagues in your work place. This will be to share ideas, practice, reflect on our own work and share some up beat good moments you are having within CLD. I am looking for ideas, topics and people...

This week on CLD Talks Conor catch’s up with Steven Youngson who is the Team Leader for Lanark Universal Connections. Steven has worked with Youth Family Community Learning Services within South Lanarkshire Council for 15 years and has worked within rural settings for the majority of his career. We discuss Steven’s career including his recent promotion, when he knew a career in CLD was for him, ad...

This week on CLD Talks Conor speaks with Kevin Ditcham who is a Insight and Engagement Lead at Police Scotland. Kevin is part of a team helping put the voices of citizens into service design and delivery. Kevin has a BA (Hons) Community Learning and Development (University of Dundee) and a background in youth and community work in areas of youth participation, public engagement, health inequalitie...

This week on CLD Talks I am joined by Alan Sherry, OBE, who is chair of the Community Learning and Development Standards Council for Scotland. He sits on the board of Fuse Youth Café which is located in the East of the City. He was appointed to the Scottish Education Council in December 2021. We discuss Alan’s Career from the college sector, national pieces of work and why he got involved with so...

Happy 1st Birthday CLD Talks! In this Episode Stephanie asks Conor about how he started CLD Talks and more details of how it became a real thing. We have Adele who returns to give us an update on her year in CLD. Finally, Conor and Stephanie discuss some key themes which have come from the podcasts. I am so proud to have brought these podcasts to the Community Learning and Development world and st...

Welcome to CLD Talks CLD Talks has been set up to raise the profile of Community Learning Development across Scotland. We will have Talks with front line community workers from third sector and statutory organisations, managers and decision makers to share practice, promote their work and some feel good moments of their careers. This started off as identified gap in the Podcasting world and now we...

This week on CLD Talks we speak to Karen Anderson who is the Founder and Director for She Scotland. SHE aims to support girls and young women become more empowered, supported, aspirational & improve their life chances. We had a really insightful conversation about the history of She Scotland, Karen’s own journey, going international and the challenges and opportunities for girls and women in S...

This week on CLD Talks I was joined in person at East Kilbride Universal Connections (The Key) with Tim Frew who is the Chief Executive of Youth Link Scotland. Tim sets the scene of his career leading up to his current role, growing up in Northern Ireland, discusses role models, how the sector is just now, the challenge of COVID 19 and so much more! This is an honest conversation and I really hope...

This week on CLD Talks I have the pleasure to speak with Susan Hunter who is the Chief Executive for Youth Borders who work in partnership and collaboration with a range of organisations regionally and nationally. We discuss Susan’s career for far, Youth Borders and how they support the local community and ‘A Force For Good’ a piece of research which was commissioned by Youth Borders. Links: https...

This week on CLD Talks we bring you the first in person Podcast we have done! Our guests are the Team from Landed Jax, Robbie, Tamsin and Aaron. We discuss the history of Landed, how they use a harm reduction approach, what their workshops are all about, the development of resources and so much more! Special thanks to Ben for managing the sound desk! For more info on Landed - https://www.landed.in...

This week on CLD Talks I chat with Ryan McKay who works for the Citadel Youth Centre in Edinburgh. Ryan talks to us about Intergenerational Practice and they projects that they run, examples of good practice, how they adapted to the digital world his CLD journey and so much more. This is a must listen to anyone who is unsure about what intergenerational practice is and its benefits for all parties...

This week I catch up with Gary Brown who is a National Leadership Network Development Co-ordinator (Young People with Care Experience) with Life Changes Trust. We discuss Gary's youth work background within a Local Authority, switching to his current role during the pandemic, how important policy is to young people and staff, different work Gary has been involved with and so much more.  All r...

This week on CLD Talks I speak with Stuart Moir who is a Bicentennial Education Fellow within Moray House School of Education and Sport. We have a great chat about how CLD found him, work he done as a school based practitioner and the challenges within that, his current role, where CLD is and so much more! Stuart’s contact information - https://www.ed.ac.uk/profile/stuart-moir Twitter - @CLDTalks

This week on CLD Talks I have the pleasure to speak with Dr Sinead Gormally who is a Senior Lecturer in Community Development with the University of Glasgow. We have a great conversation about Sinead’s career from starting off going to youth clubs, Sinead's upbringing, social justice, the work Sinead is doing on Peace Building on a national scale, becoming an academic and so much more! Twitte...

This week on CLD Talks I had the pleasure to speak with Ruth Kerracher who works with STAF (Scottish Through Care and After Care Forum) and CYCJ (Children and Young People Centre for Justice. Ruth tells us about the amazing work she is involved with, the opportunities young people gain from working with them, social justice, participation and lots more!  This is a great chat and raises awaren...

To kick off Season 3 of CLD Talks I am join with Dr Alan Mackie who is a Lecturer for Dundee University's Community Education Course. Alan discusses his journey within CLD, Academic career, snapchat, the role of academia in field and lots more!  It's a great chat and please let us know what you think! For more information on Dundee University please go to - https://www.dundee.ac.uk/undergraduate/c...

This week on CLD Talks we are revisiting some of the answers to our signature question, “What advice would you give to someone looking to start a career in CLD?” We are currently working on a few different podcasts however with Summer Holidays and schedules I figured it would be nice to revisit some of the amazing messages from our previous guests! Hope you guys enjoy and thanks for tuning in ever...

On this weeks episode of CLD Talks I am joined by Josh Clarke who is the Co-Founder of Turf Youth Project which is a charity based within Greater Pollock and Cardonald wards in Glasgow. In 2016 Josh and Stacey started Turf Youth Project and since then they have grown the charity from the ground up. Josh talks us through their challenges, successes and getting keys to their new premises and all the...

This week on CLD Talks I had the pleasure to speak with Iain Corbett who is a Local Coordinator for Drumchapel & Castlemilk with Children's Neighbourhood Scotland which is based within Glasgow University.  We discuss how Iain used Drama to work with young people, why he decided in a career within CLD, set backs, not knowing the answers, funding and much more! Twitter: Iain Corbett - @Iain...

This week on CLD Talks I am join with Warren Hughes who is the Project Manager for the Scottish Gambling Education Hub within Fast Forward. Warren and his team support young people’s health and wellbeing by promoting gambling education and prevention across Scotland through various ways including training CLD Practitioners.  We have a great discussion about the origins of the hub, opportuniti...

This week on CLD Talks I have the pleasure to speak with Clare MacGillivray who is the Director of Making Rights Real, European Director for the International Association for Community Development and Chair of the World Community Development Conference Dundee 2019. Clare discusses her career from going to university, going to India to do community development, her passion for supporting people und...

Thanks again to Vic for covering for me this week! This week on CLD Talks, Vic has a chat with Jackie Howie who is the CEO of Learning Link Scotland who support Third Sector Organisations across Scotland. Jackie talks us through her journey of becoming a CLD Practitioner, the importance of Adult Learning, the up and coming Adult Learning Strategy and much more! Find Learning Link Scotland on Twitt...

Firstly thank you to Victoria Barnett-Simpson for stepping in for me this week as I have lost my voice! This week on CLD Talks Vic chats with Jamie Hopkins who is a Lecturer and ESOL Co-Ordinator at Ayrshire College. Jamie takes us through his experience starting with the Ocean Youth Trust, studying to becoming a Home Economics teacher then having a U-turn to studying Community Education, studying...