The Community Development Podcast (@CommDevtPodcast)

In November 2020 an online article found its way to me by Associate Editor at Peace, Land and Bread, Christian Noakes (twitter.com/comrade_cricket) called ‘Displacement of the Dispossessed: Community Development Under Capitalism’: https://www.peacelandbread.com/post/displacement-of-the-dispossessed The way it deconstructed gentrification and its lexicon, re-presenting it to be the pernicious and i...

In this episode Russell is joined by Rob Ashelford, Head of Nesta Cymru, upon the release of a report into the extent of data poverty in Wales and Scotland published by Nesta and Y Lab based in Cardiff, Wales. The report 'Data Poverty in Wales and Scotland' reveals a stark picture for as many as 1 million people in Wales and Scotland – 1 in 7 of the adult population – who lack sufficient data to m...

Back in June 2020 for episode #25 Russell caught up with Helen Griffiths and David Clague from St Mellons in east Cardiff to explore how they we adapting to life under the lockdown and how they were adapting their Community Development activity to address challenges that had emerged. Russell and Helen – who works with Hope St Mellons – kept in touch and caught up again to have a socially-distant c...

Nick Andrews from the Wales School for Social Care Research at Swansea University, joins the podcast for the first time to discuss his work to bring research and practice together in social care systems. Nick’s training and background is as a community social worker and is a disciple of the Most Significant Change methodology that emphasises the value of storytelling and importance of giving peopl...

Back in February 2016 Joseph Rowntree Foundation published the report Breaking the Links Between Ethnicity and Poverty in Wales by Duncan Holtham (from the People and Work Unit), Anna Nicholl and Chris Johnes: https://www.housingnet.co.uk/pdf/JRF-Breaking_the_links_between_Poverty_and_Ethnicity_in_Wales.pdf At the time I was developing podcasts for the Communities First workforce in Wales as learn...

In the second part of a series looking at how Community Development is adapting to and tackling issues caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, I chat first with Chris Johnes from Building Communities Trust (BCT) in Wales about how they are helping to bring to government’s attention the stories from communities about how the pandemic is affecting people. Russell then chats with two people involved with on...

During lockdown I reached out to the Community Development fraternity across the world to invite it to share its experiences of supporting communities during the Covid-19 pandemic. Part 1 of this Community Development and Covid-19 series visits Bangor in north Wales and Winnipeg in Canada and reveals community development responses to the pandemic from contrasting scales: the local and the strateg...

In this episode I am joined by Sharon Sweeney, from the University of Dundee’s student finance team who has recently finished a Masters degree, as part of which Sharon completed a dissertation on the role of social prescribing in patient primary care in Scotland. Sharon provides a simple ‘primer’ of what social prescribing is and what sort of activities it undertakes, with a particular focus on ho...

In this podcast I chat via skype to Mark McFeeters, lecturer on Ulster University’s Community Youth Work degree, and Lauren McAreavey, a third year undergraduate on the course. Among other things they discuss: - how youth work is distinct from other forms of work/contact with young people - the importance of reflection in youth work - the value external placements bring to the academic training an...

Hot on the heels of the launch of the brand new Carnegie UK Trust report on Turnaround Towns in the UK, Russell is joined by Pippa Coutts, Carnegie’s Policy and Development Manager, to look at the stories of nine towns across the UK who have been on a journey to revive their fortunes. https://d1ssu070pg2v9i.cloudfront.net/pex/carnegie_uk_trust/2019/11/27165252/LOW-RES-4348-CUKT-TTUK-Report-2019.pd...

On 28 November I had the pleasure of dropping by the Oh What A Year! celebrations that Eden Communities Wales (twitter.com/edencommwales) hosted at the award-winning social enterprise Big Moose Coffee Co. in Cardiff city centre. A range of projects were in attendance who had a diverse range of missions: sustainability and environmentalism, community cohesion, faith, food and – simply – sharing. Sa...

In this podcast I am joined by East Belfast-based community development practitioner Jonny Currie (twitter.com/scrabopower). Jonny talks about how the political sclerosis that has seen the suspension of Northern Ireland’s devolved assembly and government executive has affected policy and strategic direction of community development there. Jonny also provides a fascinating insight to how Northern I...

In this episode I am joined by Dr Rob Watson from Decentered Media (twitter.com/DecenteredMedia) to look at, among other things, the role that community media plays in strengthening civil society and providing communities with a voice to articulate things that matter to them, rather than what a professional media considers as ‘newsworthy’. They also consider the extent to which community developme...

In this podcast I chat with Dave Smith from Heritage Quay, Huddersfield University’s archive service and considers community development in an ‘alternative’ context: sporting heritage and rugby league supporters Dave was involved in co-producing the national rugby league archive and talks about how he engaged communities of rugby league supporters to develop the archive. He talks about what co-pro...

In this podcast, the first to draw on community development practice in the United States, I am joined by Moses S Dixon, a doctorate student at State University of New York in Binghamton, to discuss the relationship between Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and their host communities – usually predominantly African-American communities. In particular, Moses draws on his research...

In this episode I am joined by Becky Harford who is one of the founders of Benthyg a ‘library of things’ in Rumney, Cardiff, possibly the first such library of things in Wales. Benthyg is Welsh for ‘to borrow’. Becky explains what a ‘library of things’ is; what motivated the creation of Benthyg; how Benthyg has coalesced with other community activism in Rumney; and how it is making alliances in ne...

In this episode I am joined by Dave Horton from Action in Caerau and Ely (ACE) and Ceri Cunnington from Cwmni Bro Ffestiniog to discuss how their contrasting geography shapes approaches to community development…or not. Caerau and Ely are large post- and inter-war housing estates in the west of Cardiff. Blaenau Ffestiniog and its surrounding ‘bro’ are more rural in comparison, where Welsh is the co...

On 24 November 2018 a number of community media experts and practitioners convened in Leicester, England to discuss community media and why the social gain mission matters. Drs Rob Watson and Katie Moylan hosted the event which was a collaboration between the University of Leicester and the Community Media Association (#mapcommedia). Slides from the event can be accessed here: https://chat.commedi...

Having recently started working with community benefit society Indycube – who provide coworking spaces across Wales and beyond as well as offering a trade union for the self-employed – I was struck by a fascinating article in issue 21 of Stir To Action magazine by Stephanie Gamauf, Director of Programmes at Brixton Impact Hub: ‘Community organising – Back to its roots’ In it Stephanie argued, amon...

When Communities First drew to a close earlier in 2018 in Wales it brought the curtain down on the longest-running programme of its nature in British social policy history. Dr Sioned Pearce of Cardiff University’s WISERD department joins Russell to share some of the findings of one of her research specialisms, community development and social policy across the devolved administrations of the UK (m...

In this episode I am joined by John Rose, Director of Big Lottery Fund Wales to discuss how Big Lottery Fund Wales places value on community development approaches in applications it receives. Among other things John explains what ‘community’ means to the Big Lottery and what its strategic vision of ‘putting people in the lead’ means in practice and how community development can facilitate this (w...

In this episode I am joined by Andy Green from Grow Social Capital, and founder of Indycube, Mark Hooper, to discuss social capital and to consider how community development activity can stimulate social capital. Andy draws on Robert Putnam’s seminal 2000 book 'Bowling Alone' about the decline of social capital in the United States. The book draws its title from how bowling alley attendances in th...

In this episode I am joined by Chris Ashman, Director of Regeneration for the Isle of Wight in England. Chris outlines his approach and commitment to involving people and communities in regeneration practice; he calls this ‘place planning’. They consider the inherent tensions within regeneration and land use planning when communities are empowered to not only contribute to the process and politics...

In this episode Leeds-based community development consultant Steve Skinner discusses what he believes constitutes ‘stronger communities’. In the podcast he discusses the building blocks that can make communities stronger, including the need to place equalities at the heart of such activity. Steve is keen to hear from community development practitioners across the UK and the experience of practice...

In this episode Russell is joined by Clare Lloyd from the Prisoners’ Education Trust‘s Welsh project; Jamie Grundy, formerly of Cardiff Metropolitan University’s Widening Access team and now working freelance as a specialist in community development, prison education & higher education; and Mike Scott, an ex-offender and mentor. The Prisoners’ Education Trust helps prisoners access distance learni...