Exeter Stories

Jen Harris, founder of the Baby Room on Paris Street, traces an eighteen-year journey from a cold scout hut in Heavitree to one of the most essential community spaces in Exeter, and makes an unanswerable case for what new families need. Jen arrived in Exeter at sixteen and has never really left. When her first daughter was born in 2008, she wanted to use cloth nappies and asked the council about a...

Debbie Bucella, Chief Executive of Alibi, tells the story of one of Devon's most significant arts organisations; forty years of taking world-class theatre into school halls, and a reinvention that turned a funding crisis into a community hub. Debbie arrived in Exeter in the late nineties. Her route into theatre ran through the Bike Shed — the legendary two-damp-cellar venue on Fore Street that she...

Maresa Bossano, founder of Love Food CIC, shares the story behind Exeter's community food hub on Cowick Street in St Thomas, and makes a compelling case for why local, plant-based food isn't a lifestyle choice but vital to public health infrastructure. Maresa has spent thirty years working in sustainable food, first as a five-a-day coordinator for the NHS, then running a food co-op at Sustain in L...

Perrier Award winner, actor, and the man behind Locally Sourced comedy night, Will Adamsdale traces the unlikely journey from a comedy emergency in a Sidwell Street cafe to founding Exeter's own annual comedy festival, now running around 90 shows across some of the city's most unexpected spaces. Locally Sourced comedy night began in 2021 at Ebdon's cafe, born from a chance meeting with comedian Ch...

Dr Sarah Spencer and Dr Judith Morgane, the partnership behind arts and heritage organisation Lightbear Lane, share how they are using community film, creative mapping, Shakespeare and asset-based development to help Exeter find its identity, neighbourhood by neighbourhood. Founded in 2023, Lightbear Lane takes a deliberately inside-out approach: rather than parachuting in with solutions, they ask...

Recorded live at the Devon & Exeter Institution, this episode features Charlie Courtenay, the 19th Earl of Devon, as he reflects on heritage, stewardship, and the future of Exeter. We explore: What it means to “inherit” a story and reshape it for the modern world. How the historic Earldom and the city of Exeter remain intertwined, from medieval trade to modern innovation. His dual life as a ba...

Jeanie Lynch, Head of Service for CoLab Women, reflects on decades of community work and what it means to build trust, safety, and hope in Exeter. We discuss: Her early activism in the 1980s Exeter women’s movement and her journey back to the city. The origins of CoLab Exeter and how it evolved into a multi-agency support hub. Founding Resilient Women, now CoLab Women, a programme helping women re...

We sit down at Exeter’s quayside with Tim Stares of CoCreate CIC, a creative social enterprise turning waste timber into purpose and connection. You’ll hear about: How CoCreate combines sustainable design, mental health, and skills training. Their four pillars: Community, Collections, Courses, and Commissions. Projects like Boatyard Bikes, Women in the Workshop, Chop & Chat, and Holy Fool Coff...

In this deeply moving conversation, Dr Suaad Genem, founder of the Exeter Respect Festival and former Exeter councillor, shares her remarkable journey from Haifa to Exeter. We discuss: Her belief in universalism: “every piece of land is my land, every human my family.” The founding of Exeter Respect Festival, celebrating diversity, equality, and community spirit for over 25 years. Experiences as a...

Director, writer and performer Katie Villa of Quirk Theatre talks about imagination as activism, and how Theatre can help us imagine better futures. In this joyful, reflective chat we cover: Katie’s creative roots and her discovery of Exeter’s vibrant arts scene. The evolution of Quirk Theatre, renowned for inventive family productions blending playfulness and purpose. Creating Dayzee and the Worl...

Chris Wood, organiser with Exeter Community Alliance (ECA), a city-wide umbrella network helping nearly 100 local groups collaborate, share space, and engage the public. We talk about moving “beyond protest” to long-term, community-led action; why shared high-street space matters; and how ECA is weaving climate, social justice, culture and civic groups into a practical, supportive network.  In th...

In this episode, I’m joined by Dr Alice Mills and Dr Natalie Whitehead, co-founders of the Exeter Science Centre, to explore how two physicists turned their passion for public engagement into a grassroots movement for science, sustainability, and community connection in the South West. Together, we talk about: How a chance conversation between two physicists sparked the idea for a new kind of scie...

Callum Elliott-Archer, Centre Manager of Exeter Library, reveals how breaking decades-old rules, listening to teenagers, and moving furniture on wheels transformed a declining library into an award-winning cultural hub with higher footfall than pre-COVID. When Callum took over as Centre Manager in 2020, libraries nationwide were closing and visits were declining. Rather than accept the trend, he a...

Julian Tagg, Chairman of Exeter City FC, shares an extraordinary journey from ball boy to boardroom and reveals how a community-owned football club is tackling Exeter's biggest social challenges. In this episode, Julian recounts the dramatic rescue of Exeter City from administration in 2003, when the club faced £4.8 million in debt and sheriffs literally came to seize the floodlights. But this is...

Cameron Mills shares the remarkable journey from a small rock project to a creative education empire reaching over 1,000 children across the South West, and reveals his vision for Exeter as the next cultural capital. In this episode, Cameron explains how his frustration with traditional music education led to creating something completely different: a creative ecosystem where kids can explore ever...

Emma Dunn, Director of the Devon and Exeter Institution, shares the dramatic story of rescuing a collapsing 13th-century building and transforming an exclusive gentlemen's club into an accessible heritage charity serving all of Exeter. When Emma arrived in 2015, scaffolding held up library ceilings, buckets caught drips from failed roofs, and nets captured falling debris, all while members calmly...

Fiona Carden, CEO of CoLab Exeter, shares the remarkable 10-year journey of creating a community hub that revolutionizes how services support people in crisis. In this episode, Fiona explains how CoLab evolved from an uncertain vision with public health funding into what Bishop Robert called "the holder of hope in the city." Rather than just co-locating services in one building, CoLab has created...