York Community Wealth Building Podcast

This is a special episode, because it takes everything that we’ve talked about in the past 18 episodes and it focuses on an opportunity that the city of York has right now, to put some of the community wealth building principles into practice. What am I talking about? Well, let me introduce this week’s guest, Phil Bixby. Phil is an Architect and Passivhaus designer who has lived and worked in York...

This week’s guest is Kate McLaven . Kate is the York Local Lead at Joseph Rowntree Foundation , working on their place based Emerging Futures Team.  She is leading local York based work in service of social, economic and climate transition.  She also works as a project lead, facilitator and grassroots organiser with Story Of The Changing in York. In this episode we start by giving a bit of backgro...

Helen Jones is a disabled, queer person who is curious about the world, passionate about learning and a compassionate activist.  Helen is the founder of Quiet Pride , a York based event where disabled LGBTQ+ people celebrate their wonderful, intersectional identities, which aims to be as accessible and inclusive as possible. She’s a previous chair of York Disability Rights Forum , a position she h...

Beth Fenton is a qualified therapist living and working in York.  Alongside their private therapy practice, they work for the local authority delivering workshops on mental health and wellbeing, and also teaches trainee counsellors at York Learning.  Beth is particularly keen to address areas of social injustice through mental health support and to make therapy more accessible for everyone. In thi...

Sam Gardner is Director of Enterprise Works, the University of York’s enterprise hub.  His work focuses on accelerating high-growth companies and advancing “Enterprise for All”. Through targeted, research-led interventions and strong partnerships, Enterprise Works removes barriers to participation and scale in under-recognised entrepreneurship, enabling more diverse founders and ventures to realis...

Violet Cannon is the CEO of York Travellers Trust, and Founding Director of Proud Gypsy Traveller CIC . Drawing on lived experience and strong connections across Gypsy and Traveller communities, Violet has spent her career championing inclusion, cultural understanding, and representation.  She has led and contributed to numerous Yorkshire-based initiatives, including youth media projects, research...

Dr Graham Gill is a Policy Fellow at the University of York, with a PhD in Sociology and a passion for sustainable cities. His research focuses on urban sustainability, unequal economies and social exclusion.  He is currently working alongside the Climate Change Team at City of York Council, with a mission to help shape the city's climate adaptation strategy and, most importantly, to make sure the...

For anyone wanting to understand more about how community wealth building works, this podcast is for you. Stephen Hunt is a York-based consultant and advisor working on inclusive economies, specialising in poverty and economic development.  His work sits between designing initiatives that support more inclusive economic systems, helping institutions deliver sustainable change, and using evidence a...

Tom McKenzie is co-director of SPARK:YORK , a project that transformed a former derelict site on Piccadilly into a hub for independent trade. In the context of community wealth building, SPARK represents a shift away from traditional, high-rent commercial models and toward a system that keeps profit and opportunity within the local area.  In this episode we discuss the realities of running a socia...

Rob Ainsworth is Founder and Director of Yahala Mataam CIC, York’s refugee led event caterer, pop-up restaurant and cookery school. Yahala Mataam means welcome restaurant in Arabic, and it’s their mission to give opportunity, build confidence and restore dignity in the lives of refugees and asylum seekers through food projects. Rob is a social entrepreneur who loves to think up new ideas that will...

Dr Mike Calvert is a retired lecturer at York St John University , who was also employed part-time to look at the University’s responsibilities in providing public good. He also attended conferences and visited organisations in the UK and abroad, addressing issues of social innovation, social enterprise and the social economy.  Mike is now a trustee of Red Tower , an inclusive welcoming space for...

Polly Orton is a co-director at SPACE YORK CIC - a community run co-working space based above Brew York on Walmgate, Community outreach office for YorSpace - York’s community land trust, and a freelance community organiser.  In this episode we mostly focus on SPACE, discussing the challenges of creating and operating a workspace that has community and affordability at its core.  We talk about the...

Stuart Priest is the director of Circus Skills York CIC .  Circus Skills York provides workshops that inspire and educate, using circus skills such as juggling, slack lining and diablo to teach and train all ages, from school PE lessons to corporate team development.  Alongside this, Stuart also serves as a STEM ambassador, using his thirty years of high-performance computing management leadership...

Anjelica Finnegan is the Development Lead at York Together, a network of radical changemakers distributing funds and other resources. Their mission is to create a space for people to participate, learn and act together, to challenge injustices, and create the conditions for better systems to emerge across York.  While they’re a fairly new group, they have emerged from previous work in the city and...

James Neward is a designer and community-led housing enabler, with expertise in low carbon architecture, retrofit & community led projects. Throughout his career he’s delivered a range of environmentally conscious residential, commercial and community projects, with a focus in championing natural bio-based construction methods. He’s co-founder of YorSpace , a Community Benefit Society + Land Trust...

Sarah Williams is an author, a tutor, an artist, a writing coach, and as of 2025 is the managing director of York Creatives CIC , a community that looks after York’s artists and those working in the creative industries. In this episode we talk about the social value organisations like York creatives provide to their local areas. We explore some of the challenges faced by social enterprises and non...

Tash Almond is a facilitator and systems change practitioner with over 25 years experience working across communities, and the voluntary and social enterprise sectors.  She is a director of Good Organisation , which supports disadvantaged people to share in the economic benefits of tourism, she runs projects of community-led research with Outside Influence , and is also a senior programme co-ordin...

Why should we, as communities, own assets? The second guest on the York Community Wealth Building Podcast is Owen Powell, lecturer at York St John, director of SPACE YORK CIC and author of the Fairer Futures for York report for Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF). We spend time discussing: • What 'community wealth building' (CWB) - often seen as an academic term - actually means for the average perso...

Sue Williamson is CEO of Tang Hall SMART CIC , a York based community music and arts social enterprise. She’s also the CEO of Tang Hall Employment charity, and Chair of York Social Enterprise Coalition . She was previously a music subject leader, SENCO and English teacher at Burnholme Community College, and was instrumental in the campaign to save the building for community use when it was closed...