#15: Sam Gardner - Enterprise Works

#19: Phil Bixby - YoCo

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. [https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-bixby-80b75115/] Phil is an Architect and Passivhaus designer who has lived and worked in York for more than thirty years.  Over the past decade Phil has worked with heritage academic Helen Graham as My Future York [https://myfutureyork.org/], exploring ways to get the city to think creatively about its future. This led to the My Castle Gateway [https://mycastlegateway.org/] and My York Central [https://myyorkcentral.org/about-my-york-central/] community engagement projects, and subsequent work with York Central Co-Owned (known as YoCo) [https://www.yoco.uk/] – facilitating community-led action to create a mixed community and local economy within the massive York Central redevelopment. So, what does this mean? Well, we have one of the biggest city centre brownfield regeneration sites in the country on our doorstep with York Central, which has been in the works for four decades. Phil has been part of the conversation around what happens on this site for the last 10 years or so, and has been fighting to make sure that the wants and needs of the community are reflected in what gets built there. If you’ve driven through that part of town recently you’ll see that money is being spent, infrastructure is being invested in, and there is already momentum to this project. The question is, will York seize the opportunity to do something creative with this, that people in generations to come will look back upon as a marker of York’s commitment to building community wealth rather than private wealth, or will it continue with business as usual? In this episode we dig into the origins of the YoCo project, including why Phil and Helen were first commissioned to do public engagement around the site. We discuss how architects and city planners tend to approach complex issues and systems, and how that might not always be the best way forward. We talk about the disparity between people genuinely believing that York is unlikely to change in the next 10 years, yet also paradoxically believing that it has changed a lot in the past 10 years. And Phil shares his tips on how to do genuine public engagement, rather than a tickbox “public consultation”.  I hope you enjoy this conversation with Phil Bixby [https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-bixby-80b75115/] of YoCo [https://www.instagram.com/yorkcentralcoowned], I’m Ben Porter [https://www.linkedin.com/in/benporteryork/], and this is the York Community Wealth Building Podcast [https://substack.com/@wearefieldwork], brought to you by Fieldwork [https://wearefieldwork.org/].  You can become a YoCo member here, [https://www.yoco.uk/join] or follow them on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/yorkcentralcoowned] or Facebook. [https://www.facebook.com/YorkCentralCoOwned/] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wearefieldwork.substack.com [https://wearefieldwork.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

#18: Kate McLaven - JRF

This week’s guest is Kate McLaven [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-mclaven-915280149/]. Kate is the York Local Lead at Joseph Rowntree Foundation [https://www.jrf.org.uk/], 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 background on Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Emerging Futures Team, including what Kate’s role as York local lead involves. We talk about the New Constellations journey, which was a project that JRF funded in 2023, which later became Fieldwork - the action research collective bringing you this podcast. We then talk about how the way we work is just as important as the actual work itself, with JRF taking on the role of Field builder in place based work, and Kate highlights some of the community wealth building projects across the country that are taking over assets and using them to generate community wealth in perpetuity.  Finally we chat about what it means to go beyond assets and financial wealth when it comes to placemaking and building community wealth. I hope you enjoy this conversation with Kate, I’m Ben Porter [https://www.linkedin.com/in/benporteryork/] and this is the York Community Wealth Building Podcast [https://substack.com/@wearefieldwork], brought to you by Fieldwork [https://wearefieldwork.org/]. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wearefieldwork.substack.com [https://wearefieldwork.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

#17: Helen Jones - Quiet Pride

Helen Jones [https://unlockingwords.wordpress.com/] 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 [https://quietpride.co.uk/], 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 [https://ydrf.org.uk/], a position she held for 5 years which saw her carry out advocacy work on behalf of the disabled community, she writes a blog called Unlocking Words [https://unlockingwords.wordpress.com/] where she writes about nature, disability, sexuality and tarot, and she’s also a fellow member of Fieldwork.  In this episode we explore the origins of York Disability Rights Forum, and why a forum like this is important social infrastructure for building inclusive places. We talk about some of the false assumptions around disabled people, which are often reduced to caricature and are loaded with prejudice.  We discuss how we can make disabled people more visible in society, how ordinary people can get involved in community wealth building even if they currently feel powerless, as well as the benefits to us in all in not always choosing the cheapest and easiest option.  I hope you enjoy this conversation with Helen, this is the York Community Wealth Building Podcast [https://substack.com/@wearefieldwork], hosted by Ben Porter [https://www.linkedin.com/in/benporteryork/] and brought to you by Fieldwork [https://wearefieldwork.org/].  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wearefieldwork.substack.com [https://wearefieldwork.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

#16: Beth Fenton - Therapist

Beth Fenton [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethany-fenton-46171994/] 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 this episode we talk about the unexpected importance of friction, which becomes a theme we keep returning to. We discuss how capitalism promises a fulfilled life if you just work a little harder, and just put in a few more hours, and yet we know that no amount of material things prevents us from experiencing mental health problems which can undermine the whole idea of economic efficiency.  We dig into the values behind Beth’s work, in particular an ethos around each-one-teach-one, and we also have a brief stop discussing the impact AI is having when trying to find local providers of services, such as mental health support. Just before we jump in, if you or anyone you know is experiencing mental health problems and you don’t know where to turn, Beth recommends the Live Well York [https://www.livewellyork.co.uk/] website, which can signpost you to services, products, activities, hubs and clubs in your area.  I hope you enjoy this conversation with Beth Fenton [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethany-fenton-46171994/], I’m Ben Porter [https://www.linkedin.com/in/benporteryork/], and this is the York Community Wealth Building Podcast [https://substack.com/@wearefieldwork], brought to you by Fieldwork [https://wearefieldwork.org/].  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wearefieldwork.substack.com [https://wearefieldwork.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

#15: Sam Gardner - Enterprise Works

Sam Gardner is Director of Enterprise Works, [https://www.york.ac.uk/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 realise their potential, and translate enterprise talent and innovation into social value and economic growth. Many of you will already have come across Enterprise Works in the work they’ve been doing to support local business, but you may not know how much of a focus they have on developing social value.  In this episode we talk about some of that work, and why Enterprise Works is focusing on social value and not just economic value. We talk about the cultural changes taking place that are helping to reinforce the narrative around community wealth building, the need to connect York to the rest of the region, the requirements that need to be put in place for changes in procurement to actually go ahead, as well the pitfall that community wealth builders can fall into which will hinder its chances of actually working.  https://www.instagram.com/uoyenterpriseworks [https://www.instagram.com/uoyenterpriseworks] https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/enterprise-works-at-the-university-of-york/posts/?feedView=all [https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/enterprise-works-at-the-university-of-york/posts/?feedView=all] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wearefieldwork.substack.com [https://wearefieldwork.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]