This Is The North

Welcome to the This Is The North Podcast, your source of transformative conversations. An intentional challenge to the systems holding back the North of England. Hosted by Alison Dunn MBE, an award-winning charity chief executive and former solicitor. This podcast is supported by the Society Matters Foundation and is dedicated to curating and sharing knowledge, powering the change we need for a more equal and inclusive society. In this episode, Alison is joined by Bianca Robinson, leader of CEO Sleepout UK, the charity that asks business leaders to spend a night outdoors to raise money and attention for the frontline organisations tackling homelessness in their own towns and cities. Bianca has slept out more than a hundred times herself, and she has been saying the same thing for nine years: we blame society, but we are society. The conversation starts with a number that reframes the whole subject. Rough sleeping is the visible edge of homelessness, and it is a small part of it. Around 385,000 people in the UK are homeless, enough to fill Wembley Stadium four and a half times over, and 175,000 of them are children. Most are in temporary accommodation, on sofas, or in places that are unsafe, and they never appear in a doorway or a headline. New Prime Minister Andy Burnham has pledged to end rough sleeping. Bianca is optimistic, and she is clear about the conditions. It is achievable if Housing First is delivered at scale: a permanent home first, wraparound support for people whose needs are complex, and the agencies around them working together rather than in sequence. She points to Greater Manchester, where Housing First achieved an 85 per cent retention rate, moved 466 people into sustainable accommodation and expanded to more than 600 places, and where regional collaboration made the difference. Finland offers the longer-run evidence that the model holds. Then the barriers, and this is where the conversation turns on the rest of us. There are not enough homes. Council housing has not been replenished for decades. New building runs into NIMBYism and the uncomfortable question of the green belt. Properties sit empty or are held by investors, and the funding conversation now includes serious voices calling for a wealth tax. Alison and Bianca work through each of these without pretending any of them is simple, or that the answer belongs to someone else's postcode. Bianca also explains where homelessness actually begins, and where it can be stopped earlier: rent arrears, domestic abuse, release from prison, young people leaving care, the asylum process, mental health and addiction. She takes on the stereotypes about who ends up on the street, the myths about asylum seekers, and the role of trauma in addiction, and describes how CEO Sleepout turns a single night into sustained funding for the people doing the work on the ground. Timestamps: 00:00 Homelessness is much bigger than rough sleeping 01:03 The Prime Minister's pledge, and why Bianca is hopeful 02:46 What Housing First actually means 05:59 The 382,000 people you never see 12:19 Empty homes, investors and the tax question 15:34 Why council housing has to come back 17:52 Finland and Manchester show it works 20:05 What CEO Sleepout does with a night outdoors 25:00 Changing who we think homeless people are 29:12 Prevention, and the myths 34:31 Angela Rayner and the politics of housing 36:36 Closing thoughts Ending rough sleeping has been promised before. The difference this time, in Bianca's telling, is that the evidence already exists, some of it in Greater Manchester, about what works. What remains is the decision to build the homes, fund the support, and get the agencies in a room together. None of that is beyond the North, and none of it is someone else's problem. Host: Alison Dunn Guest: Bianca Robinson This podcast is produced by Purpose Made. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the This Is The North Podcast, your source of transformative conversations. An intentional challenge to the systems holding back the North of England. Hosted by Alison Dunn MBE, an award-winning charity chief executive and former solicitor. This podcast is supported by the Society Matters Foundation and is dedicated to curating and sharing knowledge, powering the change we need for a more equal and inclusive society. In this episode, Alison is joined by Keith Merrin, Director of North East Museums, the organisation responsible for twelve museums across Tyneside and Northumberland, from the Hancock and the Discovery Museum to a former coal mine at Woodhorn and the Roman forts at either end of Hadrian's Wall. Keith grew up in Jarrow in the 1980s, when worklessness was as high as it had been at the time of the Jarrow March, and the town's story was one of loss. It took him years to learn that in the seventh century Jarrow had been one of the most important centres of learning in Western Europe. That gap, between the story a place is told and the story it actually owns, runs through the whole conversation. Keith describes how the job has changed. One of his duty managers, thirty years in post, puts it simply: "We're much more like community centres now." That means sessions with refugee and asylum seeker communities who arrive in the North East knowing nothing about where they've landed, memory boxes taken into care homes with staff trained to carry the work on, and the women at the Shipley Art Gallery passing on the craft of clippy mats. It also means confronting the harder history in the collections themselves, objects gathered during the British Empire whose significance to communities living in the North East today demands more thought than the Victorians ever gave it. Keith is direct about repatriation: his organisation would consider returning an object if a source community asked, and in twenty years it has happened once. The conversation gets specific about money. Most of Keith's museums are free, and free is not enough. He cites National Trust research showing members visiting less often even with entry covered, because the bus fare, the coffee and the gift shop have turned a free day out into something many families cannot afford. Alison shares her own experience of leaning on museums and libraries during the hardest years of raising her family, when free programmes were, in her words, the lifeblood of her parenting. Keith explains the poverty-proofing work with Children North East and the pay-it-forward café tokens his team quietly moves between sites so that nobody has to prove hardship to accept one. Then there is the imbalance. The national museums, most of them in London, receive the most public funding and have the greatest capacity to raise their own, while councils across England have cut culture spending to the point where many spend nothing on museums at all. Timestamps: 00:00 Why museums matter now 01:26 Jarrow, and the story it wasn't told 03:01 The Pitmen Painters 05:12 The Enigma machine and a North Shields hero 09:36 Empire, collections and repatriation 13:35 Five challenges facing the North East 20:03 A sector under pressure 23:48 The North South funding gap 31:48 What excites Keith about the future This conversation is a reminder that museums are not warehouses for the past. They are where a region keeps the evidence of what it has been and what it could be, and the barriers that keep people out of them, financial, cultural and psychological, are barriers to identity itself. Keith Merrin grew up in a town that was never told its own greatest story. His job now is making sure that stops happening. Host: Alison Dunn Guest: Keith Merrin This podcast is produced by Purpose Made. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the This Is The North Podcast, your source of transformative conversations. An intentional challenge to the systems holding back the North of England. Hosted by Alison Dunn MBE, an award-winning charity chief executive and former solicitor. This podcast is supported by the Society Matters Foundation and is dedicated to curating and sharing knowledge, powering the change we need for a more equal and inclusive society. In this episode, Alison sits down with Ameera Jamil, founder and CEO of Recultured, who has spent her career supporting victims of forced marriage and honour-based abuse, first on the front line at Karma Nirvana and now training the professionals to recognise the signs and act on them. It is a conversation about a form of abuse that survives on silence, and about the institutions that still have nowhere to record it. Ameera is precise about what this is, and none of it is comfortable. Honour-based abuse is harm inflicted to restore a family's so-called honour, and the list of what counts as dishonourable has no end, because each family writes its own: make-up, Western clothes, who you marry, whether you marry at all. The stereotypical victim is South Asian and Muslim; the reality reaches into any culture. What victims fear most is disownment; Ameera has had people tell her they would rather be hit than cut off. And where domestic abuse is done by a partner or an ex, honour-based abuse is done by parents, siblings and a community together: a fifteen-year-old fitted for a wedding dress, examined to prove her virginity, and not one adult asking a single question. Around 3,000 honour-based crimes are reported in the UK each year, a figure practitioners describe as the tip of the iceberg. Ameera's research into universities shows why so much stays hidden. Over ninety per cent have no reporting category for honour-based abuse, forced marriage or FGM. Over sixty per cent offer no specific training. And when a student stops attending, the next of kin the university rings can be the very person who forced the marriage. This year, for the first time, honour-based abuse was given its own statutory definition in law. On 14 July, the National Day of Memory, campaigned for by Karma Nirvana, remembers everyone lost or harmed in the name of honour. It falls on the birthday of Shafilea Ahmed. She was seventeen when her parents murdered her, and her case is one this conversation returns to more than once. Survivors will speak, stories will be told, and we will remember. Timestamps: 00:00 The fear worse than violence 01:18 What honour-based abuse actually is 03:45 The tip of the iceberg 09:43 The fear of disownment 11:42 Shafilea Ahmed 17:30 Careful curiosity: the signs professionals miss 36:26 The National Day of Memory, 14 July 39:02 Closing thoughts Karma Nirvana's map of those killed in the name of honour runs from the top of Scotland to Land's End, and not one of its markers sits in a place that thought this happened there. The question this conversation leaves us with: when someone stops coming in, whose job is it to notice? This conversation is an important one. Ahead of the National Day of Memory on 14 July, give it your time, and share it with anyone who works with young people. If you or someone you know is at risk, Karma Nirvana's national helpline is 0800 5999 247. Host: Alison Dunn Guest: Ameera Jamil Resources: Recultured Karma Nirvana The Forced Marriage Unit Payzee Mahmod TEDx talk This podcast is produced by Purpose Made. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the This Is The North Podcast, your source of transformative conversations. An intentional challenge to the systems holding back the North of England. Hosted by Alison Dunn, an award-winning charity chief executive and former solicitor. This podcast is supported by the Society Matters Foundation and is dedicated to curating and sharing knowledge, powering the change we need for a more equal and inclusive society. In this episode, Alison sits down with Ailsa Rutter OBE, director of Fresh and Balance, the organisations that have led the North East's work on tobacco and alcohol for two decades. It is a conversation about a problem many people assume was dealt with years ago, and about how much of the harm that remains lives not in the tobacco itself, but in the stories built around it. Ailsa grew up in a house where almost everyone smoked. Her mother, her father and her grandmother were all forty a day, and one of her earliest memories is a car journey from Seahouses to Devon in the 1970s, unable to breathe and begging them to stop. By her own account she should have ended up a smoker. Instead she trained as a nurse, watched the same men return to her cardiac ward for a second bypass and then a third while still smoking, and eventually went to university in Brisbane to understand why telling someone to stop is not the same as helping them. She has spent the years since taking that question apart, work recognised with an OBE and a medal from the World Health Organisation. Her argument is precise and uncomfortable. Two in three long-term smokers are killed by what they smoke, and no consumer product has ever been invented that is guaranteed to be so lethal. The filter on a cigarette does nothing to protect you; it was built to look as though it does. Counterfeit tobacco is no more dangerous than the branded packet. Smoking does not relieve stress, it manufactures the very tension it appears to soothe. These myths do their heaviest work in the communities with the least power to take them apart, which is why smoking rates remain highest among the most deprived and those struggling with their mental health. And yet the North East has cut smoking by 62% in two decades, from the worst rate in England to very nearly the best. From the first of January next year, nobody born after the first of January 2009 will ever legally be sold tobacco, the first policy of its kind anywhere in the world. Timestamps 00:00 The problem we think we already solved 01:14 From the worst in England to nearly the best 03:29 The myth that every young person vapes 06:07 Alcohol, and the harm we don't see 11:47 The filter that protects nothing 22:24 A smoke-free generation, explained 25:44 Illicit tobacco and the people who police it 29:05 The bill the industry says it pays 33:52 What the North East can learn from elsewhere 35:42 How to help someone you love quit 37:16 Closing thoughts The question this conversation leaves us with is not whether smoking can be ended, but whether we choose to finish the job. Fresh and the region's directors of public health have named a date: 2040, a smoke-free North East. Knowing what this region has already achieved, Ailsa does not think that is naive. The people owed the truth about tobacco have always been handed the least of it. A generation born after January will grow up never being sold it at all. If you are worried about someone, or want to stop, the Fresh Quit website is a one-stop shop for stop smoking support across the North East, including stories from people who have done it. Every council in the region funds a free stop smoking service, the NHS now runs a tobacco dependency treatment service for hospital patients, and free digital support is available around the clock through the Smoke Free app. Host: Alison Dunn Guest: Ailsa Rutter OBE Resources: Fresh Quit The Tobacco and Vapes Act Smoke Free App This podcast is produced by Purpose Made . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the This Is The North Podcast, your source of transformative conversations. An intentional challenge to the systems holding back the North of England. Hosted by Alison Dunn, an award-winning charity chief executive and former solicitor. This podcast is supported by the Society Matters Foundation and is dedicated to curating and sharing knowledge, powering the change we need for a more equal and inclusive society. In this episode, Alison sits down with Katrina Morley, CEO of Tees Valley Education, and Sean Harris, the trust's Director of Place. Together they have co-authored Tackling Poverty and Disadvantage in Schools , a book that refuses the comfortable myth that low income equals low aspiration and asks educators to be furiously curious about why that lie has held for so long. Katrina was born in Middlesbrough. She trained as a chemical engineer before swapping careers, much to the consternation of family and friends and she has never looked back. Sean is a Lancaster lad who came to Durham first generation, started youth work in the East and West End of the city, and stayed. The first time a child told him they were going to the toon at the weekend, he had no idea what they meant. Their argument is simple and uncomfortable. You cannot teach a child out of poverty. Educational inequality cannot be tackled by educational tools alone. Child poverty costs this country an estimated 39 billion pounds a year. We can find the money to pay for the consequences. We have not found the money to prevent them. World Book Day, packed lunch standards, school trips with souvenir shops, ballet classes that require tutus nobody told you to buy. These are not minor inconveniences but the daily architecture of exclusion. Timestamps: 00:00 The DNA of a Trust 06:42 Five Academies, One Ecosystem 07:32 What Poverty Actually Does to a Child 23:07 Beyond the Crisis Narrative 29:27 Pay It Forward 31:48 People, Place, Policy 34:59 Expanded Free School Meals and Dignity 37:10 What Gives Them Hope The question we're left with is what does it actually take to give a child in the North East dignity, opportunity, and agency, and who is doing it already. A child cannot wait for policy to catch up. Host: Alison Dunn Guests: Katrina Morley + Sean Harris This podcast is produced by Purpose Made . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the 'This Is The North' Podcast, your source of transformative conversations. An intentional challenge to the systems holding back the North of England. Hosted by Alison Dunn. In this episode, Alison is joined by Andrew Dunsmure, Chair of the Board of Trustees at Tiny Lives Trust, about his personal experience becoming a father at 28 weeks during COVID, when his newborn son was taken into neonatal intensive care with a brain bleed, uncertain survival, and later long-term disabilities. Andrew describes dissociation, the clinical language of early prognosis, and how he was separated from his wife and son for long periods, leaving both parents with very different and isolating experiences. A later diagnosis of 22q deletion syndrome followed months of uncertainty and multiple medical issues, including a heart operation. Andrew details the wide-ranging impacts of the condition, developmental delays, growth and feeding issues, anxiety, and potential future mental health risks, and shares the pressure to become an expert in his child's care, the "cliff edge" many families feel after discharge, and the emotional load fathers often carry while trying to hold their family together. He recounts a breakdown in his son's second year, reflecting on the lack of spaces for fathers to speak openly, and discusses how he has relied on the gym and meditation while also making difficult decisions about boundaries with family and friends. The conversation explores grief alongside love and joy, celebrating small milestones, and his son's personality and interests, including a love of dinosaurs and learning to walk again after foot surgery. Andrew argues that dads need to talk more, sharing examples of men staying silent for decades, and redefines resilience as allowing yourself to fall apart and recover. He explains how his lived experience led him to Tiny Lives Trust, first as a trustee and then as chair, and outlines the charity's support for families at the RVI neonatal unit, including psychological and physiotherapy support, family groups, and a dads' peer support group. He closes with advice to be kind to yourself, accept that it's okay to fall apart, and embrace honest, realistic support rather than "toxic positivity." Timestamps: 00:00 A dad's silent trauma 01:48 Emergency birth at 28 weeks 03:02 Clinical language, survival talk, and dissociation 04:09 ICU, brain bleed, and uncertainty 05:11 Coming home and the cliff edge 05:51 22q deletion syndrome 07:35 Becoming the expert 09:44 The crash in year two 11:37 Finding support and living with grief 14:08 Celebrating millimetres, not milestones 15:57 Why dads need to talk more 17:33 Turning pain into purpose 19:37 What Tiny Lives offers families 21:59 Kindness, realism, and toxic positivity 26:47 How to get support or get involved This conversation is one of the most honest things we've published. Andrew doesn't perform strength, he describes what it actually costs, and why the silence around fathers in these situations helps nobody. If this reaches one dad who's holding it all together and falling apart at the same time, we hope it reminds you that you don't have to do it alone. Host: Alison Dunn Guest: Andrew Dunsmure This podcast is produced by Purpose Made. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the This Is The North Podcast, your source of transformative conversations. An intentional challenge to the systems holding back the North of England. Hosted by Alison Dunn. In this episode, Alison is joined by Claire Malcolm MBE, founding Chief Executive of New Writing North, the organisation she built from a small startup in 1996 into a nationally recognised force shaping opportunities for writers across the north of England. Claire grew up working class in York, a passionate reader placed in low sets for English because she was a bad speller. Nobody in her family had been to university. She ended up doing a fine art degree because the system had already decided English wasn't for her. In 1996, when everyone she knew in Leeds was heading to London, she went to Newcastle instead, and decided to put it on the map. For the first twenty years, New Writing North was about building bridges to London, helping northern writers access the agents, publishers, and deals concentrated in the capital. It worked. But Claire reached a point where she started asking a different question: we are supplying London with brilliant writers, so where is the investment coming back? The conversation turns to the reading crisis. Only one in five schools in the North East has a school library. Book ownership among children is lower than the national average. Claire makes the case that books were, for her, "the steps out of the place I was from," and that when you strip away the library, the books in the home, and the teacher who takes you seriously, you close the door to everything that comes after. Claire has now raised £10.5 million to build a Centre for Writing in Newcastle, backed by the public sector, Northumbria University, and the combined authority. Hachette UK, the second biggest publisher in the country, has opened a Newcastle office with 20 staff and together they have launched an MA in publishing. The Centre is due to open in early 2028. The episode also covers the working-class voices magazine The Bee, youth and community programmes in Newcastle's West End, regional screenwriting, AI and copyright, and what Claire is reading. Timestamps: 00:00 The reading crisis 01:20 Growing up working class in York 04:31 Reading, wellbeing, and empathy 05:29 Why children lack access to books 07:54 Libraries, loneliness, and connection 09:31 Building bridges to London 11:03 The Centre for Writing in Newcastle 12:14 Regional voices on the global stage 16:52 Working-class voices and The Bee 18:29 The Northern Writers Awards 20:22 Skills programmes in libraries 21:31 Youth partnerships and Excelsior Academy 25:54 Screenwriting in the North East 28:39 The Booker Prize and what Claire is reading 37:49 Legacy and the Centre for Writing This conversation is a reminder that who gets taken seriously as a writer, a reader, or a person with something to say is still shaped by class, geography, and access. Claire Malcolm has spent nearly thirty years proving that the talent was always here. Now she is building the infrastructure to match it. Host: Alison Dunn Guest: Claire Malcolm MBE This podcast is produced by Purpose Made. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the This Is The North Podcast, your source of transformative conversations. An intentional challenge to the systems holding back the North of England. Hosted by Alison Dunn. In this episode, Alison is joined by Sarah Breeden, Deputy Governor for Financial Stability at the Bank of England and member of the Monetary Policy Committee. Sarah grew up in Stockport, went to the local comprehensive, and has spent the last 34 years at the Bank. She describes her childhood as "bog standard, northern, normal", and her journey from putting parsley on airline meals at Manchester Airport to becoming one of six people in the Bank's senior leadership team. Sarah reflects on the work ethic instilled by her parents, both local government workers, and the commitment to public service that has driven her career: "Not for money. Because it makes a difference." She describes what it was like to be on the phone to Northern Rock directors as the queues formed outside, the reforms that followed the financial crisis, and why a resilient banking system matters not for the banks themselves but for the businesses and households that depend on them. As a member of the MPC, Sarah explains how interest rate decisions are made, not based on where inflation is today, but where it will be in two years, and why the Bank spends weeks each year visiting businesses around the country, from Cardiff to Newcastle, gathering on-the-ground intelligence on sales, wages, hiring and prices. The MPC announces its latest decision on Thursday and Sarah is one of the people making it. She discusses why food inflation hits harder than any other kind, how global commodity shocks, wage costs and packaging regulations are driving prices up, and why deflation (not just inflation) is something western economies guard against. The conversation turns to economic literacy and who gets access to it. Sarah describes citizens' panels where, after a single conversation about how the economy works, one woman said: "If I'd known that, that would've affected my vote." With only 1% of economics degree students coming from the North East, Sarah makes the case for the Bank's expansion into Leeds and its regional presence in Newcastle, not just to access talent, but to hear the voices that should be shaping policy. Sarah also discusses the progression of women in the Bank's leadership, having founded its women's network in 2007 and co-chaired it for eight years. The senior team is now 50/50, but she is candid that the layer below is not bringing women through at the rate she had hoped. The episode also covers digital money and stablecoins versus Bitcoin, and why cyber risk is now the thing that keeps her most awake at night. Timestamps: 00:00 Why stability matters 01:20 Stockport roots and a "bog standard" childhood 03:47 Finding economics 05:17 Airline meals, pubs, and the Protestant work ethic 07:06 Joining the Bank of England 10:50 Fixing the system after the financial crisis 13:20 How interest rates are set 15:43 What businesses are saying now 18:08 A small open economy in a volatile world 19:24 Four pints of milk: food prices explained 23:45 "If I'd known that, it would've affected my vote" 26:59 Women in economics and the Bank's leadership 31:24 Digital money demystified 35:58 Cyber risk rising 37:50 Building the Bank beyond London 39:50 What still drives her after 34 years This conversation is a reminder that the decisions made at the Bank of England affect every household in the country, and that who understands economics, who gets taught it, and who is in the room when those decisions are made are not separate questions. Sarah Breeden is proof that a girl from a Stockport comprehensive can end up setting interest rates. The question is why, given the pipeline, she still largely remains an outlier. Host: Alison Dunn Guest: Sarah Breeden This podcast is produced by Purpose Made. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the 'This Is The North Podcast, your source of transformative conversations. An intentional challenge to the systems holding back the North of England. Hosted by Alison Dunn. In this episode, Alison is joined by Sir Nigel Wilson, Chairperson of the Canary Wharf Group and former longtime CEO of Legal & General, and an advocate of "inclusive capitalism." Nigel reflects on growing up in County Durham, his belief that the UK must be bolder in seizing opportunities, and his view that Newcastle and the wider region have "muddled through" due to a lack of leadership, investment, and ambition. He compares the UK's pace of change with the US and China, argues that robotics and automation will help drive growth, and highlights UK strengths including world-leading creative industries and top universities, several of them in the North, while criticising over-regulation and a lack of incentivisation. Nigel outlines his path from Essex University to MIT on a Kennedy Scholarship, a pivotal moment that moved him from academia to McKinsey, and reflects on generational advantages like free university education and cheaper housing, arguing his generation needs to give back by supporting younger people with jobs that pay real wages. The conversation explores inclusive capitalism as the opposite of "exclusive capitalism", broad access to skills, capital, and support so more people can build and scale businesses. Nigel explains why he deliberately pushed for investment outside London, argues the UK economy won't grow unless towns and cities beyond London grow, and says "levelling up" was never implemented meaningfully. He believes the world is "awash with money," but the UK is failing to connect private capital with productive regional opportunities. He shares examples of how US states actively courted investment, discusses the importance of networks among devolved mayors, and draws lessons from leading Canary Wharf (Europe's biggest regeneration project). He also explains why he prefers business over politics, calling HS2 a poor capital allocation versus investing in intra-city transport across northern cities. Looking ahead, Nigel says the North could become home to some of the best cities in the world, pointing to rapid transformations like Shenzhen and Austin. He references initiatives including Sunderland's battery factory and a data-centric project in Blyth, but argues the region needs much more entrepreneurial activity and better access to capital. Timestamps: 00:00 Leadership, investment, and ambition 01:26 Growing up in County Durham 01:59 Optimism as a mindset 02:45 UK vs China and the US 04:05 From Essex to MIT to McKinsey 05:58 A selfish generation? 06:58 Leadership and mentors 07:55 Why it's easier than ever to start up 08:57 What is inclusive capitalism? 10:05 Beyond London 11:32 Private capital vs public leadership 14:04 What northern cities need 16:17 Mayors, networks, and learning from America 17:20 Proving it works 21:20 The North in 10–20 years This conversation is a reminder that the money exists, the talent exists, and the ambition exists and what's missing is the will to connect them. Sir Nigel Wilson makes the case that the North isn't a charity case, it's an investment opportunity the UK keeps ignoring. Host: Alison Dunn Guest: Sir Nigel Wilson This podcast is produced by Purpose Made. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the 'This Is The North Podcast, your source of transformative conversations. An intentional challenge to the systems holding back the North of England. Hosted by Alison Dunn. In this episode, Alison is joined by Dominic Wills, who shares his experience of addiction and how recovery as a young person can look different to the stereotypes. Dominic explains how drugs were readily available through friends and later via social media, and how his use progressed from cannabis and MDMA to "anything" he could access. Despite continuing to achieve at school and maintaining an outward appearance of coping, he describes being rarely sober in school, the impact of ADHD, and how addiction fuelled deception, debt, and serious strains on family relationships, including fears for his safety and missing person reports. Dominic reflects on seeking support from around the age of 14 through local authority drug and alcohol services and later adult services, but feeling that services often didn't reflect his situation as a young person who wasn't injecting or involved in the criminal justice system. He describes how leaving school removed structure and led to escalation, and how in late 2019 he first encountered peer-led recovery models that showed him people, especially young people, can get clean and live well. After a severe spiral over Christmas 2019, he went to rehab for two months and says that's when he began taking recovery seriously. The conversation also explores stigma, why visible recovery matters, and Dominic's view that alcohol and drugs are often treated inconsistently in policy and public attitudes. He discusses decriminalisation vs legalisation, the risks of street drugs, and argues that criminalising personal possession is unproductive. Dominic shares how peer support and different recovery models helped him rebuild responsibility and trust, and what he would say to someone "functioning" but quietly struggling. Dominic closes by describing what recovery has enabled for him as a young person, going to uni, living with students, DJing, going on holiday, and still spending time with friends in pubs, emphasising that recovery should be a tool to reclaim life rather than a boundary that keeps people trapped. Timestamps: 00:00 Drugs at 14 00:33 A young voice changing the recovery narrative 01:07 How it started 01:43 Seeking it out and why he kept using 04:23 Functioning addiction 06:39 Trying to stop early and not being ready 08:08 ADHD and addiction 08:52 Why recovery felt impossible 10:14 Turning point: Peer-led recovery, rehab, and taking it seriously 11:04 When systems miss you: Age, privilege, and not being 'the right kind' of addict 12:25 Alcohol vs drugs: Generational divide and why the comparison matters 14:56 The damage to family & rebuilding trust through responsibility 16:59 What helped 19:07 Drug policy in the UK 28:19 Advice for 'functioning' addiction 29:39 Recovery This conversation is a challenge to every assumption we hold about what addiction looks like, who it affects, and what recovery can be. Dominic is honest, sharp, and proof that young people deserve to be heard and not fitted into a system that wasn't built for them. Host : Alison Dunn Guest : Dominic Wills This podcast is produced by Purpose Made. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to 'This Is The North' Podcast, your source of transformative conversations. An intentional challenge to the systems holding back the North of England. Hosted by Alison Dunn, an award-winning charity chief executive and former solicitor. This podcast is supported by the Society Matters Foundation and is dedicated to curating and sharing knowledge, powering the change we need for a more equal and inclusive society. In this episode, Alison sits down with Richard O'Neill MBE - storyteller, author, playwright, and Professor in Practice at Durham University. For centuries, Richard's Romani traveller ancestors were story keepers in the Northeast, travelling from Newcastle to Yorkshire to Carlisle, listening to stories in villages and towns, then carrying them forward. They were, as Richard puts it, "illiterate in reading and writing, but incredibly literate in communication." But this conversation isn't just about oral tradition. It's about discovering that words Alison has spoken her entire life - "gadji," "chav," "chavi" - come from Romani. Evidence of centuries woven into the Geordie dialect itself. It's about why Richard's musician friend couldn't grasp the concept of chatting to a stranger at a Morrisons checkout. "We are story people here," Richard explains. And it's about why Richard refused a million pounds to appear on reality TV that embeds stereotypes rather than documents real lives. Richard and Alison explore why the Northeast has a rhythm to its speech that makes storytelling natural, how a 3-year-old and 103-year-old laughed at the same things during a care home storytelling session, and why teaching children how narrative works is our defense against misinformation. They discuss AI as "the new steam," Richard's accidental career that started with one phone call, and the most powerful story Richard tells, a beautiful story about empathy and individual decency. A reminder that when stories are told from the heart, they change how we see each other. Those are the stories we keep. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 01:30 Traveller Identity and Story Keeping 04:20 Storytelling in Education 07:26 The Traveller Community 10:47 Media Stereotypes 16:47 Storytelling in the Age of AI 21:16 Richard's Journey as a Storyteller 27:37 The Most Powerful Story 2026 is the National Year of Reading, and Richard's work at Seven Stories reminds us why that matters. Host: Alison Dunn Guest: Richard O'Neill MBE Learn more: Seven Stories, Newcastle - sevenstories.org.uk This podcast is produced by Purpose Made. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to 'This Is The North' Podcast, your source of transformative conversations. An intentional challenge to the systems holding back the North of England. Hosted by Alison Dunn, an award-winning charity chief executive and former solicitor. This podcast is supported by the Society Matters Foundation and is dedicated to curating and sharing knowledge, powering the change we need for a more equal and inclusive society. One in 29 children in every classroom have been bereaved of a parent or sibling, carrying grief that most adults struggle to talk about. Meanwhile, in medical training, there's a belief that "as healthcare professionals, we all feel a profound sense of failure when one of our patients dies." Over the last hundred years, death moved from homes to hospitals. We handed it to professionals. In doing so, we lost the language, the confidence, and the community knowledge that once made dying something we did together. In this episode, Alison sits down with Julian Prior from Compassionate Gateshead, Dr. Elizabeth Woods, a palliative care consultant, and Karen Perry, an end-of-life doula, to have the conversation we're often too scared to have: what happens when we lose the ability to talk about death? Their conversation reveals families who no longer recognise the signs of dying. People told their loved one is dying four, five, six times, each time treatment works, feeding a cycle that says you can fix this. The conversation captures what policy discussions miss. Death cafes in Newcastle that fill up every month, where strangers cut through small talk in minutes to discuss what they lack in their daily lives: depth, meaning, honest conversation about mortality. Community knowledge that used to exist on every street, now having to be taught by consultants walking families through what normal dying actually looks like. Alison and her guests explore what happens when we can't say the word "died," why medication struggles to control what fear is doing, and how communities are remembering that dying isn't something we fear alone but something we face together. They discuss the inequalities that compound at end of life—the cost of wills, lasting powers of attorney, funerals arriving when families are already struggling. Why teachers need resources to support that one child in every classroom carrying grief. The conversation examines what Compassionate Gateshead is building: a network connecting organisations supporting asylum seekers, people with dementia, young people who've lost loved ones, workplaces trying to support bereaved employees. The Festival of Compassion running all February with workshops, films, and death cafes creating permission and space to talk. Death will happen to us all. The question is whether we'll face it alone, unprepared, fearful and silent, or whether we'll face it together, with language, with confidence, with community. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 01:00 Understanding End-of-Life Doulas 03:38 Building Compassionate Communities 07:02 The Medicalisation of Death 10:34 What Families Actually Fear 13:01 What Normal Dying Looks Like 18:18 Death Cafes and Community Spaces 26:56 Inequalities That Compound 40:12 The Festival of Compassion 41:49 Final Reflections Host: Alison Dunn Guests: Julian Prior, Dr. Elizabeth Woods, Karen Perry Learn more about Compassionate Gateshead and the Festival of Compassion here . This podcast is produced by Purpose Made . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to 'This Is The North' Podcast, your source of transformative conversations. An intentional challenge to the systems holding back the North of England. Hosted by Alison Dunn, an award-winning charity chief executive and former solicitor. This podcast is supported by the Society Matters Foundation and is dedicated to curating and sharing knowledge, powering the change we need for a more equal and inclusive society. 109 children are pulled into poverty every single day by the two-child benefit cap. That's three primary school classes. Daily. In November's Autumn Budget, that policy was scrapped, lifting 350,000 children out of poverty, including 70,000 in the Northeast. But scrapping the cap doesn't fix the childcare infrastructure that's still broken. In this episode, Alison sits down with Amanda Bailey of the Northeast Child Poverty Commission, Ang Broadbridge of Ways to Wellness, and Dr. Steph Scott from Newcastle University to discuss their new research on childcare in the Northeast. What they found reveals a system that traps families: you need to be employed to access childcare, but you need childcare to be employed. For families on low incomes, there's no way out. The research captures stories that policy discussions often miss. A mother who gave up work, relying on her own mum for childcare, describing her mum "moaning all the time", not about inconvenience, but about a relationship fraying when something is both a favour and a financial necessity. Parents who feel "punished for wanting to work," guilty no matter which choice they make. Childcare providers running food banks for their own staff. As one participant put it: "We pay people more to care for our coffee than we do to care for our children." Alison and her guests explore what happens when childcare doesn't exist for children with complex medical needs, why holiday provision creates impossible choices for working parents, and how informal childcare arrangements (grandparents, family members), hold the system together while fraying under the weight. They discuss the mental health toll on parents, the workforce crisis facing childcare providers, and why this isn't just about the early years but extends through school age. The conversation examines what regional leadership can do, why current support schemes feel impossibly complicated to navigate, and what it means to view childcare as essential infrastructure, not a luxury, but a foundation for family incomes, children's development, and economic stability. Child poverty costs this country £39bn annually. The cap cost £3bn to scrap. The question isn't whether we can afford to invest in children and families. It's whether we can afford not to. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 01:00 The Impact and Challenges in Childcare 12:56 Complexities of the Childcare System 26:56 Policy Implications and Recommendations Host: Alison Dunn Guests: Amanda Bailey , Ang Broadbridge , Dr. Steph Scott Read the full research report here . This podcast is produced by Purpose Made. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to 'This Is The North' Podcast, your source of transformative conversations. An intentional challenge to the systems holding back the North of England. Hosted by Alison Dunn, an award-winning charity chief executive and former solicitor. This podcast is supported by the Society Matters Foundation and is dedicated to curating and sharing knowledge, powering the change we need for a more equal and inclusive society. In this episode, Alison sits down with Ray Laidlaw, founding drummer of Lindisfarne, the band whose songs became anthems of the Northeast. In 1971, their album Fog on the Tyne became the biggest-selling record in the UK. Success brought tours across Germany, Scandinavia, Australia, and America. But it also brought tension about what came next. Ray's story reveals the complexity at the heart of Lindisfarne's journey, the creative process that made their music work and how, in 1973, they split, not through acrimony, but through different priorities and how they would ultimately be brought back together. But this conversation isn't just about rock and roll. It's about what Ray helped build after the tours: Sunday for Sammy, named for Sammy Johnson, a working-class lad from Gateshead and actor who sadly died aged just 49 whilst training for the Great North Run. What started as a one-off tribute in 1999 is now a variety show that sells 6,000 tickets at the Utilita Arena. Since 2006, Ray has produced every show, keeping ticket prices affordable because, as he says, "we've always seen it as a working-class people's show." The charity has also given away over £700,000, not in massive grants, but in the amounts that actually matter: bus fare to London auditions, a decent bow for a cello, three months' rent to finish writing a play. Ray and Alison discuss why the show nearly died, how the first tribute brought Auf Wiedersehen Pet's Dennis, Oz, and Neville to the stage for the first time ever (and convinced the BBC to bring the series back), and what it means to create what Oscar Wilde called "the nightly miracle". They explore how a grant to finish one play about Category D villages created a touring circuit that didn't exist before, why working-class kids face impossible barriers, and what happened when Lindisfarne returned to Newcastle City Hall in 1976 after splitting up. Timestamps: 00:45 Introducing Ray Laidlaw 03:52 The Rise of Lindisfarne: From Blues Covers to Anthems 05:39 Touring the World 10:12 Band Breakups, Reunions, and Staying Friends 13:09 Sunday for Sammy: From Tribute to Movement 17:08 Why the Arts Need Support More Than Ever 17:38 Success Stories: Rosie Ramsey, Emily Hoyle, Jason Cook 22:33 The Ripple Effect 24:23 The Bottom Rung of the Ladder 28:05 Advice for Young Performers After five decades in music, Ray's conviction remains clear: resilience, kindness, and community matter more than fame. When the bottom rung of the ladder is missing, someone has to build it back. Sunday for Sammy returns February 15th, 2026. Tickets available here . Host: Alison Dunn Guest: Ray Laidlaw This podcast is produced by Purpose Made . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to 'This Is The North' Podcast, your source of transformative conversations. An intentional challenge to the systems holding back the North of England. Hosted by Alison Dunn, an award-winning charity chief executive and former solicitor. This podcast is supported by the Society Matters Foundation and is dedicated to curating and sharing knowledge, powering the change we need for a more equal and inclusive society. In this episode, Alison sits down with Juliet Sanders, founder and CEO of Feeding Families, a charity born from a single act of kindness in 2016 that has grown into a regional lifeline feeding tens of thousands across the Northeast. It started with two unwanted sofas. When Juliet delivered them to a house in Gateshead, what she found stopped her in her tracks: five children under seven, no furniture, and a mother who wrapped empty boxes for Christmas because she had nothing to give them. "We came out of the house and thought, what do we do? We can't just walk away." When Juliet posted on social media asking if anyone needed help, 200 people responded within an hour. Crucially, it wasn't just people asking for help, it was people saying "If I knew who to help, I would help." She thought maybe they could support 50 families that first Christmas. They supported 719. Today, Feeding Families works with 366 partner organisations, providing food, toiletries, and culturally appropriate provisions to families who fall through every other safety net. A Newcastle school discovered children weren't attending because they couldn't maintain basic hygiene. When Feeding Families provided soap and deodorant, attendance improved. Juliet opens up about her own challenging experiences, living on a bag of pasta, surviving domestic violence, and discovering ten siblings she never knew existed through Ancestry. "When you've been in really difficult situations, there's nothing really left to fear." They explore systemic issues driving food insecurity, including the two-child benefit cap, and why many struggling families are actually in work. Juliet articulates her vision for policy changes but is brutally honest about the limits of charity: "I can only put a sticking plaster on a gaping wound." As Juliet prepares to retire, she reflects on founder syndrome with remarkable self-awareness: "The work matters more than ego." Timestamps: 00:00 A Chance Encounter Sparks a Movement 01:18 Introducing Juliet Sanders and Feeding Families 01:55 The Birth of Feeding Families 06:24 The First Christmas Miracle 07:44 Scaling Up: From One Family to Thousands 10:01 Challenges and Changes in the Northeast 13:24 The Unique Model of Feeding Families 17:03 Addressing Cultural Needs and Inclusivity 20:49 Juliet's Personal Journey: Adoption and Family 24:54 A Tragic Loss and a New Hope 25:18 Reuniting with Siblings 26:54 Discovering More Family 31:03 Leading an Organisation 37:00 A Unique Qualification 39:04 Challenges and Resilience 41:49 Addressing Food Insecurity 47:59 A Call to Action Host: Alison Dunn Guest: Juliet Sanders This podcast is produced by Purpose Made. How You Can Help: Visit feedingfamilies.org.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the 'This Is The North' Podcast, your source of transformative conversations. An intentional challenge to the systems holding back the North of England. Hosted by Alison Dunn, an award-winning charity chief executive and former solicitor. This podcast is supported by the Society Matters Foundation and is dedicated to curating and sharing knowledge, powering the change we need for a more equal and inclusive society. In this episode, Alison sits down with Jimmy McLaughlin OBE on the fifth anniversary of his podcast 'Jimmy's Jobs of the Future' - a show that went from stay-at-home dad project to interviewing prime ministers about the question Westminster struggles to answer: where are all these new jobs actually coming from? When Jimmy worked at Number 10, he'd get calls at 10 to 8 in the morning. Debenhams collapsing. Wilkinson's going under. Ten thousand jobs gone. He'd brief Theresa May, who kept asking: "We're at record employment. You only tell me about losses. Where's the growth?" The answer was one or two people hired every week by companies like Gym Shark in Birmingham or Double 11 in Middlesbrough. Businesses creating seven out of every eight jobs in Britain but never making announcements because they're too busy building. Five years and millions of listeners later, Jimmy walked back into Number 10 to interview Sir Keir Starmer. Same building. Same question. Different answer: nearly a million young people under 25 now aren't in education or work. Jimmy and Alison discuss why businesses won't hire graduates this year, how AI might devastate middle-class professionals while skilled trades see wages double, and why we're asking 16-year-olds to choose careers before they're ready. They explore the Northern golden triangle, what devolution delivers, and what five years taught Jimmy about why work matters not just for income, but for dignity, purpose, and possibility. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction to Jimmy McLaughlin 00:40 The Genesis of Jimmy's Jobs of the Future 01:45 Insights from Number 10 03:02 Highlighting Northern Companies 10:44 Impact of AI on Jobs 18:44 Opportunities and Challenges in the North 22:56 Collaborating in Politics 23:49 The Future of Education and Jobs 26:44 AI and Social Inequality 32:11 Challenges for the Younger Generation 35:58 Podcasting Insights and Evolution 42:37 Reflections and Motivations After five years and millions of listeners, Jimmy's conviction remains clear: work isn't just about income. It's about dignity, purpose, and possibility. A million young people need not just jobs, but futures. Host: Alison Dunn Guest: Jimmy McLaughlin OBE This podcast is produced by Purpose Made . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the 'This Is The North' Podcast, your source of transformative conversations. An intentional challenge to the systems holding back the North of England. Hosted by Alison Dunn, an award-winning charity chief executive and former solicitor. This podcast is supported by the Society Matters Foundation and is dedicated to curating and sharing knowledge, powering the change we need for a more equal and inclusive society. In this episode, Alison sits down with Sir Andy Street, a Conservative who spent seven years proving something Westminster insists is impossible: that cross-party collaboration actually works. Street never had a Conservative majority on his board. Fourteen Conservative MPs, fourteen Labour MPs, and for seven years every single financial decision was taken cross-party. When his own government tried to cancel HS2, he held a press conference outside then-PM Rishi Sunak's hotel and led the 10 o'clock news. Region first, party second. From being rejected by Birmingham City Council and Marks & Spencer to spending 30 years rising to CEO of John Lewis, Street's path wasn't conventional. He joined John Lewis because they hired "mavericks." He became mayor because it was "an executive job rooted in a place." Street speaks candidly about "the Rubicon moment", fiscal devolution, holding taxes locally and what he learnt from those seven years. Now chairing Birmingham Rep, he draws parallels with the North: "Newcastle has its proud tradition. You had shipbuilding, coal mining. We didn't. But the stories are basically the same. You need to understand your past to be able to plan your future." Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 01:23 Sir Andy Street's Early Career and Aspirations 02:15 Joining and Growing within John Lewis 02:46 The Mutual Model of John Lewis 03:33 Challenges and Successes in Retail 07:11 Transition from Retail to Politics 09:43 The Role and Impact of a Mayor 11:25 HS2 and Infrastructure Challenges 16:53 Reflections on Mayoral Achievements 18:23 Integrity in Leadership 19:21 Challenges of National Collaboration 20:37 The Evolution of Devolution 21:57 Fiscal Devolution and Political Regrets 23:12 Conservative Party Conference Insights 31:05 The Role of Arts and Culture 35:05 Future Prospects and Personal Reflections 36:40 Advice for the Next Generation In an era when frustration is rising and voices offering complaints without solutions are gaining ground, Street's story reminds us what leadership should look like. Values-led leaders who put people and place before party, who understand that serious problems require serious answers, and who refuse to compromise their integrity for political convenience. Seven years proved what's possible when leaders refuse to compromise their values. The question now is whether we're ready to demand that kind of leadership everywhere. Host: Alison Dunn Guest: Sir Andy Street This podcast is produced by Purpose Made. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the 'This Is The North' Podcast, your source of transformative conversations. An intentional challenge to the systems holding back the North of England. Hosted by Alison Dunn, an award-winning charity chief executive and former solicitor. This podcast is supported by the Society Matters Foundation and is dedicated to curating and sharing knowledge, powering the change we need for a more equal and inclusive society. In this episode, Alison speaks with Dr. Mark Deeks — a North East musician whose work spans atmospheric doom metal, community choirs, and wellbeing retreats. Mark shares his personal journey through loss, including the heartbreak of losing his daughter Laurie at 20 weeks, and how music became both a memorial and a tool for survival. At 3am one morning, a star chart in Lori’s name became a melody — hidden on his album as Only Three Shall Know , but known at home as Laurie’s Theme . From early influences and teaching experiences to founding Sing United , which has raised over £48,000 for Northern causes, Deeks shows how music works as connection, healing, and community. He challenges clichés about “soothing” genres, champions intentional playlists as mental health interventions, and explains why place — from colliery sites to Holy Island — can shape the way we heal. Timestamps 00:00 A Heartbreaking Beginning 01:19 Meet Dr. Mark Deeks: Musician and Healer 01:53 Early Musical Influences 03:37 The Impact of Teaching and Online Lessons 08:11 Music as a Tool for Wellbeing 11:32 The Power of Community Singing 15:22 Exploring Diverse Musical Styles 21:09 Personal Loss and Musical Tribute ( Laurie’s Theme ) 29:08 Future Projects and Final Reflections Deeks reminds us that grief isn’t just private sorrow, it’s a public health crisis often left unspoken, especially for men. His story is proof that the North already holds the tools we need: community, creativity, and the courage to listen. Host: Alison Dunn Guest: Dr. Mark Deeks This podcast is produced by Purpose Made. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the 'This Is The North' Podcast, your source of transformative conversations. An intentional challenge to the systems holding back the North of England. Hosted by Alison Dunn, an award-winning charity chief executive and former solicitor. This podcast is supported by the Society Matters Foundation and is dedicated to curating and sharing knowledge, powering the change we need for a more equal and inclusive society. In this episode, Alison speaks with Eileen Ferguson, co-founder of Ad Gefrin, Northumberland's first whiskey distillery, who turned a derelict family transport depot into a £4million+ cultural destination that employs 60 people in a town where young adults typically plan their escape. Ferguson's story begins with her great-grandmother, widowed at 36 with three children already buried and pregnant with her sixth. Standing at the graveside with no inheritance or support, she started taking in washing, then bought a corn mill, then owned the farm. Four generations later, Ferguson faced a similar choice with the family's abandoned depot: sell it for housing or build something that could regenerate Wooler. The numbers reveal what traditional rural development misses. During public consultation, 4,000 people walked through the doors —double Wooler's population—because someone finally asked what they wanted. One hundred percent community support. Not for a distillery, but for what a distillery made possible: five interconnected businesses including tourism, hospitality, retail, and a museum celebrating the Anglo-Saxon palace that once stood nearby. Timestamps: 00:00 A Legacy of Resilience 02:30 Introducing Eileen Ferguson and Ad Gefrin 04:29 Transforming a Family Site 07:47 The Importance of People and Community 11:48 Community Response and Impact 16:42 Environmental Considerations 18:28 Challenges and Achievements 24:46 Future Vision and Legacy Ferguson accidentally proved that rural areas don't need saving, they need someone who refuses to accept that they deserve less. When a place has been "forgotten by successive governments," the choice is simple: wait for systems to save you, or build the system you need. Host: Alison Dunn Guest: Eileen Ferguson This podcast is produced by Purpose Made . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to 'This Is The North' Podcast, your source of transformative conversations. An intentional challenge to the systems holding back the North of England. Hosted by Alison Dunn, an award-winning charity chief executive and former solicitor. This podcast is supported by Society Matters Community Interest Company and is dedicated to curating and sharing knowledge, powering the change we need for a more equal and inclusive society. In this episode, Alison speaks with Mark Squires, a business leader and philanthropist who became a trustee after witnessing young people "flooding" into a mid-Victorian building because "they've got nowhere else to go," and Ben Roman, Chief Executive of the Lighthouse Project, who transformed St. Michael's Church in Byker, Newcastle into a £4.2 million youth and community hub. Through community consultation and architectural innovation, they've created something that addresses both the heritage of the building and the urgent needs of families who've been failed by fragmented support systems. The Lighthouse Project represents something more fundamental than renovation—it's a complete rethinking of how support reaches families. Where most systems send people from office to office, appointment to appointment, the Lighthouse Project brings services together under one roof. A parent seeking housing help might also find job training, digital literacy classes, and childcare in the same space. This isn't charity, it's recognition that communities need somewhere to call home. British Engines committed ten years of funding, Ringtons pledged five years of revenue support. Timestamps: 00:00 Opening the Doors to a New Community Hub 01:34 The Heart of Byker: A Community's Story 02:59 Transforming a Historic Church 07:20 Community Involvement and Feedback 21:32 The Role of Business in Community Development 26:10 Looking to the Future The episode underscores how heritage, community needs, and innovative solutions can empower residents and foster genuine community spirit. When a young boy walked through the doors for the first time and asked his teacher, "Is this a five-star luxury hotel?", he wasn't confused, he was recognising something his community had never seen before: a place built to their potential, not their problems. Host: Alison Dunn Guests: Mark Squires & Ben Roman This podcast is produced by Purpose Made. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.