Tag: gcpodcast

Showdown at Black Patch Park – a new podcast on the Grassroots Channel

OK so a slightly dramatic headline as you can see from the smiling photo. This programme is one of those occasional episodes when we manage to bring an active citizen together with the politician who’s thwarted their efforts (you might like to listen to Albert Bore and Natalie Brade).

For four years Simon Baddeley (the tall one) has campaigned with other Friends of Black Patch Park to protect this urban green space which is in Sandwell but sits just on the boundary with Birmingham. Sandwell Council had zoned some of the land for industrial development. The friends campaigned widely – including making their own media on youtube and using Flickr and Wikipedia to keep tabs on facts and images – until finally something moved. Earlier this year Councillor Bob Badham (cabinet member for Transport and Regeneration) said the council would review those plans, with the aim to preserve the park as a park.

This podcast is the first time the politician and the campaigner have had a chance to really talk, and I have to say that is part of what we try and do from time to time, create a space where relationships can grow a little.

We also mention a event coming up to explore neighbourhood policing in Birmingham. The Chamberlain Forum is hosting the Chief Constable of the West Midlands and Bishop of Birmingham to explore how policing is responding to what communities want. You are welcome to come to the free event in Digbeth on the morning of June 13th. Details of how to book can be found here.

Other relevant links are:

Birmingham Open Spaces Forum

Neighbourhood Policing (PDF)

Lisa Tarbuck, networks, theatre and community safety – a new podcast on the Grassroots Channel

Our last podcast helped stir things up a bit. The Bishop of Birmingham’s intervention on behalf of Diversity Networks in Birmingham was reflected on the news site The Stirrer where supporters and critics of the networks also began to get to grips with some of the issues.

This time we have another podcast from the Grassroots Channel on the future of community networks in Birmingham, including thoughts from Chris Dyer of the Birmingham Community Safety Partnership, plus we hear from actress Lisa Tarbuck in Brierley Hill on hoodies, adolescence, the National Youth Theatre and stronger communities.

Bishop of Birmingham stands up for Community Networks – a new podcast on the Grassroots Channel

The Bishop of Birmingham has thrown his weight behind the community networks run by the Birmingham Community Empowerment Network. The programme has just seen it’s funding cut for this year, with not guarantee of funding after September 2007.

Speaking at yesterday’s conference “Thriving In Diversity”, the Rt Reverend David Urquhart said that the work already done to establish networks in Birmingham must not go to waste. He says “The diversity networks are making a real contribution to the decisions that are made (in the city), so that we get a better quality of life for everyone,” adding that if the city is to continue benefiting from the networks “there will need to be some serious commitment from those in power”. To listen to more of the bishop’s comments please click on the play button below.

Yesterday B:cen, in a report called Thriving in Diversity, said that for Diversity and Community networks to continue to benefit Birmingham, the city (through the Birmingham Stategic Partnership) would need to find at least £1.4 million pounds a year.

Disclosure: the Grassroots Channel Podcast has been funded by b:cen since it was established in Autumn 2005. If you have any comments on the podcast then please e mail us.

Highgate Apprentices challenge the government – a new podcast on the Grassroots Channel

This programme is presented by two teenagers from Highgate in Birmingham. Earlier this month Stephen Hughes and Gareth Deeming spent a day in London talking to ministers and senior civil servants about young people and the communities where they live.

They had a few minutes with Baroness Andrews and recorded their conversation on a mobile phone (they had left for London with a digital recorder – which failed on them!). This forms the core of the podcast, but in it they also explain how they want support to work with a group called SCAWDI to develop a new apprenticeship for young people.

The community apprenticeship is being designed to get young people learning through working in their community, and also expose them to a much wider range of experiences and aspirations. The plan is to lift their lives to the point where they can once again fulfill their full potential.

Some other Grassroots programmes connected with this are:

Cuckoos in a White Middle Class Nest – our first ever programme featuring Barbara Willis Brown on the work of Scawdi.
Junior Street Champions – young people working in Lozells.
The Northfield Young People’s Forum – on controlling public money.
SCAWDI – link to a b:cen briefing on the organisation. (dead link)