Our friends John Smith and Quinn Needham from HEY credit union talk about the purpose and history of credit unions and about their work here in Grimsby - including on our East Marsh (Fridays, EMU's Courtyard Office, Freeman Street Market - just turn up!).

HEY are a not-for-profit financial co-operative providing fair and responsible savings and loans for local people. Their aim is to improve the financial well-being of their member-owners by providing ethical, affordable services that they are happy to continue using and recommending to their family, friends, neighbours and work colleagues. They say "We are here to help our members to afford their lives – not to make profit out of them."

Contact details

01482 778753     [email protected]

Opening times

Tuesdays - Thursdays 10 am to 2 pm - Central Library, Grimsby

Wednesdays - at West Marsh Community Centre 11 am to 2 pm

Fridays - at Freeman Street Market, Grimsby 10 am to 2 pm

Find out more
hullandeycu.co.uk 

Our guest is Ben Wrigley and Ben is a Community Shares Practitioner working with East Marsh United to raise £500,000 to buy 10 more houses - part of our grand vision to buy 100 houses for 100 years and ensure the continuity of community engagement here on the East Marsh.

Ben talks about Community Share Offers and about how the whole process is managed via his own company, Resonance, and the not-for-profit social investment platform Ethex.

If you would like to stand with us and invest, head over to our Ethex page: https://www.ethex.org.uk/invest/east-marsh-community (closing date is 31st May 2022)

Find out more
eastmarshunited.org
resonance.ltd.uk
ethex.org.uk

Today's episode about the Million Pound Challenge takes place from Grimsby's Freeman Street Market. 

The million pound challenge aims to put money into the pockets of East Marsh residents by providing free welfare and advice appointments at Freeman Street Market. Help may also be available if people are struggling to pay housing and home energy bills or dealing with unmanageable debt.
 
Billy is hosting and our four challengers are:

• Al Burley (Community Development Worker at West Marsh Community Centre)
• Claire Thompson (Community Insights and Marketing Manager - North East Lincolnshire Council)
• Bernie Taylor (Together for Childhood)
• Tony Gaskins (Chief Officer, Citizens Advice North East Lincolnshire)

If you wish to volunteer to help make this excellent project a success, or wish to book an appointment to discuss potential improvements in your financial situation:

• email: [email protected]
• phone: 01472 803500

Or just come along to East Marsh United's office in The Courtyard, Freeman Street Market (especially on a Tuesday from 9am).

Find out more
eastmarshunited.org
www.hullandeycu.co.uk (or Call 01482 778753)

This episode is our third Ragged Reading Group discussion - this time we explored the text suggested during our last one:  An Inspector Calls by English dramatist J. B. Priestley.

An Inspector Calls is a three-act drama which takes place on a single night in April 1912, focusing on the prosperous upper middle-class Birling family, who live in a comfortable home in the fictional town of Brumley, "an industrial city in the north Midlands". The family is visited by a man calling himself Inspector Goole, who questions the family about the suicide of a young working-class woman in her mid-twenties. The play is a scathing criticism of the hypocrisies of Victorian and Edwardian English society and as an expression of Priestley's socialist political principles.

Historian Nick Shepley ( from podcast https://explaininghistory.org ) has provided us with some rich background and context in a previous podcast. 

Our Ragged Reading Group on this occasion are Al Burley, Paul Haddock, David Hurley and Billy Dasein - and our superb facilitators are Josie Moon and Carolyn Doyley.

The episode is slightly longer than we'd like but the discussion was so engaging - and relevant to our times and our social condition - that I found it difficult to cut too much out - check it and stay with it to the end for sometimes eviscerating social commentary. We're all the Inspector now!

To take part in our next Ragged Reading Group just get in touch - our next Ragged Reading Group will be exploring George Orwell's Road to Wigan Pier and there's plenty of time to get hold of the book and to read it because the next group discussion will be sometime in February. 

Find out more
wea.org.uk
eastmarshunited.org

In today's episode, Jack Booth and Billy Dasein talk to Jason Stockwood,  Club Chairman of Grimsby Town Football Club and so much more.

We set a high bar with our opening question and the conversation then ranges across kibbutzim and DisneyWorld, how work really works for people and organisations (spoiler: trust people), a brief discussion of Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus  and the barriers of language and how Covid has prompted a radically shifting world-view towards the unjust postcode lottery of austerity and poverty. Above all, what comes out often is that it's all about relationships,  compassion, love and creating places that matter - human flourishing!

When it comes to the footie, Jack nails it with his impromptu question (or statement of deep personal philosophy, perhaps): "If you don't have hope then what do you have when it comes to football?"

Memorable quotation from the episode: "I've got the Grimsby in me. I like a fight"

**
Register for Hilary Cottam, Jason Stockwood & Paul Collier in conversation: 'The Grimsby Alliance - community power and levelling up'   09 December 2021, 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Registration Required:  : https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/events/grimsby-alliance/

Location:  Online & Oxford Martin School, 34 Broad Street (corner of Holywell and Catte Streets), Oxford, OX1 3BD 

**

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Intro and interval music: Mariners go for Goal, charity single from 1990 by The Merger (Grimsby home studio hopefuls - sold 1,000 copies and echoed around the hallowed ground of Blundell Park for a few matches).

Outro music: 'Jerusalem' by Paul Robeson (1939); Lyrics, William Blake (1804); Composed, Hubert Parry (1916); Contributor, Internet Archive.

Find out more
wea.org.uk
eastmarshunited.org

This episode is in support of our Ragged Reading Group’s imminent exploration of J.B. Priestley’s play An Inspector Calls, which was first performed in 1945 at a time of great change - both World Wars were fresh in the minds of the people, women had become more prominent in the workplace and believe it or not people of the 21st Century, it was possible to be class mobile.

The play is set in 1912 - this means that the characters have no knowledge of these world events. Priestley uses this to make important points about society and responsibility.

Your hosts are Jill Harrison and Billy Dasein and we have the great good fortune to be joined by our friend Nick Shepley who has his own insightful and informative podcast, the Explaining History Podcast - find it at explaininghistory.org - whose tagline is Modern history podcasts for students and enthusiasts - do go and have a listen, it's a brilliant podcast!

NB: The not-remembered book is A new kind of bleak by Owen Hatherley

......................

Intro and interval music: Egmont, Op. 84 by Ludwig van Beethoven, 1787 (the signature music for the Explaining History podcast)

Outro music: 'Jerusalem' by Paul Robeson (1939); Lyrics, William Blake (1804); Composed, Hubert Parry (1916); Contributor, Internet Archive.

Find out more
explaining history.org
wea.org.uk
eastmarshunited.org

Community Organiser Bryn Phillips talks to Jack and Billy from the East Marshian Chronicles Podcast.

Bryn talks about bringing organisations together to build civic power - including here in Grimsby. He speaks of the important issue of where the money comes from in terms of a self-determining group of citizens. In particular, Bryn discusses crucial issues around power in community organising - "Power is at the heart of what we do" - and people coming together to determine their interests shared in common.


Intro music: Gymnopédie No. 1 by Erik Satie impromptu performance by Bryn Phillips

Interval music: 'Street Gang' by Ronnie Lane's Slim Chance from the album Ronnie Lane's Slim Chance (1975), written by (Lane, O'lochlainn, Steve Simpson.

 Outro music:  JERUSALEM by Paul Robeson (1939); Lyrics, William Blake (1804); Composed, Hubert Parry (1916); Contributor, Internet Archive.

Find out more
commongoodfoundation.org.uk
industrialareasfoundation.org
wea.org.uk
eastmarshunited.org

Today's podcast from the edge of things is a fascinating chat with Lord Maurice Glasman.

Maurice talks about his strong family background, finding himself in an unchallenging role as an academic and about breaking free of all that and discovering a joyous new skill-set as a Community Organiser allied with the Industrial Areas Foundation - and unexpectedly finding himself in the house of lords (as you do). It's quite the story.

Maurice then set up the Common Good Foundation - which ultimately led him to reach out to and stand with the people of Grimsby - and here we all are... also with Community Organiser Bryn making a timely intervention.

 And what is the Genius of Grimsby? Listen in to find out.

This episode is dedicated to the independence and fighting spirit of Maurice's mum.

Intro music: JERUSALEM by Paul Robeson (1939); Lyrics, William Blake (1804); Composed, Hubert Parry (1916); Contributor, Internet Archive.

Interval music: 'Street Gang' by Ronnie Lane's Slim Chance from the album Ronnie Lane's Slim Chance (1975), written by (Lane, O'lochlainn, Steve Simpson.

Outro music: Friday by the Sea by Grimsby's own Al Hunter (find Al here: thethumpingtommys.com)

Find out more
commongoodfoundation.org.uk
industrialareasfoundation.org
wea.org.uk
eastmarshunited.org

This episode is our second Ragged Reading group and our Ragged Readers are Al Burley, Carolyn Doyley, Josie Moon, Jill Harrison and facilitator Billy Dasein.

We first of all explore the famous Great Money Trick where the character Frank Owen organises a mock-up of capitalism with his workmates, using slices of bread as raw materials and knives as machinery and manages to explain Marx’s theory of surplus value...

Next we have a look at the 'solutions' put in place by the ruling class - of course we have very different solutions these days, don't we. Don't we?

After that we marvel at the Great Oration and conclude by discussing issues around Tressell's ending - is it problematic? What do you think?

To take part in our next Ragged Reading Group just get in touch - we will be reading and discussing J. B. Priestley's play An Inspector Calls from 1945.

Find out more
wea.org.uk
eastmarshunited.org
https://rickardsisters.com

Today we have something different, we're starting a few podcasts exploring different approaches to local democracy and community development and engagement. We start with some brilliant young people who have been travelling around the country asking the question 'What's Next'?

Thanks to the intrepid Freedom Tourers: Greg, Paul, George, Lara, Liv.

Intro and Outro music: 'Jerusalem' by Paul Robeson (1939); Lyrics, William Blake (1804); Composed, Hubert Parry (1916); Contributor, Internet Archive.

Find out more
https://freedomtour.uk
wea.org.uk
eastmarshunited.org