In this episode we're visiting the former colliery village of Chopwell which has a long history built on industry, political engagement (it was once labelled "Little Moscow",) and cooperation.  It's faced challenging times in the post-industrial era but has a thriving community Regeneration Group now based at an empty bank on Derwent Street, called ... The Bank.

This venue houses a community cafe dedicated to reducing food waste and providing a warm hub, as well as a space for training and workshops in arts, crafts and more, as well as office facilities for like-minded community organisations.

In this interview, Jude Murphy talks to Chopwell Regeneration Group volunteer and WEA Regional Committee member Ronnie Stuart; the Group's Learning and Programmes Manager Sarah Cotton; Regeneration Group volunteer Hilary Danneker; and Rachel Couch of Atypical Support CIC, who are based in The Bank. 

Lots of inspiration and advice for anyone involved in or hoping to set up community projects and spaces.

In a short series of podcasts, we're going to focus on several community spaces which represent venues or partners for our WEA activities.  Since the WEA's inception in 1903, the organisation has worked within spaces of this type.  And recently, there has been an upsurge in community spaces, often taking over empty shops on our high streets, with many projects dedicated to social justice and environmental aims.

First up in this series is an interview with Bethan Hosker of Chester-le-Street's REfUSE Cafe.  

WEA North East's nascent Craftivism Network recently met at the cafe and were deeply impressed by the values it represents.  In REfUSE's own words:-
 
We REfUSE to be part of a wasteful food system. We  need to RE-think. We REscue, REclaim and RE-use, so that good food doesn’t become REfUSE.

Each month this organisation intercepts around 12 tonnes of food that would otherwise go to waste, from retailers around the North East, and redistribute this through their ‘Pay As You Feel’ community cafe and restaurant.  Bethan explains how they go about this, and talks about the various communities and groups that they support, as well as a new and crucial role: providing a warm space for those hardest hit by the cost of living crisis. 

Tune in if you've ever wondered about how these venues survive and thrive and support our communities and our environment.

As part of International Women’s Month, we look at the life of northern heroine Ellen Wilkinson with her biographer Dr Matt Perry.  From her impoverished background in Manchester to her election as MP for Jarrow in 1935 and her role as Minister of State for Education in the 1945 Labour government, Matt discusses Ellen’s political development and her many contradictions. With a new play about her, ‘Red Ellen’ opening at Northern Stage in Newcastle in March, Ellen’s short but energetic life is about to once again come under the spotlight.

In the latest episode of WE Are, we go out and about to meet with the volunteers and service users of Women's Health in South Tyneside (WHIST). They tell us what the centre means to them and how their work has been vital to helping women in South Tyneside for 36 years, particularly those with difficult domestic situations. They also tell us about their latest community project, a time capsule to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Great North Run.