Durham Community Action

This year's #VillageHallsWeek is celebrating everything village halls can do to ‘go green’.We spoke to Auckland Youth and Community Centre about their recent Investors in the Environment bronze accreditation and Croxdale Community Association about the impact of their community garden.Interviewees include: Business Development Manager at Auckland Youth and Community Centre John Wiseman & Croxdale Community Association trustee and treasurer Lynne McIvor.

This podcast episode focuses on the welcome spaces fund, a fund available to organisations in County Durham to host free weekly community spaces that aims to keep people warm, allow people to socialise and also receive advice and support.  We will discuss what welcome spaces are, how you can apply for the £3,000 grant and the impact the fund has made to a local community building in County Durham. Interviewees include: Naomi Stevens, Senior Fund Manager at County Durham Community Foundation and Kath Merrington, development worker at Ferryhill Ladder Centre.

This podcast episode celebrates Trustees’ Week as we celebrate the individual talents, viewpoints and experiences each trustee brings to their board.  We will discuss why having a diverse board of Trustees makes such an impact, the importance of demystifying myths surrounding the role of a Trustee and advice if you’re thinking about becoming a Trustee.  Interviewees include: Jan Worters (Chair of Durham Community Action), Elaine Kilgannon, Linda Bird and Sarah Banks (Trustees at Durham Community Action), Emily Burns (Trustee at County Durham Community Foundation) and Terry Murray (Trustee at Citizens House).

Durham Community Action chat to Graham Easterlow at East Durham Trust about the Horden Minewater Project.A former County Durham coal mine could be used to grow food and support local businesses in Horden. The feasibility study will explore various ways to use heat from the mine water and examine the infrastructure already installed.

This episode of the Durham Community Action podcast focuses on the Cree network, that consists of 40 Cree groups that operate to support and promote the health and wellbeing of County Durham residents.We chatted to service users at RT Projects, Just for Women and Dene Valley Community Partnership about what the Cree means to them and the impact it has had on their health and wellbeing.The specific views expressed by individuals in the content of our podcasts, case studies and other media are solely their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Durham Community Action or it’s associates.

Durham Community Action chat to Chris Connolly, chairman of Whorlton Village Hall about how the Hallmark process, community building energy efficiency grant and help from a local trade company has made an impact to their village hall and local community.

This episode of the Durham Community Action podcast focuses on the power of volunteering, a reflection on Volunteers' Week and the 'vision for volunteering', a ten-year collaborative project designed to create a better future for volunteering.We chatted to our volunteering specialist Charlotte Linton about the vision for volunteering and Samantha Townsend, volunteer coordinator at Auckland Youth and Community Centre about the impact volunteers give to their organisation and the power of volunteering.

This podcast focuses on energy efficiency and climate action within the voluntary and community sector. We chatted to Nathaniel Spain, Going Green Together Project Coordinator at VONNE about their climate action initiative and Heather Liddle, Trustee at Nettlesworth Community Centre about how the community building energy efficiency grant benefitted their centre to help improve their heating systems.

In this audio case study, we spoke to Helen Ward from Jack Drum Arts about their Winter Light Parade. Through the help of crowdfunding, Jack Drum Arts raised over £14,000 to produce their local cultural event. Listen to Helen chat about the benefits of crowdfunding and how you can start.