Preston City Council has launched a podcast series, Preston Threads, exploring how Community Wealth Building, also known as The Preston Model, is transforming lives, businesses, and communities across the city.
With an ambitious £1billion regeneration underway and new strategies shaping Preston’s future as a city, the podcast features cabinet members talking alongside business owners and community leaders.
Community Wealth Building is Preston Labour’s approach to tackling socio-economic challenges and inequalities, ensuring growth and prosperity are shared across the community.
Read more: Preston City Council council leader Matthew Brown on the next decade, housing crisis and more
The city council say it places power in the hands of local people, supports sustainable businesses, and fosters a fair and democratic economy where everyone matters.
Preston Threads aims to go beneath the surface of Preston’s communities to uncover what Community Wealth Building really means in action.
Each episode, hosted by Neetal Parekh, will spotlight a theme connected to Preston’s emerging Corporate Plan and City Strategy.
The opening episode focuses on The Preston Model itself and features Councillor Matthew Brown, Leader of Preston City Council, Emma Lowther-Wright from the Mandala Centre, and Michael Conlon of Conlon Construction who have been behind the work to restore the Harris.
Councillor Matthew Brown, said: “I’m excited about the launch of the Preston Threads’ Podcast as it’s another channel for us to communicate with Preston residents, showing how this approach is not just a theory, but making a real difference on the ground to create a better and fairer future for our city.”
The first episode is now available and can be listened to on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. The podcast can also be watched on Preston City Council’s YouTube channel.
For podcast fans, there’s also the independently produced The Parched Pea Podcast, a collaboration between Blog Preston, The Lancashire Post and Central Radio, which meets Prestonians and hears their stories as they speak with broadcasting legend John ‘Gilly’ Gillmore. You can catch up on all episodes of The Parched Pea Podcast on Spotify, Apple and all other major podcast apps via Podfollow.
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