Screw this…Let’s try something else

When his town was falling apart, Billy Dasein decided to take make a radical choice and go home.

So what happens when we stay where we are, reach across the divides and learn to love our place? For two communities, East Marsh United in Grimsby and Cooperation Hull in the North East of England, this simple act started a journey that not only led them to a revolutionary housing model, food club and energy project, but also to a mission to fix our broken democracy and rewrite the political rules for the majority. Dozens of communities like these are now feeding into a growing call to reboot the 1830’s charter movement and fix our flailing 21st century democracy, and Oli Whittington of Our House, and Jon Alexander, walk us through the growing call to do politics differently.

Featuring: Josie Moon, Rachel McWilliam, Billy Dasein, Catherine Vulliamy, Oli Whittington, Jon Alexander, 

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Use our AI postcode search tool to find 5 examples of powerful collective action within 5 miles of your front door >> https://www.antidotelive.studio/near-you

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Find links to things mentioned in the show here: East Marsh United: https://www.antidotelive.studio/east-marsh-united

Cooperation Hull:  https://www.antidotelive.studio/cooperation-hull 

References from the show:

Hull - UK’s crapped town: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3158298.stm

Grimsby voter turnout: https://www.nelincs.gov.uk/your-council/elections-and-voting/election-dates-and-results/local-elections/>

UK Voter turnout at last election: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_United_Kingdom_general_election

https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/A-System-out-of-Step-The-2024-General-Election-ONLINE.pdf

Trust in each other vs trust in politicians: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/wellbeing/bulletins/trustingovernmentuk/2023#trust-in-government-and-institutions

Tree cover street level cooling effects: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2298675-trees-cool-the-land-surface-temperature-of-cities-by-up-to-12c

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0l4j8wkrw7o 

Paris Citizens Council info: https://www.fairvote.ca/01/09/2022/the-paris-citizens-assembly-where-citizens-write-the-law/>

https://demnext.substack.com/p/how-a-permanent-citizens-assembly?utm_source=chatgpt.com

https://www.buergerrat.de/en/news/paris-city-council-adopts-citizens-proposal/

https://www.feantsa.org/epoch-files/Homelessness-Strategies/France/Homelessness-Strategy-France-Original2024.pdf

https://www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2025/03/24/parisians-back-garden-roads-project-in-record-low-turnout_6739472_7.html
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When it comes to designing a neighbourhood fit for the future we face, Ladywood in Birmingham may seem like an unlikely place to be rivalling billionaires plans to live on Mars, but their results might be more appealing to the majority of us who like Earth, and are partial to oxygen. Inspired by past neighbourhood solutions that have since spread nationwide - like the NHS and welfare state - Civic Square are coming up with practical ways forward on climate, housing and resilience that could scale countrywide and create a collective future we all want to live in.

We then talk to Kate Raworth (tbc), founder of Doughnut Economics - on how the economic model behind this work could transform our future. 

Featuring: Immy Kaur, Kate Raworth

Has this podcast changed how you feel? Take our hope survey: https://tinyurl.com/k4spjx43

Use our AI postcode search tool to find 5 examples of powerful collective action within 5 miles of your front door >> https://www.antidotelive.studio/near-you

Follow us on Instagram @antidotelive or TikTok @antidote_live or Linkedin

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Find links to things mentioned in the show here: https://www.antidotelive.studio/civic-square

CIVIC SQUARE plans: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Et1Uk9opbbZn2slwcXFQQ_AtTLYb8EVS/view
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We head to Shropshire, where siblings Charlotte and Ben Hollins brought together 8000 strangers to buy their organic farm back from the jaws of big agriculture. They’ve gone on to prove a new community ownership model that recent research suggests could work better, not only for farmers but all of us too. Now they’re exploring how it can expand nationwide.

If you’ve ever fancied yourself as a farmer, but don’t know how to start a tractor, join Maryam & Matt on this journey to reconnect us to our land, food and farming.

Featuring: Charlotte Hollins, Ben Hollins, Sue Pritchard, 

Has this podcast changed how you feel? Take our hope survey: https://tinyurl.com/k4spjx43

Use our AI postcode search tool to find 5 examples of powerful collective action within 5 miles of your front door >> https://www.antidotelive.studio/near-you

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Find links to things mentioned in the show here:  https://www.antidotelive.studio/ford-hall-organic

Reports referenced in the show:

http://www.uklanddirectory.org.uk/land-usage.asp 

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/apr/17/who-owns-england-thousand-secret-landowners-author 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40544084/
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Lee Robb was fed-up of seeing her hometown – Carrick Fergus in Northern Ireland – divided, neglected, and still reeling from the troubles,  so she decided to buck the trend and… reach out to her fellow residents. When she did, she was surprised that people reached back, and working together they created something that put Carrick on the map for a different reason. Through their humble greengrocers, they’ve proven an appetite for locally grown food systems and revitalised their high street. Now they’re consulting with national government on how their model can create a blueprint for a food system that actually makes sense and could work everywhere.

We then talk to Jon Alexander about how this approach could change not only our food system, but if we come together in our places, everything. As Jon says in his book Citizens ‘the key to fixing everything is all of us’. 

(Thanks to Simon Wood at Ravenhill films for letting us use the Crowdfunder clip!) 

Featuring: Lee Robb, Jon Alexander

Has this podcast changed how you feel? Take our hope survey: https://tinyurl.com/k4spjx43

Use our AI postcode search tool to find 5 examples of powerful collective action within 5 miles of your front door >> https://www.antidotelive.studio/near-you

Follow us on Instagram @antidotelive or TikTok @antidote_live or Linkedin

To get stories like this to your inbox, join our mailing list: https://mattgolding.substack.com/

Find links to things mentioned in the show here:  https://www.antidotelive.studio/carrick-greengrocers

Reports referenced in the show: ‘The Money Trail’: https://nefconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/TheMoneyTrail.pdf

City University of London farmer study: https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/33491/1/sustainability-16-06851-v2.pdf

‘The False Economy of Big Food’ https://ffcc.co.uk/publications/the-false-economy-of-big-food
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Over a pint in Lawrence Weston, Bristol, Mark Pepper and fellow residents decided they’d had enough of the community being ignored by politicians, the council and everyone else, so knocked on 3000 doors and asked their neighbours what mattered to them. Then, as a community, they set about delivering. In just a few years they have rewritten housing policy, brought a supermarket to a food desert and built a community-owned wind turbine that brings them an income, all creating a road map for self-built hope that could work anywhere.

We then talk to David Tudgey about how the model proven by Lawrence Weston could work for communities everywhere. 

Featuring: Mark Pepper, Donna Sealey, David Tudgey

🔗 Has this podcast changed how you feel? Take our hope survey: https://tinyurl.com/k4spjx43

🏠 Use our AI postcode search tool to find 5 examples of powerful collective action within 5 miles of your front door >>https://www.antidotelive.studio/near-you

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📩 To get stories like this to your inbox, join our mailing list: https://mattgolding.substack.com/

📋 Find links to things mentioned in the show here: https://www.antidotelive.studio/lawrence-weston-energy
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