“Towards the end of November, I was pleased to speak as part of Warwickshire’s Cost of Living Summit panel. I’d been asked where I thought we should all focus our efforts in order to help communities and citizens,” writes Grapevine CEO Clare Wightman. “My take is this. “Whatever your focus is – food, warmth or […]
We’re pleased to share that our senior community organiser Siân Lewis is appearing on the latest episode of Grounded—a podcast about how people work to change places. We know a bit about that here in Coventry and Warwickshire! Our team of nine community organisers work across a spectrum of shifting power work. From Connecting for […]
Distrust, disconnection, disillusionment… not where any of us wants to be. But in a fractured Britain, hope is growing (and essential) for a different kind of politics — one which shares power with communities already working hard for people in their own patch, one that backs this local leadership and believes strong communities build foundations […]
Three Coventry neighbourhoods are each set to receive up to £20 million of investment under the Pride in Place programme — a government priority for community-led renewal across the country over the next decade. At Grapevine, we have spent over 20 years building relationships and power in disadvantaged communities in our city, some of whom […]
We are often approached by the media for interviews and comment about our work and on issues affecting people and communities. Here, we set out our guidance on facilitating positive interview opportunities for the media — sharing stories in a way that protects, rather than harms, people we are working with. We’d like accessibility to […]
Fresh from speaking at last Friday’s ‘Climate Change – Rebuilding the Consensus and Changing the Narrative’ conference at the University of Warwick, our CEO Clare Wightman shares her thoughts on why we’re mistaken if we believe the climate consensus is broken — it might simply be the way we’re doing it. Clare writes: “Two thirds […]
This week our CEO Clare Wightman was invited to speak on a panel about Pride in Place, hosted by the Future Governance Forum and Local Trust. Here Clare shares her thoughts as we approach the start of the programme’s first delivery phase in April. “There is a lot to be excited about in the government’s […]
As we close in on the final couple of weeks celebrating our 30th anniversary during 2025, we’re revisiting three themes from our story about three decades of deep social change: Strengthening democracy Building solidarity across divides Collaborating to change public service systems. In focus this week is strengthening democracy and our long-held belief that this […]
This month we’re delighted to feature in UCL Policy Lab’s summer magazine talking about how community organising in Coventry is “rewriting the city’s history”. Writer Maddy Breen visited Grapevine’s Spon End offices earlier this year to interview some of the team—including our CEO Clare Wightman, deputy CEO Mel Smith and community organisers Gemma and Edwin. […]