Coventry Poverty Alliance moves closer to mobilising

In March, Grapevine and Central England Law Centre convened an event on poverty to look at how local agencies, services, charities, voluntary and community groups and organisations could develop the best connected network of help to respond quickly and effectively to the growing cost of living crisis. Coventry is actually rich in ways people can […]

We need to talk about Poverty

There are lots of us – services and community groups – that work with people who are struggling. Yet we still don’t seem to be able to make the difference needed to really shift the dial on poverty. It’s frustrating and we want to see if, by joining forces, we can do something about it. […]

Willenhall’s Big Conversation: collaborating for health equality

This week we’re focusing on improving the health and wellbeing of our communities in Coventry through our exploratory work in the Willenhall neighbourhood. Coventry is one of six areas nationally that form the Healthy Communities Together programme – established by The King’s Fund and The National Lottery Community Fund in 2021 to improve the health […]

In memory of John Whitmore

We recently lost a friend and supporter who has been with us since 2019, capturing our work through his lens. Today we remember John Whitmore through a selection of our favourite photographs of his. John was a talented man and a pleasure to know, frequently showing up at late notice for the things we asked […]

Reform the Norm – the Story of Us: Live

An immersive evening of stories, poetry and music took place over the weekend (5 and 6 November), performed by a unique group of people whose voices are too often unheard, misunderstood or miscommunicated. They had taken part in a ten-week training course to formulate their stories in creative ways and at The Story of Us: […]

Rethink, rebuild: Seizing this system-shifting moment

Grapevine CEO Clare Wightman hosts a breakout session on systems thinking at today’s NPC Ignites conference. Alongside co-hosts Seth Reynolds from NPC and Diane Smith (Head of Programme, Fulfilling Lives in Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham), she will discuss why the systemic change brought to a head by the Coronavirus pandemic demands a systemic response from […]

Listen: Love in Covid Times

A new podcast in a series about putting relationships at the heart of public policy has been released featuring Clare Wightman, Grapevine CEO. Her interview for ‘Love in Covid Times’ with Dr Michael Little explores how Grapevine looked inwards, not outwards, to find the answer of how to respond to the pandemic (you can also […]

Collaborating – not for the emergency but for the future

“One of my biggest fears, as local authorities try to recover from this crisis, is that focus returns to stemming need and that this could squeeze out the ability to think and act in ways that get us ahead of problems. We must not let that happen,” writes Grapevine CEO Clare Wightman in a new […]

Resilient Communities report reveals findings

A ‘Resilient Communities’ report has brought together the findings of a national cross-sector conference on the topic attended at the start of 2020 by our CEO Clare Wightman. The report also incorporates the latest research into opportunities to foster social cohesion in communities during and after disruptive events – arguably never needed more than at […]