Bevan Foundation helps kick off CLHFest20

The Bevan Foundation took part in the Community Led Housing Festival 2020,  presenting its work on Anchor Towns.

The festival, supported by the Wales Co-operative Centre’s Communities Creating Homes project, is the first community-led weeklong housing festival, with online talks and webinars dedicated to discussing how community led housing can help deliver more affordable housingfor people in need.

In line with this year’s theme of the role of community led housing in regenerating and reviving communities, the Bevan Foundation helped kick off the first session on “Why towns matter”. Presenting along with Scotland’s Towns Partnership and the Welsh Government’s Homes and Places division, Helen Cunningham gave an overview of the Bevan Foundation’s Anchor Towns work. The Bevan Foundation advocates Anchor towns as springboards for community wealth building and the development of the foundational economy to deliver fair, sustainable, and inclusive economies and places for people to live and work. The work emerged from the Bevan Foundation’s work on building resilience in the south Wales valleys, but many of the key principles have resonance for towns across Wales

Speaking about the event, Helen Cunningham said “This festival is a timely opportunity to have important conversations and exchanges of ideas about the future of Wales’ towns and the role of communities in shaping their future. COVID-19 has created huge challenges for many towns, but with those challenges come the need to do things differently and adapt for the future and we are pleased that Anchor Towns continue to generate so much interest.”

To find out more about the festival or get involved, visit the CCH webpage here or follow it on twitter @CCLHCymru