Bevan Foundation discusses its Three Towns project

This week the Bevan Foundation welcomed partners and stakeholders to discuss the findings from our Three Towns project

The Bevan Foundation held a discussion session this week to discuss the findings from its Three Towns project. The project looks to explore the pre-conditions for growing the foundational economy in three communities in the south Wales valleys.

The session was attended by various stakeholders from across the three communities including local government, third sector organisations, RSLs, community members, stakeholders and other organisations who are also Foundational Economy Challenge Fund projects.

It gave the Bevan Foundation an opportunity to share and discuss its research on local business capacity and household spending patterns in the communities. Understanding these two factors are key to understanding if the foundational economy can flourish in smaller communities. It also used the session to see whether its findings were the same or different to work and experiences of those in attendance.

Project leader Lloyd Jones who ran the session said “ the session was very useful for us not only to share our findings but to test whether they landed with those who are really embedded in each community. The aim of the project was to get as detailed understanding of how these communities work on a hyper-local level so it was great that there was shared agreement. Especially on the importance of supporting and nurturing local businesses and finding ways to strengthen the local economy through local spending post-pandemic.”

The work from the project will be brought together next month to form final recommendations on opportunities and practical ways to make the most of the foundational economy.

You can find out more about the project here