We were pleased to be involved in the “What is Health? Peckham Experiment & Communities” debate at Sheffield’s Festival of Debate on Thursday 16th May 2024.
As well as hearing from speakers Jack Czauderna (our founder), Rob Copeland (Director of AWRC) and Simon Duffy (Citizen Network), we also heard from Waqas Hameed and Alfred Sandy from our team, alongside Nigel from from Manor & Castle Development Trust and Glyn from the People Focused Group in Doncaster. Together, they explored the core principles of the ‘Peckham Experiment‘, which have inspired the creation of ambitious and dynamic community-led healthy neighbourhoods in South Yorkshire.
All agreed that the Peckham Experiment was a great example of community and ongoing relationships, whilst also considering what has changed since the project was ended in 1950, both for better and for worse. The panel and audience discussed ways in which our organisations can continue the Peckham legacy. As Waqas said “We’re a small organisation, but with big ambitions”!
We were glad to have a number of members of the Pioneer Health Foundation in the audience with us. Jason Brannan, Deputy Director of AWRC, was the “keynote listener”, providing a helpful and insightful summary of the key points covered at the end of the debate, and reminding us of Glyn’s message “Don’t give away your power!”.
The day after the Festival of Debate, we were pleased to host a meeting with members of the Pioneer Health Foundation. We were also joined by our long term volunteer and service user, Jean, as well as by our embedded researcher, Dave Hembrough. The debate about “what is health” continued, with a lot of interesting conversations around buildings, funding and numerous other topics.