Rachel Robinson:
So today we are in Wigan which is in the north west of England. The sun is shining and we’re going to be getting out and about around the town centre to find out more about the challenge for contestants.
Paul Barton:
Well, it's a challenge for all towns and cities to be fair. It's how do we introduce some green infrastructure into our town centres to invigorate them, climate resilience as well and connecting people back to nature.
Sonia Halliwell:
The challenge is really important because climate, of course, is on everybody’s key agenda. Here in Wigan, we’ve got a climate emergency. Our residents are telling us that’s something that really matters to them.
Joe Kinsella:
Directly after we were set our challenge, we were then taken round the town centre by officers here in Wigan Borough Council. It was a really great way to start the challenge because we got to visualise the town centre and improvements to our implementation can potentially help.
Lewis Sheldrake:
On the one hand you've got some really beautiful buildings, fantastic architecture from a range of eras, but on the other hand there are aspects that are somewhat more deprived. There's a lot of empty retail units also a lot of regeneration going on. But there were some really beautiful pockets of green space.
Zoe Galvin:
After that tour, we came back and had some more panel interviews and half of my team went off to do some research. So, team Catalyst are focusing on climate adaptation. The first question we asked the panel was, “What do we mean by climate adaptation?” Some of that is around your people's behaviours and how they need to change in response to the climate emergency, but also then about the assets of the community like the buildings, canal ways, trees and that lovely natural landscape that Wigan has.
Hani Milburn-Cox:
The benefit of being captain in challenge five is that you know those personalities more. I've worked with nearly everyone so that really enables me to draw on their expertise and where I think they would add strength to the team. Our team is primarily focused on health in regards to green infrastructure and accessibility to nature. So we've got a key challenge I suppose to see them as interdependencies how they link cross with each other.
Michael Barrett:
It's day two of the challenge here in Wigan. It's been a really great start to this challenge and the teams both seem to be really enjoying their time here. There's some excitement in the air because this afternoon we're going to be finding out who the four finalists are for the Bruce-Lockhart Scholarship.
Virginia Ponton:
Because it's the end of the programme they really are working seamlessly together at this point. They’ve brought all their skills and knowledge with them. They've been on great personal journeys, we’ve really seen them develop. It’s going to be I think quite an emotional end to the 2023 programme for them and us.
Leada Cable:
It’s been such a brilliant journey and it kind of feels like it's at the end now. Obviously four of us will go through to the final, but we've made such great bonds with each other it's bittersweet really today. Last night we had our working dinner with one of the councillors who is the Deputy Leader and also the Assistant Director covering planning and regeneration.
Sydney Alexander:
So after dinner we actually took a bit of a walk by the canal to actually see what they were talking about, understand quite how big it was, and just get a sense for the area.
Felicity Lynch:
Team captain Hani, is currently in a ideas session with some of the stakeholders with Lewis, so they’re bouncing our ideas off them and deciding whether they're the ones that we’re going to take forward. Rose is currently working on the PowerPoint which is one of her really key skills and Leanda and I are working on the proposal so we’ve gotta have them in by 1:30pm.
Hannah Futter:
We're now slightly overwhelmed by all of the different ideas that we've got and just need to sort through them to get some real solid things to present later on. So I think nervous anticipation, but yeah, all feeling really positive this morning. There's loads of brilliant good practise out there so we've been looking as far as Singapore, lots of European countries, so the possibilities are endless.
Jack Kennedy:
Wigan are really interested in how we make sure we bring to life the idea so might actually spend some time outside, getting videos, getting diagrams, maps, all the different aspects that can really bring ideas to life and make sure that they pop when we get to the presentation.
Rose Hampton:
I’ve learnt that green interventions in town centres are a thing of the future. They have to start happening now so we can adapt to climate change and the future of what our world will look like. We’re building what our communities and how our town centres will look.
Hani Milburn-Cox:
Our idea centres on a gamified journey throughout Wigan town centre. So really engaging residents and visitors on the local heritage and history of the town but also linking that importantly, to green infrastructure and the assets that Wigan has in regards to nature and biodiversity.
Zoe Galvin:
Our idea has three levels of intervention. The first one is all about spaces and places with our flagship being a natural playscape in the marketplace. We then move on to the second initiative which is around the connections between all the beautiful places in the town. And finally thinking about what we’re calling green social infrastructure. So, the stuff that you might not see but the skills that these communities are going to need to stay in the area and to adapt to the climate emergency.
Claire Holloway:
So for this challenge we chose team Catalyst. It was a very difficult decision, it always is. But on this occasion, we felt that team Catalyst had packed more into their proposal. They did a really good presentation.
Cllr Keith Cunliffe:
The ideas that we will take forward, developing a retrofitting Academy to generate job opportunities for young people in green industries and both health and care as well, simultaneously, to really improve the opportunities for young people in this borough. The future of Local Government is safe in these people’s hands.
Hani Milburn-Cox:
I think our idea was strong and we delivered it really well, but we were up against really strong competition. Potentially, if we had more time we would have focussed more on the funding.
Zoe Galvin:
I’m feeling absolutely elated. I had two victories, two losses if feels really really good to finish on a high with another victory, but also, we're super proud of what we achieved and the plans and proposals we put together. So, getting such good feedback from the councillors and from the council itself has been fantastic.
Claire Holloway:
So at the end of five challenges we have our four finalists and they are: Sydney from Islington Council, Joe from Calderdale Council, Lewis from Barking and Dagenham and Hannah from Waltham Forest. Huge congratulations to the four of them and we look forward to seeing them in Bournemouth.
