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About This Podcast
Exeter Stories showcases the changemakers, entrepreneurs, and community leaders transforming Exeter and the Exe Valley. Host Paul Batterham interviews local heroes building a better future across health, culture, business, and social innovation.
Discover inspiring stories from brilliant people doing brilliant things right on your doorstep. From a multi-agency support model, to a volunteer-run theatres, to a vision of the city as a place for everyone, each fortnightly episode showcases the positive impact happening across our region.
Perfect for residents, business leaders, and anyone interested in community development, local innovation, and grassroots changemaking in Devon.
New episodes every other Wednesday on all major platforms.
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This podcast has been made possible by the support of the University of Exeter's Innovation team, and the Arts & Culture team.
The idea grew out of civic innovation workshops led by Julie McLaren and Kate Jago in early 2024. Without their work bringing together Exeter's movers and shakers, this podcast wouldn’t exist.
Thanks also go to Adrian Webb at Outcome Path for marketing support and for encouraging me to think bigger and bolder.
And finally, to all of the interviewees: thank you for being candid, funny, serious, passionate, and for all the brilliant things you do.
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Recent Episodes
S2E3 Maresa Bossano: Building a Community Food Hub on Cowick Street
Maresa Bossano, founder of Love Food CIC, shares the story behind Exeter's community food hub on Cowick Street in St Thomas, and makes a compelling case for why local, plant-based food isn't a…
S2E2 Will Adamsdale: Building Exeter's Comedy Scene From Pub To Festival
Perrier Award winner, actor, and the man behind Locally Sourced comedy night, Will Adamsdale traces the unlikely journey from a comedy emergency in a Sidwell Street cafe to founding Exeter's own…
S2E1 Lightbear Lane: Building Culture and Community Across Exeter's Streets and Stories
Dr Sarah Spencer and Dr Judith Morgane, the partnership behind arts and heritage organisation Lightbear Lane, share how they are using community film, creative mapping, Shakespeare and asset-based…
S1E12 The Modern Earl: Heritage, Innovation and the Future of Exeter
Recorded live at the Devon & Exeter Institution, this episode features Charlie Courtenay, the 19th Earl of Devon, as he reflects on heritage, stewardship, and the future of Exeter.We explore:What…
S1E11 CoLab Women: Compassion, Connection and Recovery
Jeanie Lynch, Head of Service for CoLab Women, reflects on decades of community work and what it means to build trust, safety, and hope in Exeter.We discuss:Her early activism in the 1980s Exeter…
S1E10 Making Change by Hand: Craft, Community and Circular Economy
We sit down at Exeter’s quayside with Tim Stares of CoCreate CIC, a creative social enterprise turning waste timber into purpose and connection.You’ll hear about:How CoCreate combines sustainable…
S1E9 One Human Family: Activism, Respect, and Belonging in Exeter
In this deeply moving conversation, Dr Suaad Genem, founder of the Exeter Respect Festival and former Exeter councillor, shares her remarkable journey from Haifa to Exeter.We discuss:Her belief in…
S1E8 Mischief and Magic: Imagining the World of Tomorrow
Director, writer and performer Katie Villa of Quirk Theatre talks about imagination as activism, and how Theatre can help us imagine better futures.In this joyful, reflective chat we cover:Katie’s…
S1E7 From Protest to Place: Building the Exeter Community Alliance
Chris Wood, organiser with Exeter Community Alliance (ECA), a city-wide umbrella network helping nearly 100 local groups collaborate, share space, and engage the public. We talk about moving “beyond…
S1E6 The Future Is Local: How Two Exeter Scientists Are Reimagining Discovery for Devon
In this episode, I’m joined by Dr Alice Mills and Dr Natalie Whitehead, co-founders of the Exeter Science Centre, to explore how two physicists turned their passion for public engagement into a…
S1E5 Moving Bookshelves & Breaking Rules: Exeter Library's Cultural Revolution
Callum Elliott-Archer, Centre Manager of Exeter Library, reveals how breaking decades-old rules, listening to teenagers, and moving furniture on wheels transformed a declining library into an…
S1E4 Beyond the Pitch: How Exeter City FC Is Tackling Community Impact
Julian Tagg, Chairman of Exeter City FC, shares an extraordinary journey from ball boy to boardroom and reveals how a community-owned football club is tackling Exeter's biggest social challenges.In…
S1E3 South West End: Building Exeter's Creative Future, One Kid at a Time
Cameron Mills shares the remarkable journey from a small rock project to a creative education empire reaching over 1,000 children across the South West, and reveals his vision for Exeter as the next…
S1E2 From Gentlemen's Club to Community Asset: The Transformation of an Institution
Emma Dunn, Director of the Devon and Exeter Institution, shares the dramatic story of rescuing a collapsing 13th-century building and transforming an exclusive gentlemen's club into an accessible…
S1E1 Exeter's Social A&E: CoLab's Revolutionary Approach to Community Support
Fiona Carden, CEO of CoLab Exeter, shares the remarkable 10-year journey of creating a community hub that revolutionizes how services support people in crisis.In this episode, Fiona explains how…
Frequently Asked Questions
Exeter Stories has published 15 episodes since October 2025, covering topics in Documentary, Society & Culture.
Exeter Stories is currently highly active with new episodes every 2 weeks. Average episode length is 36m.
