Series 3 of The GM Moving Podcast looks at the Right to the Streets project and it's working to end gender-based violence against women and girls.
The third series of The GM Moving Podcast focuses exclusively on our Right To The Streets project.
The series explores how people and communities are working together to make our streets and public spaces more welcoming and safe for women and girls, by highlighting the work already being done in North Trafford (Old Trafford, Gorsehill and Stretford area).
We'll be spotlighting experiences and gathering ideas and solutions for improvement from partners so that everyone across Greater Manchester and beyond can be inspired to take the steps to create a whole system-approach to addressing violence against women and girls in their local area.
The Right to the Streets project is being delivered in partnership with Trafford Council, Open Data Manchester, local stakeholder and community groups, and GM Moving partners, running from September 2022 to September 2023.
The GM Moving Podcast is back with a bang for series 3 as we embark on our Right to the Streets project. Funded by the Home Office and supported by a network of local partners, Right to the Streets is working with people and communities in North Trafford to make our streets and public places safer for women and girls.
Here's what you can expect from the new series:
In Episode 1 we're talking about crime and the community with Kate Green (Deputy Mayor of GM), Jim Faulkner (GM Police) and Nazir Afzal (former Chief Prosecutor for NW England).
We also hear from one of the co-founders of an organisation called Collaborative Women UK and chair of a local community group called Gorgeous Gorse Hill.
How do public spaces and streets play a role in supporting active lives for all? How do long-term planning and urban design, to the more immediate changes that local people can make to make the place feel welcoming and cared for, support safer streets?
Welcome to episode 2 of series 3 of The GM Moving Podcast. We're joined by Ellie Cosgrave, Director of CIC and Research at our Right to the Streets partner Publica, Activity Alliance's Sarah Brown-Fraser and Beyond Empower's Ben Andrews as we discuss the need to design accessibility into our public spaces. We'll also find out what the council's Civic Quarter Action Plan has in store for the areas around Trafford Town Hall and Old Trafford Cricket Ground with our guest Elizabeth Lewis, Heritage Development Officer at Trafford Council.
More than two thirds of people in GM say they would walk and cycle more if they felt safer, which is especially true of women and girls. In episode 3, we head to Old Trafford on a walkabout workshop with our project partners Open Data Manchester to hear from members of the community about their experiences of walking, wheeling and cycling in the local area.
We're also joined by Active Travel Commissioner, Dame Sarah Storey, and Transport Commissioner for Greater Manchester, Vernon Everitt, as we explore active travel (meaning all journeys that are walked, wheeled or cycled to include people traveling by wheelchair, scooter, pushchair, e-bike and other mobility aids) and the links between active travel and trips by public transport, as we seek to make journeys to and from bus, tram and train stops safer and more inviting for all.
In episode 4 of the Right to the Streets series of the podcast, we're talking all things public health. We head back to Old Trafford to chat to Reverend Christine Aspinall and a women's community group at St John's Centre about relationship with their streets, parks and the physical environment and the difference this makes to their lives.
We're also joined by Eleanor Roaf, Director of Public Health at Trafford Council to delve into what we mean by a 'public health approach,' her ideas for leading happy and healthy lives, and why safer streets matter to her.
In episode 5, we're focusing on what it actually means to live an active life and what we are learning about what gets in the way. We will be heading to the GM Moving Conference to find out what are the key ingredients to creating the conditions for active lives from the people making this happen.
We are also joined by The Guardian's Editor for the North of England, Helen Pidd, who will be talking about how communications and messaging, locally and in the media, impact our perception of safety on our streets, and the challenge of crafting a public narrative that normalises active lives and everyday moving for all, when public demand pushes the press to tell stories which amplify the extremes.
Manchester is known around the world for its sports, culture and music venues. Trafford is home to some of the biggest concert venues including Lancashire Cricket Ground, Victoria Warehouse and Old Trafford Football Ground, all of which are popular venues for international artists and gig-goers.
In episode 6 of the Right to the Streets series of the GM Moving podcast, we're joined by Trafford Councillor Jo Harding and Sacha Lord, Manchester's Night Time Economy Adviser and founder of The Warehouse Project and Parklife as we discuss how we can make our cultural and night time spaces safer and more welcoming for women and girls.
How do young people experience our streets and public spaces and what role can they can play in making places more welcoming and joyful for everyone?
In episode 7 of the Right to the Streets series of the GM Moving podcast, we are powerfully reminded of how far we still need to go to end, the normalisation of misogyny, racism, Islamophobia, and other forms of prejudice, discrimination and harassment.
It leaves many young people feeling fearful and unsafe on our streets and hinder their freedom to be active. Hear from individuals working with young people or on youth projects in Trafford and across Greater Manchester about how the world is changing for young people.
We certainly couldn’t finish the third series without exploring one of the biggest attractions in Trafford: sport. The area is home to two of Greater Manchester’s biggest sporting venues, Manchester United’s Old Trafford ground and Lancashire Cricket Club.
With that huge throng of people taking to the streets of Old Trafford most weeks, we wanted to explore how sports events like these impact the feeling of safety amongst the women and girls who visit or live in the area. We ask how inclusive this sporting community is and how our current facilities, infrastructure, programmes, role models and cultural norms help and hinder women and girls' access and participation.