The Cov Pod

In this episode, we hear from Stacey-Jade Mason, the founder and director of Creative Optimistic Visions (COV), a local organisation who believe we all have the right to feel safe and provides companies and individuals with the tools to enable this via education, training, mentoring, youth and community services for people of all ages. Stacey-Jade talks me through how COV supports local young people, how the organisation was founded and shares some of the plans for the organisation going forward. Find out more about the work of Creative Optimistic Visions over at www.creativeoptimisticvisions.co.uk The episode was recorded in December 2022. Host: Aaron Ashmore Intro music: Heal in Time by The Institutes In partnership with Coventry City Council.

In February, Dippy the Diplodocus made the journey to Coventry and their new home for the next three years in the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum. We speak to Cllr David Welsh, Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities at Coventry City Council to discuss how Dippy the Dinosaur fits in the city’s approach to arts and museums and the vision of bringing world-class exhibitions to the city whilst also celebrating the culture of local communities. Cllr Welsh talks about how Coventry celebrates and promotes local culture, how local creatives can get in touch to share their ideas, and gives an update on the progress of the former IKEA building. Ali Wells, Curator at Herbert Art Gallery and Museum then shares the excitement of Dippy coming to Coventry, how the Herbert applied to be the home for Dippy for the next three years, and some of the ideas that the museum has to accompany Dippy itself with workshops and exhibitions. Finally, Lorraine Cornish, the National History Museum’s Head of Conservation and resident Dippy expert tell us about Dippy’s background, what makes Dippy so special, and shares her thoughts on Coventry as a place of culture and history. Host: Aaron Ashmore Intro music: Heal in Time by The Institutes In partnership with Coventry City Council.

In this latest episode of The Cov Pod, we explore some of the reasons that make Coventry one of the must-visit destinations in the UK! We hear from Cllr Jim O'Boyle on the city's efforts to continue to grow and develop and Paul Jones from Destination Coventry tells us about the formation of the organisation and why hosting attractions such as the Godiva Festival and the city centre ice rink have wide-reaching benefits. Next, Hannah Jones from Historic Coventry Trust takes us on a journey through the city's rich history, including the restoration of historic buildings such as Charterhouse which is set to open its doors to the public this spring. Finally, Jess from Coventry Rocks shares why Coventry is an excellent place for young families to visit and the work that goes into collating the various events and attractions taking place in the city in one place! Host: Aaron Ashmore Intro music: Heal in Time by The Institutes In partnership with Coventry City Council.

A sit down with the founder and CEO of Coventry's Positive Youth Foundation; Rashid Bhayat MBE. Rashid is a Coventrian who I hugely admire so it was brilliant to talk about his history in the city, how PYF first began, and why supporting and empowering young Coventry people remains at the heart of the organisation. I am a big fan of the work of Positive Youth Foundation and have seen over the past couple of years the impact it makes to young local people! Find out more about their work: positiveyouthfoundation.org Host: Aaron Ashmore Intro music: Heal in Time by The Institutes In partnership with Coventry City Council.

In this episode of The Cov Pod, I sit down with Corey Campbell, Creative Director at Belgrade Theatre. We talk about Corey's early career, the story behind Strictly Arts Theatre Company, his role in the Belgrade's key year of Coventry being the UK City of Culture in 2021, and the Theatre's commitment to supporting and promoting community engagement, diversity, and talent development. Excuse the slightly wonky sound - my mic suddenly decided to not be compatible with my phone so it is recorded directly from the phone! Host: Aaron Ashmore Intro music: Heal in Time by The Institutes In partnership with Coventry City Council.

Godiva Festival is a date marked in the diary for almost every Coventrian and this year's music-filled weekend is fast approaching! To find out more about the decisions behind the festival, I speak to Jon Hogan, City Event Manager at Coventry City Council about how the acts are chosen, the tremendous amount of planning that goes into a festival of this size, and the move to paid ticketing in recent years. Godiva Festival is known for promoting local music and this year builds on that even more with local acts; Caitlin McCarthy and Idle Noise both playing on the main stage! We speak to Caitlin plus Ben and Dan from Idle Noise about what Godiva Festival means to local musicians, their favourite memories from past years, and how they are preparing for the weekend! You can hear some music from Idle Noise as the outro to the episode! Host: Aaron Ashmore Intro music: Heal in Time by The Institutes Outro music: Heart Alarm by Idle Noise In partnership with Coventry City Council.

You will no doubt know that Coventry is a host city for the Commonwealth Games in 2022 but did you also know that city is hosting the International Children’s Games this year. In August, more than 1500 of the best young sporting talents from around the world are travelling to the city for 6 days of completion across 7 sports. We kick the episode off by speaking to Cllr Kamran Caan, Cabinet Member for Public Health and Sport, and Jon Hunt, Service Manager Sport, Physical Activity & Wellbeing, Coventry City Council about the benefits that hosting the games brings to the city and how local people can get involved in the games. I then speak to John Timms, Event Director of the Games who tells me all about the journey of Coventry becoming host city, the huge amount of planning that has gone into preparing for a huge event and the lessons learned since we last hosted the Games in 2005. Finally, I'm joined by Sophie and Eve, two Team Coventry swimmers who share their excitement in representing the city at the games and share some tips on how other young people in the city can begin to get involved in swimming. Host: Aaron Ashmore Intro music: Heal in Time by The Institutes In partnership with Coventry City Council. 

In this episode of The Cov Pod, I sit down with Laura McMillan MBE, Director of Audience Strategy, Coventry City of Culture Trust who tells me about her history in the city, how she first became involved with Coventry's bid for UK City of Culture and we take a look at a momentous year for Coventry. Laura shares why there was a commitment to making sure that co-creation was at the heart of the Coventry 2021 activity and why it was important for new voices to be heard across the city. We also talk about Laura's recent MBE award as part of the Queen's Birthday Honours and what Laura's plans are going forward. Host: Aaron Ashmore Intro music: Heal in Time by The Institutes In partnership with Coventry City Council.

Have you ever wondered what the role of Lord Mayor entails? Or how the next Mayor is decided? I sat down with former Lord Mayor Cllr John McNicholas during his last week in term to look at some of the highlights and challenges of his time as Lord Mayor from raising money at the Charity Dog Show to the restrictions caused by COVID Host: Aaron Ashmore Intro music: Heal in Time by The Institutes In partnership with Coventry City Council.

Coordinating fair and well-run local elections is obviously a crucial role for any Council and Coventry is no exception with a huge amount of work taking place to facilitate local people registering their vote. In this episode, I speak to Martin Reeves, Chief Executive, Coventry City Council, about his role as Returning Officer and the legal responsibility he has to ensure the local election is managed effectively, to Liz Read, Electoral Services Manager, Coventry City Council about the behind-the-scenes planning of both polling stations and election night itself, and finally to Alan Cox, a Presiding Officer who is a member of the public who once a year is called upon to manage a polling station. Host: Aaron Ashmore Intro music: Heal in Time by The Institutes Outro music: Don't Fall Apart by Duke Keats  In partnership with Coventry City Council.

It was a pleasure to sit down with John Kiely MBE - one of the cogs that help to make the Coventry business world turn. I speak to John about how he came to be a franchisee of a number of McDonald's in the city, the work he is involved in to support Coventry homeless people and young people to access training and employment, plus how it felt to be awarded an MBE as part of The Queen’s New Year Honours List for his philanthropic work in the city of Coventry, helping disadvantaged youth. Host: Aaron Ashmore Intro music: Heal in Time by The Institutes In partnership with Coventry City Council.

You’ll no doubt be aware of Council Tax but do you know how and where that money is spent? I sat down with Cllr Richard Brown, Finance Lead for Coventry City Council and Paul Jennings, Senior Finance Manager at Coventry City Council to talk about the council’s annual budget, Council Tax, and the balance between the funding of local services and investing in commercial opportunities. The conversation is informal and is a great introduction to how the council manages its budget and the legal responsibility the council has to balance the books each year. Host: Aaron Ashmore Intro music: Heal in Time by The Institutes In partnership with Coventry City Council.

Award-winning BBC radio and TV presenter, journalist, awards host, and all-round Coventry champion, Trish Adudu joins me on the latest episode of The Cov Pod. We talk about the racism faced by Trish's family after first moving to the city, working her way up in a career in journalism, her love for the city, and take a closer look at the businesses of her two boys, Tyler and Kennedy. Host: Aaron Ashmore Intro music: Heal in Time by The Institutes Outro music: Bobby Bastardo by The Bad Divine  In partnership with Coventry City Council.

A special Christmas-themed episode of The Cov Pod with a festive interview with Coventry film director, Debbie Isitt. The Nativity films play a special part in many Coventrian's Christmas and it was great to hear about how the films came to be, the essential role Coventry plays in the series and what it was like dangling a child off the Cathedral Spire!! I hope you enjoy it! I just wanted to take the chance to wish you a Merry Christmas and a huge thank you for your support for the podcast so far! Host: Aaron Ashmore Intro music: Heal in Time by The Institutes Outro music: Silent Night by Stylusboy In partnership with Coventry City Council.

2021 will be looked back as a historic year for Coventry and this episode I speak to some of the people behind Coventry 2021. After being awarded UK City of Culture in 2017, we are currently halfway through a year of events and community projects which have looked to put Coventry on the cultural map. In this episode, I speak to Chenine Bhathena, Creative Director of Coventry City of Culture Trust about the vision of the 2021 programme, some highlights of the past six months plus a look forward to what's still to come.  I also speak to Molly Adkins, Producer, South East, Collaborative City about some of the projects that have been delivered so far and the impact COVID has had on the 2021 programme. Finally, I speak to local creative, Roze Navab who tells me about the Coventry Twin Studios Project project and how the Trust has supported local creatives. Host: Aaron Ashmore Intro music: Heal in Time by The Institutes Outro music: Judas Kiss by The Broken Rebels In partnership with Coventry City Council. Episode photo: Dylan Parrin

A huge honour to speak to Coventry legend, David Moorcroft OBE for this episode of The Cov Pod. David was kind enough to share his Coventry story with me which included running in 3 Olympic games and winning gold two times at the Commonwealth Games. Enjoy!  Host: Aaron Ashmore Aaron's Twitter Intro music: Heal in Time by The Institutes Outro music: William F Cody and the Foleshill Blues by AncientCrackedVoice In partnership with Coventry City Council.

It is more apparent than ever how important it is to take meaningful action to address climate change and this episode takes a closer look at what work is taking place in the city to help combat it.  We speak to Cllr Jim O’Boyle who tells us about the range of projects underway in the city to work towards a greener, sustainable future. This is followed by an interview with Nicola Small from Coventry City Council who talks about the Very Light Rail project which looks to bring a tram system to Coventry.  Host: Aaron Ashmore Aaron's Twitter Intro music: Heal in Time by The Institutes Outro music: We Are The City Of Spires by David Goody In partnership with Coventry City Council.

Episode 2 of The Cov Pod is an interview with the brilliant Pete Chambers; the oracle of Coventry music and mastermind behind The Coventry Music Museum! The interview takes a look at the impact The Specials and 2 Tone made on the city, what the Coventry music scene was like in the 70s and 80s and we even find out how the famous Ghost Town car made its way to the upstairs to the first floor of the Music Museum. Enjoy! In partnership with Coventry City Council. Host: Aaron Ashmore  Intro music: Heal in Time by The Institutes Outro music: Journey into the Night by Jay Tennant

To time with World Homeless Day, the first episode of The Cov Pod takes a look at homelessness and rough sleeping with interviews in the city with Coventry City Council representatives, Louise from The ARC; a drug and alcohol outreach support who support people to achieve a better quality of life, and finally a chat with John who has a history of rough-sleeping in the city who now has permanent housing. Host: Aaron Ashmore Aaron's Twitter Intro music: Heal in Time by The Institutes Outro music: Out Upon The Ocean by Stylusboy 

The trailer for a brand new Coventry podcast, hosted by Aaron Ashmore in partnership with Coventry City Council. In The Cov Pod, we will be taking a look at some topics related to the city and interviewing notable figures about their Coventry story. Keep an eye out for episodes releasing in the next few weeks. Host: Aaron Ashmore Aaron's Twitter Music: Intro and outro music by The Institutes The Institutes' Twitter