COLUMN by Stroud District Council leader Catherine Braun. 

Community wealth building is about re-directing wealth back into the local economy, though procurement and support for local and social enterprises, to reduce inequalities and make the local area more prosperous and more resilient.

At the district council’s strategy and resources committee meeting this week, we’re discussing our community wealth building achievements to date, including how we’re encouraging local investment, supporting tourism, local businesses, regional banking, apprenticeships and providing grant funding to local organisations.

There is already a huge amount going on, and over the coming months, we’ll look at where we can best target the council’s resources, working alongside other organisations, to take our community wealth building to the next level.

Plastic Free July is now well underway, and it is encouraging to see how people and organisations are changing their habits to ditch single-use plastic.

Our local festivals are great advocates of reducing waste and resource use.

The fabulous Nibley Festival held recently (30 June-1 July) and the upcoming Chalfest (21-22 July) have their own reusable cups, as well as taking a ‘leave no trace’ approach to minimise their environmental impact. Chalfest prioritises local vendors, with village community groups given a free pitch to fundraise from, while local residents get discounted tickets.

The Festival of Archaeology (15-30 July) is the biggest annual celebration of archaeology in the UK, and to mark the occasion, the Museum in the Park in Stroud is hosting a special collaboration between Cotswold Archaeology and ceramics artist Ekta Bagri.

The works on show at the ‘new ceramics from ancient clays’ display are inspired by a recently excavated site near Haresfield, one of only three potteries recorded in the Domesday book.

The displays include original medieval pottery from the site, alongside Ekta’s ceramic art, which is well worth a visit for any aspiring archaeologists.