FRIDAY 2 – SATURDAY 3 OCTOBER 2026

HOW DO WE REBUILD OUR COALFIELD
COMMON WEALTH?

We’re inviting people from across the region to assemble at Redhills. Come and explore how we can rebuild the shared institutions, assets, relationships, community ownership and collective power that make a decent life possible.

MAKE SURE YOU ARE IN THE ROOM.

Two days. One conversation.

The Assembly follows one shared journey.

Rather than choosing between competing conference sessions, we’ll come together for short talks, stories, films and provocations before working in smaller groups to explore the same questions.

The emphasis throughout will be on participation rather than presentation. Short contributions are there to inspire, stimulate or provoke the conversation that follows – not to present finished answers.

We’ll learn from the past, hear from people doing the work today, look at inspiring examples from elsewhere and ask what those ideas mean for our own communities.

FRIDAY 2 OCTOBER

Day One:

What is our Coalfield Common Wealth?

9am - 5:45pm

Arrival, registration, tea and coffee from 9:00am. The Assembly opens at 10:00am

Day one asks what makes a community wealthy – not simply in financial terms, but through the things we own, share, create and sustain together.

Across the day, we’ll explore six interconnected elements of Coalfield Common Wealth, combining short provocations with stories, film, culture and participatory breakout sessions.

Time	Session
9.00am	Arrival, registration, tea & coffee
10.00am	Welcome to the Assembly A short welcome and introduction to the two days.
10.20am	Our Living Culture How can culture, history and creativity give us the confidence, identity and imagination to shape the future?
11.00am	Short break
11.10am	Mutual Aid How can we organise collectively to look after each other and look out for each other?
12.05pm	Coffee break
12.35pm	Collective Ownership What changes when communities own and control the buildings, land and resources on which they depend?
1.30pm	Lunch
2.15pm	A Solidarity Economy How can we create our own jobs and keep wealth in our communities?
3.15pm	Short break
3.25pm	Take Back Control How do communities build the agency and democratic power to decide what happens?
4.25pm	Coffee Break
4.50pm	Look After This Place How do we care for our places and what we pass on to future generations?
5.45pm	Day One closes
6pm - late	Culture, food and connection For those who want to stay on, the Assembly will continue into Friday evening with an optional, separately bookable programme bringing together culture, food and conversation. The exact programme is still being developed, with ideas including live performance, music and food. Full details coming soon. Click here to book

SATURDAY 3 OCTOBER

Day Two:

How do we rebuild it?

8:45am - 4:45pm

Arrival, registration, tea and coffee from 8:45am. The programme begins at 9:15am.

If Friday asks what we need to rebuild, Saturday asks how we do it.

Across the day, we’ll test five connected stages of the Redhills Model. Each session combines short provocations with time for participants to work together, challenge the ideas and apply them to their own experience.

Time	Session
8.45am	Arrival, registration, tea & coffee
9.15am	Our Coalfield Common Wealth A short recap of Day One and introduction to the Redhills Model.
9.30am	ACTIVATE Harness pride in our inherited and living culture to build motivation, hope and the belief that change is possible.
10.25am	Short break
10.35am	EDUCATE Uncover the root causes of deprivation and build the understanding and practical capability to govern institutions, manage economic assets and exercise collective power.
11.35am	Coffee break
12.00pm	ORGANISE Form and strengthen democratic community institutions that can campaign, collectively own assets, employ people and make decisions.
12.50pm	Lunch
1.35pm	CAPITALISE Build community wealth by securing and deploying patient, non-extractive capital, assets and enterprise for community benefit.
2.45pm	Short break
2.55pm	FEDERATE Connect organisations so learning, practice, resources and power accumulate - building collective power and solidarity across communities.
3.40pm	Coffee break
4.05pm	Now We Build A final challenge to turn the ideas, relationships and possibilities developed over the two days into collective action and power.
4.45pm	Assembly closes

JOIN. SHARE. EXPLORE. TEST. SHAPE.

REGISTER FOR THE ASSEMBLY