Podcast Overview
<p><strong>Exeter Stories showcases the changemakers, entrepreneurs, and community leaders transforming Exeter and the Exe Valley.</strong> <strong>Host Paul Batterham interviews local heroes building a better future across health, culture, business, and social innovation.</strong></p><p>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.</p><p>Perfect for residents, business leaders, and anyone interested in community development, local innovation, and grassroots changemaking in Devon.</p><p>New episodes every other Wednesday on all major platforms.</p><p>======</p><p>This podcast has been made possible by the support of the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a>'s Innovation team, and the Arts & Culture team.</p><p>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.</p><p>Thanks also go to Adrian Webb at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.outcomepath.co.uk/">Outcome Path</a> for marketing support and for encouraging me to think bigger and bolder.</p><p>And finally, to all of the interviewees: thank you for being candid, funny, serious, passionate, and for all the brilliant things you do.</p><p></p>
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
10/1/2025
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Recent Episodes
June 24, 2026
Debbie Bucella: Alibi and the Case for Children's Creativity
<p><strong>Debbie Bucella, Chief Executive of Alibi, tells the story of one of Devon's most significant arts organisations; forty years of taking world-class theatre into school halls, and a reinvention that turned a funding crisis into a community hub.</strong></p><p>Debbie arrived in Exeter in the late nineties. Her route into theatre ran through the Bike Shed — the legendary two-damp-cellar venue on Fore Street that she helped found. A decade ago she joined Alibi, which had been making theatre for children and school audiences across Devon, Somerset, Dorset and Cornwall since 1982, reaching between 11,000 and 13,000 children in their school halls every year.</p><p>Alibi made a deliberate choice to open their doors rather than close them. Emmanuel Hall in St Thomas is now shared with St Thomas Library, Zero Mile Gardens CIC, a weekly children's choir, free early years music sessions, and a programme of community events. Its annual Christmas show, an immersive experience that has filled the hall with fifty real pine trees and, most recently, a full hotel populated by quirky animals, has become one of the most inventive family events in the city.</p><p>Debbie talks about what it takes to keep an organisation alive on its own terms, why creativity is the skill that matters most as AI reshapes the economy, and what it means to a child to be the one running the lights.</p><p><strong>Get Involved</strong></p><ul><li>Alibi website <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://theatrealibi.co.uk">theatrealibi.co.uk</a></li><li>Emmanuel Hall, Emmanuel Road, St Thomas, Exeter EX4 1EJ.</li><li>Check the website for upcoming events, workshops, holiday clubs, and the Big Silly Sing children's choir.</li><li>Space hire available for rehearsals, meetings, and events — including kitchen. Contact details on the website.</li><li>To volunteer or find out about supporting Alibi, visit <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://theatrealibi.co.uk">theatrealibi.co.uk</a> or contact the team directly.</li></ul>
May 27, 2026
Maresa Bossano: Building a Community Food Hub on Cowick Street
<p>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 lifestyle choice but vital to public health infrastructure.</p><p>Maresa has spent thirty years working in sustainable food, first as a five-a-day coordinator for the NHS, then running a food co-op at Sustain in London, managing a vegan cafe in Hastings, and leading the Community Supported Agriculture Network. She moved to the Exeter area and set up Love Food CIC in 2021. In the years since it opened, around a thousand people have come through the door. About half are regulars.</p><p>The hub runs a pay-what-you-can Thursday lunch club, a community fridge stocked from surplus donations, free and low-cost cookery sessions focused on food waste and budget eating, and a swap shop for clothes, toys and books. It also serves as a warm space, a hiring venue for community organisations, and a drop-in for anyone who needs to sit somewhere safe and charge their phone. </p><p>Maresa talks frankly about what the food system gets wrong, why cooking is not about skill or willpower, and what it would take for every neighbourhood in Exeter to have something like this.</p><p><strong>Get Involved</strong></p><ul><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://lovefoodcic.co.uk">Love Food CIC website</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.instagram.com/lovefoodcic/">Love Food CIC on Instagram</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.facebook.com/lovefoodcic/">Love Food CIC on Facebook</a></li><li><strong>Community food hub</strong> at LOVEFood CIC, 95 Cowick Street, St Thomas, Exeter EX4 1JF. Open Monday to Thursday, 10am to 3pm.</li><li><strong>Thursday lunch club</strong> 12:30 to 1:30pm, pay what you can. Not running during school holidays — check the website for dates.</li><li><strong>Cookery sessions</strong> free and low cost, usually Tuesdays or Wednesdays. Check the website or follow on social media for upcoming sessions.</li><li><strong>Community fridge</strong> free surplus food for anyone, open during core hours. Donations of home-grown or surplus food welcome.</li><li>To volunteer, donate, or hire the space: visit <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://lovefoodcic.co.uk">lovefoodcic.co.uk</a> or email <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="mailto:lovefoodcic@gmail.com">lovefoodcic@gmail.com</a>.</li></ul>
April 22, 2026
Will Adamsdale: Building Exeter's Comedy Scene From Pub To Festival
<p>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 annual comedy festival, now running around 90 shows across some of the city's most unexpected spaces.</p><p>Locally Sourced comedy night began in 2021 at Ebdon's cafe, born from a chance meeting with comedian Charlotte Evans. Since moving to the Little Drop of Poison on Fore Street, it has become a community, with returning faces, an alphabetical raffle, and a WhatsApp emergency group to keep things moving.</p><p>The festival grew in the same way: developed with Spencer Jones and Georgia Thomas, it has expanded from a single day at the Sidwell Street Bakehouse into a multi-day programme taking over bars, music shops, and established venues across Exeter. This year's festival runs from 3rd to 6th June. </p><p><strong>Get Involved</strong></p><ul><li>Exeter Comedy Festival website <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.exetercomedyfestival.com/">https://www.exetercomedyfestival.com/</a></li><li>Locally Sourced on Instagram <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.instagram.com/locallysourcedcomedy/">https://www.instagram.com/locallysourcedcomedy/</a></li><li>Exeter Comedy Festival on Instagram <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.instagram.com/exetercomedyfestival/">https://www.instagram.com/exetercomedyfestival/</a></li></ul><p></p><p><strong>Locally Sourced</strong> runs every Tuesday from 7:30pm at the Little Drop of Poison, 154 Fore Street, Exeter. Free entry / pay what you can.</p><p><strong>Exeter Comedy Festival 2026</strong> Gala on 3 June, festival 4–6 June (plus family shows 7 June). Volunteer sign-up available via the website.</p>
16 total episodes available
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Frequently asked questions
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- What is Exeter Stories?
<p><strong>Exeter Stories showcases the changemakers, entrepreneurs, and community leaders transforming Exeter and the Exe Valley.</strong> <strong>Host Paul Batterham interviews local heroes building a better future across health, culture, business, and social innovation.</strong></p><p>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.</p><p>Perfect for residents, business leaders, and anyone interested in community development, local innovation, and grassroots changemaking in Devon.</p><p>New episodes every other Wednesday on all major platforms.</p><p>======</p><p>This podcast has been made possible by the support of the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a>'s Innovation team, and the Arts & Culture team.</p><p>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.</p><p>Thanks also go to Adrian Webb at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.outcomepath.co.uk/">Outcome Path</a> for marketing support and for encouraging me to think bigger and bolder.</p><p>And finally, to all of the interviewees: thank you for being candid, funny, serious, passionate, and for all the brilliant things you do.</p><p></p> - How often does this podcast release new episodes?
This podcast updates daily.
- Where can I listen to this podcast?
This podcast is available on 4 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
- Does this podcast accept guests?
Information about guest appearances is not available.
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