Over lockdown, we’ve seen informal community support groups spring into action; thousands of people coming together to offer their help to deliver food, collect medical prescriptions and provide shopping assistance to some of the most vulnerable people across the UK. Universities, town halls and places of worship have become sites of support, as well as sporadic online mutual aid groups.

In this episode, we explore the changing role of communities in our lives and economies, and find out how their structures and the way they function affects the communities they serve. What does this mean for civic responsibility. Should communities be burdened with what some might say are the responsibilities of government, or is this community spirit a good thing?

In conversation with our host Clare Birkett is Karen Cheney, Head of Service for Birmingham Council's Neighbourhood Development and Support Unit, Simon Kaye, Senior Policy Researcher at the New Local Government Network, and Jasmine Lowe, a London resident who has been involved in community efforts during this crisis through the Muslim Welfare House.