A SERIES of events to provide a showcase to the Bury 2030 Strategy will take place across February and March.

There will be a four talks from various speakers "to inspire and provoke conversations that matter" about the future of the borough.

The series will be led by Philip Collins, who was born and educated in Bury and is now contributing editor at the New Statesman and the author of the 2017 Life Chances report for Bury Council.

Philip will be in conversation with some local and national leaders, to reflect on the challenges and opportunities facing the borough and ideas behind the vision for the next ten years.

In the first event at 7pm on February 11 2021, Philip will be talking to Barclays Bank, who chose to work with Bury as one of their pilot sites to understand what makes a Thriving Local Economy.

Philip will reflect on his analysis from the Bury Life Chances research in 2017; understand Barclays’ current analysis and establish how community leaders are experiencing the local and unique challenges and opportunities across different townships.

The second event at 7pm on February 23 is entitled ‘Enterprise’ and will feature a conversation on the role of public bodies and industrial strategies in promoting local prosperity.

Philip will host again, with Bury born Professor Diane Coyle, co-director of the Bennett Institute for Public Policy, University of Cambridge and Mike Emmerich, a veteran of HM Treasury, 10 Downing Street and Manchester City Council who is the Founding Director of Metro Dynamics, a consultancy that advises the metro-mayors on the future of urban communities.

The third event at 7pm on March 4 is entitled ‘Together’. This will be a discussion on the role of community leadership and what really constitutes collective power. In this conversation, Philip will be joined by Sajid Hashmi MBE, Independent Chair of the Bury Voluntary and Community Faith Alliance, and Vicky Maloney, Chief Executive of Early Break and Chair of the Bury Children and Young People Forum.

The final event at 2pm on March 4 is entitled ‘Strengths’. This will consider the Borough’s opportunities to bring together education, health and the arts in creating a flourishing sense of place. This will be a conversation with Steph Meskell-Brocken from the Met, who has contributed to Developing a Sense of Place, a book on the role the arts can play in regeneration communities. Steph will discuss Bury’s accolade as the first Greater Manchester Town of Culture. Phil will also be joined by Professor Sir Michael Barber, former head of the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit and the chief executive of Delivery Associates, how which helps towns and cities all over the world deliver top-class public service.

Councillor Eamonn O’Brien, leader of Bury Council, said: “Bury Futures is an exciting opportunity to connect with people who have a link to our towns, whether they grew up here, live here, or work here. We want as many people as possible to be part of these discussions and contribute their thoughts and ideas about our Borough's future.

“We want to see how these ideas will complement our Bury 2030 strategy going forward and I look forward to speaking at the final event on the strengths of Bury. This is an exciting opportunity for Bury to lead the discussions about how we renew our towns across the country and build back better.”

For more details and joining links for each session visit bury.gov.uk/BuryFutures