Radical Help - A New Approach To The Welfare State

In this Podcast we explore with Hilary Cottam the ideas of changing the welfare state

The welfare state was revolutionary: it lifted thousands out of poverty, provided decent homes, good education and security. But it is out of kilter now: an elaborate and expensive system of managing needs and risks. Today we face new challenges. Our resources have changed.

We must work with individuals, families and communities to grow the core capabilities we all need to flourish. Radical Help describes the principles behind the approach, the design process that makes the work possible and the challenges of transition. It is bold - and above all, practical.

Hilary Cottam is one of our foremost social thinkers and actors and she has a radical approach. Starting in the lives and homes of those who face every day struggles - teenage depression, poor health, a lack of good work or a lonely old age - she asks people what they would do, with help and collaboration, to design a better way forward.

We can recover the original and powerful intention behind the welfare state with Cottam's ideas: crucial shifts in the way we can think about welfare. At the heart of these new systems are human relationships - the simple bonds with one another that enable us all to flourish.