LOUIS (Introduction)
Hey there. My name is Louis and this is Kakou Talk, a podcast about accessibility and community brought to you by Kakou Technologies. You’re listening to Episode one, with Josh Marsh. I hope you enjoy!
LOUIS
Hello, and welcome to the very first episode of Kakou Talk, a podcast about accessibility and community. My name is Louis, I’m the digital marketing and content creator for Kakou Technologies, an accessible engineering company and social enterprise based in Chesterfield in Derbyshire, United Kingdom. This is a pretty exciting moment for Kakou and honestly, for me, too. I’ve never hosted a podcast before, so this will hopefully be a very smooth learning experience. You know, I’m very wet behind the ears. But unlike me, is my guest and a friend of Kakou Josh Marsh, who I’ve been annoying questions and queries about podcast production for a few weeks now.
JOSH
No, it’s been absolutely fine. It’s been absolutely fine. Um, I’ve really enjoyed seeing your journey into podcasting as well. It’s great to kind of share the love because I think podcasts are brilliant. So yeah, very, very excited to be your first guest.
LOUIS
Yeah, thank you. Thank you for joining me to be our first guest. So Josh, why don’t you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about what you do.
JOSH
Okay, yeah, great. So, I actually work for an organisation called Destination Chesterfield. So, we’re all about spreading positivity around the town, promoting the town, letting people know what’s happening, you know, trying to encourage investors to come and base their businesses here as well. So it’s a really varied role. You know, a lot to get my teeth into all the time and every day is different. So, yeah, and I love shouting about the town that I was born in. And you know, I think it’s a there’s a lot to shout about in Chesterfield, too. So yeah, I really love to do the job that I do and yeah, get a lot of reward from it.
LOUIS
Alright, so you’re a proper Chesterfield boy? I didn’t know you were born here. So is it like a lifelong sort of thing?
JOSH
Yeah, kind of. I mean, I was born just down the road in Tupton actually, a little village just kind of on the outskirts. Of course, Chesterfield, you know, from where you are in Tupton you can see the spire over on the horizon, you know, miles in the distance, and it’s always like that beacon, you know, going into town and I’ve always been a big supporter of the football club as well for my sins. So yeah, I’ve always loved the town have always loved being in and around it. And even though I don’t actually live in the town now, I’m always there for work. I’m back at the weekends. If I spent too long away from Chesterfield to be honest with you, I get very homesick. I need to be back there in and amongst it. Because yeah, I just absolutely love it. I love the people. I love the businesses. You know, I love everything about it, so the job I’m doing now it’s really perfect for me because I can tell everybody else just what a brilliant place it is.
LOUIS
Yeah, sounds like it’s someone that’s very close to your heart. You know, I think Chesterfield is somewhere that because it’s kind of like, it seems like this transient spot in between Sheffield and Nottingham, I think it gets overlooked a little bit. But it’s such a beautiful place. I mean, you know, I was I was ever born in Chesterfield, but my Grandparents and my Mum both were, so you know, I always tell people I’m half ‘Chesterfieldian’. Yeah, I moved here recently. And yeah, like you, I’m living here, I’m working here now- Well, not in Tupton, but yeah… It’s such a great place. You know, I was recently in an article wasn’t I, where I was talking about Chesterfield.
JOSH
Yeah, it was great to have you on our website, definitely, speaking about your favourite things about the town. That’s one of the features we do, we do our ‘champion’ of the week, our ‘Chesterfield champion’ of the week, where we get, you know, someone from a local business, you know, just to speak about what they love- and again- just spread that positivity about what a great place is. So yeah, it was definitely great to, to have you on there. And yeah, it’s just brilliant, isn’t it? You know, like you say, it’s kind of in the in between between Sheffield and Nottingham. Yeah, in a way, maybe sometimes it does get overlooked because of that. But in a way, I think it’s really good for the town to be located in between the two because it kind of, in terms of that connectivity as a place as well in the transport links it’s got, I think that that really does go in its favour, because not everyone wants to live in a big city, you know? People might like that smaller town vibe, and you got things like, you know, the local market and the little independent shops and, and it’s a bit of a- not a slower kind of tempo of life- but perhaps, you know, just a little bit of a more close knit community, I suppose, and that’s what young people look for with that commutability to those big cities. So, yeah, in a way, I think it does I have a lot going for it on that front.
LOUIS
Yeah, I mean, the transport links are just- we’re sort of getting away from the point here- but the transport in Chesterfield is wonderful. You know, I always, I always say I can get to Sheffield quicker from Chesterfield than people in Sheffield and get into the city, you know. So, anyway, yeah, Chesterfield’s a great place. So I mean, at the risk of making this podcast a little bit like a local derby, seeing as we’ve just been talking about and waxing lyrical about Chesterfield, I just wanted to ask you about Destination Chesterfield’s Chesterfield Champions project, which is- of course, I probably should have introduced it- is the article or series of articles, I suppose that I was recently featured in talking about Chesterfield and Kakou’s work in the community of Chesterfield and Derbyshire. So I was wondering if you could just tell me a little bit more about it, you know, how long have you been publishing these weekly champions? And kind of what exactly is your criteria for selection? Because I think it’s such an interesting idea to push.
JOSH
Yes. So Chesterfield Champions originated, I think, pretty much at the start of when Destination, Chesterfield was formed. So it’s just a network, a community of local businesses, and it’s up to the businesses, whether they want to sign up to it, you know, and we’re more than happy to have them. It’s kind of ‘the more the merrier’ with Champions, really, we love to get our local businesses involved in our networks talking to each other, talking to us and helping us promote the town. So that’s where it all kind of stemmed from, I think there’s about two hundred businesses now signed up. So yeah, really good. And what we do with that is, we’re constantly in touch with them all like yourselves at Kakou, just to try and spread the word about all the great things that our businesses do, and part of that is our weekly columns that go into the Derbyshire Times newspaper, and on our website. Yeah, we also host big events. I think coming up soon, we’ve got the Chesterfield Investment Summit, we have a skills and employability conference taking place early next year. So yeah, there’s always things happening in the, you know, within our organisation and getting our local businesses involved. And really, yeah, making sure that that community is there among our local businesses, that’s really important to us.
LOUIS
Yeah, I mean, I like the idea of just sort of, you know, here at Kakou and at Destination Chesterfield we really care about community, we care about uplifting the people who want to make a difference and the businesses that want to act for change. I think the Chesterfield Champions project is a really great way of just saying, ‘these people want to talk about this place that they love and the people that they love, and they want to share some of the things they’re doing’ because I think, again, kind of goes hand in hand with Chesterfield being a very close-knit community of a kind of slightly slower pace of life than the bigger cities that surround it. I think that these people kind of get lost in the woodwork a little bit when they really do care about this place, and the communities within them.
JOSH
Yeah, most definitely. And sometimes it is just about giving people a bit of a voice isn’t it, as well, and giving them a platform to be able to say what they want to say and shout about what a great place it is, and I think the whole idea behind Destination Chesterfield, in the first place when it was founded just over ten years ago was the fact that we needed a platform to shout about how great the town was, you know, maybe it was a little bit overlooked at the time by the bigger cities, and that’s why it all happened, I think, because we knew- all of us here- what a brilliant place it was, and now we’re able to shout about it on a bigger scale, and try and attract those other investment opportunities into the town as well. Which, you know, will just help build it going forward and turn it into, you know, something, I suppose that’s even bigger than it is today. And just keep growing it really, just keep growing the town and keep attracting people, businesses, visitors to the place and make it a destination for everyone. I think the Borough Council like to use the phrase ‘work, live and invest’ and I completely back that up. I think it’s really the three key points that are going to help us grow the town.
LOUIS
Yeah, it’s almost like you’re trying to make people on a national scale understand what we already know, about what great place this is. How great it is for accessibility, how great it is for children, for schooling, for education and for connecting the vulnerable, because obviously everywhere has these people who care, everywhere has these people that help. I think what’s really interesting in Chesterfield is just the sheer volume of these people and companies and projects and enterprises that really are just so committed to helping people and uplifting people and kind of connecting people. And something I wanted to ask you in the spirit of that is obviously, you know, I think everyone who has ever started a podcast recently will have to mention the pandemic and the lockdowns. So I think it’s only right we do too. Yeah, but I think on a- I want to get your perspective on this. Obviously, your work is very much based in the community of Chesterfield and communities as a whole. You know, it’s all about strengthening community. It’s all about shouting about the best people, you know.
JOSH
Yeah.
LOUIS
How do you think on both a local and national scale, that the common sense of community has changed in a post lockdown United Kingdom, if at all? You know, do you think people are going to come out of this thinking a little differently about their neighbours? Do you think they’re going to come out this caring more about their common communities and neighbours?
JOSH
It’s a tough one, isn’t it? Because I’d like to think so. I certainly hope so. I think we did see during that pandemic, as you mentioned there, there was so much going on in Chesterfield where people were going above and beyond to help others, you know, those people that were the most vulnerable. We saw local restaurants delivering food to the hospital to make sure the staff were fed on extra-long shifts, and everyone really stepped up to the plate. And there’s been a little bit of that carried on, you know, we’ve seen, you know, coming up to Christmas now, lots of- again- businesses doing local appeals for the food banks and things like that. I think there’s a local business that I’ve just had a story from today that they’ve kind of created shoe boxes, again, for Operation Christmas Child. So there’s so much going on in the town in terms of that. I certainly think the business community, kind of trying to raise awareness of, you know, the importance of supporting those that need the support the most. But, yeah, whether that translates into people’s everyday lives. I don’t know. I mean, I’ve certainly noticed that off the back of the pandemics into lockdown restrictions of ease things that just got so busy for people, I think that’s something that we have to take into account that actually, you know, we all have very, very busy lives. And sometimes it’s difficult to focus on other things when you know, you’re trying to keep your head above the water yourself. So I don’t know, I think it’s a bit of a balance of the two, I think there’s certainly the sense of community there and the will is there. It’s just whether, I suppose, people have enough time really, and energy, I suppose, to dedicate towards helping the people that need it and you know, certainly at Destination Chesterfield, we’re all about promoting that sense of community, you know, we have strong links with our local charity sector and some of the great organisations in the town that, that help those people and, and long may that continue, I think the more we can do that, the better it’s going to be for everyone in the area.
LOUIS
Yeah, it’s almost like, quite surprisingly, quite shockingly, as the pace of life kind of gets back to as it was before the pandemic- or at least, we’re getting there- you know, it can be quite, at least for me, it was quite a shock to think like, ‘wow, everything is just so sudden, you know, everything everywhere is so busy, everywhere is so quick now’ you know, these places of business and public spaces are so, so packed now, ‘there’s so many people here!’ you know. I went to the supermarket the other day, and it was the first time I didn’t wear my mask, and it felt very alien. Yeah, people are still very much in an adjustment period.
JOSH
Most definitely.
LOUIS
I do massively agree with you. I think it was a, you know, obviously, we you know, it was a time of great, sort of, anxiety and a lot of uncertainty. But I do think that, like, so many people stepped up to the plate. You know, I think that it was we did a lot in this- we did a lot as a country and as a series- as a collective of communities that I’m really proud of. Like you said, the deliveries to hospitals, you know, the helping out your neighbours who weren’t able to go and do a food shop because they were isolating or they were ill with COVID. I think that, yeah, I think this country really did step up, I think we really saw the best of people during this time, which is really nice to know, it’s really nice to know that in times like that, there was actually kind of a sense of community that really did bind us, you know? It’s really interesting.
JOSH
Yeah, definitely, you know, I think it does show you that really, when push comes to shove, people really do care about others. You know, I guess sometimes that, like we’ve just alluded to, the business of- the busyness, should I say, of life just kind of gets in the way a little bit. But when people need it, you know, when the chips are down, and people really, really do need that help, you do see people coming in and giving up the time and putting that extra effort in, going the extra mile. And I think, you know, from my point of view- again, I’m going to shout about Chesterfield here- I think Chesterfield’s brilliant for that as a local community, I think because it’s got that kind of tight knit atmosphere. Everyone knows everyone kind of thing that you know, you can walk down the street and you’ll know somebody and say hello to them ask how they are asking how the family’s doing. And that’s what’s so special about where we’re from, and I think you know, Chesterfield more so than perhaps a lot of other places in the country certainly has that kind of camaraderie and, and spirit and togetherness.
LOUIS
Yeah, no, I agree with you. I’ve definitely seen that. You know, I’ve lived a few places in my life, and I’m only 22 obviously, I’m still moving around, I’m still very transient, but in the places I’ve been, I think Chesterfield might be my favourite. The way that everyone here seems to know each other the way everyone here always has time for their neighbour, always has time for a friend. I think it’s something really special and I don’t want to go out on a limb and say that this is unique to Chesterfield, but it’s definitely something special about the place. You know, it’s definitely something that was- not refreshing, but it was just eye opening, I think to see that there are places like this in the world. There are truly, truly good people who really love to be part of their communities in places like Chesterfield.
JOSH
Yeah, I always like to use a bit of an analogy about- a bit of an anecdote, I suppose- about my partner who’s a- she’s lived in Nottingham all her life, you know, proper ‘city girl’ if you like, and the first time I bought her up to Chesterfield, you know, to meet the family, to meet my friends, to have a bit of a night out in the town, she was just astonished about the amount of people I knew. And she was like, ‘have you paid all these people just to make you look popular?’ And I said, ‘No! this is just how it is in this town, everyone just knows you!’ You just know everyone, because you say hello to everyone, because that’s just how it is up here, you know. It’s that real togetherness and tight knit community, and I think that’s just such a great thing about where we’re from, and that breeds that kind of community spirit, when everybody knows everyone, you’re more likely to go out of your way for that person, if you know, you could put the name to the face and you’ve actually spoken to them and had that relationship with them, I suppose. Whereas if you’re in a big city, it’s kind of a bit more dog-eat-dog, I think. So, yeah. I certainly love the sense of community where we are and yeah, I hope that that gets emulated in other places. Like I said, that maybe I’ve got a bit of a blinkered view, I don’t really know what it’s like in other places. I mean, I’m living most of my time in Nottingham now I know it’s, I certainly don’t think there’s that kind of community spirit here. I mean, I like the place but it’s not home, you know? That’s Chesterfield. So yeah, when I go back to Chesterfield on my weekends or whatever, to watch the football or to visit the family that to me just… it completes me almost, you know? Like, this is the place where I’m from and these are my people, you know, and that’s just how it is, I suppose.
LOUIS
Yeah, I suppose. Yeah, it opens up a really opens up a really interesting conversation about the difference between communities within larger cities. You know, examples here, Nottingham or Sheffield. You know, we both have experience there. I lived in Sheffield for three years and you’re currently in Nottingham. Versus the sort of sense of community you get in places like Chesterfield, these smaller towns where people are a little bit more close-knit, there’s a little bit more of a history between people, you know, everyone knows each other, everyone says hello. I’ve actually- you could probably tell by my voice, I’m actually from the south of England. I was actually born in London. I lived most of my life in Kent, but I came to Sheffield for University and I loved it. I wanted to stay up here with my family, with my friends. So yeah, I decided to come to Chesterfield because it was somewhere that I remember from my youth, it’s somewhere that’s got very strong links to my family. And it’s somewhere that I’ve just come to absolutely fall in love with, being here. And one thing I was kind of taken by- this is like, an example I believe I, um, I’m pretty sure I mentioned it in the Chesterfield Champions article that I did- article or interview? I suppose it’s more of an interview but- I can count on one hand in the amount of times I’ve been sat at a bus stop or a train station and a stranger, like, has not come up to me to start a conversation or have a chat to me about something. No, everyone there is very happy to sort of say hello, see how you’re doing, tell you a joke, ask for help. And it’s an environment where I feel very confident in just reciprocating, you know, speaking to people offering that help, having a chat, having a joke, you know, it’s very strange. You know, this is- living in Chesterfield has been the first time in my life that I’ve kind of seen that side of people, that I’ve seen that side of communities.
JOSH
Yes, again, I think we’re quite a loud, proud kind of extroverted bunch of people. I think if you’re from Chesterfield, it just comes with the territory that you’ve got to be a little bit out there. You’ve almost got, I think you can just naturally- it must be in our DNA. We’re just born with that kind of ‘gift of the gab’ and we love to talk to people and just find out about their lives and find out what’s going on or it might- Yeah, like you say- it might be something as simple as just telling a bit of a joke, having a bit of a laugh, but it’s that kind of thing that’s what makes it such a special place to me compared to you know, if you go down to London, you know, I’ve sat on the tube before and everyone’s just kind of blanking each other, they don’t really want to know. I don’t think I could live my life like that. You know, I need to be out there talking to people and finding out about people and- because everyone’s got a story to tell, that’s what I love about our town. Everybody’s got a story to tell. And you know, there’s just such a familiarity to it and yeah, I’d hate for it to ever be taken away, and yeah, that sense of community is just so, so important and it makes the town what it is and it gives it its DNA really, the fact that everyone’s just so nice to each other and talkative and will help each other.
LOUIS
Yeah, I think that’s what you get when you come to somewhere like, not even strictly a Chesterfield, whenever you see that side of a smaller community, whenever you see that side of a Chesterfield, I think it really does sort of, it shows you the side of people that maybe you weren’t aware of before. It certainly did me. You know, I spent a lot of my life in London, I spent a lot of my life in, you know large towns in Kent, I spent a lot of my life in Sheffield. And, you know, like I just said, in Chesterfield, I sort of saw this side of people that I wasn’t necessarily used to seeing, that maybe I didn’t know was there. And I think it’s interesting that the personal history these people have, you know, I know so many people, you know, like yourself, you know, they were born in Chesterfield, they spent most of their life in Chesterfield- it they’re not in Chesterfield, they miss Chesterfield, you know. I think that it’s interesting that that sort of lends itself to a real familiarity not only with the town, but with everyone who is in that town. It feels like everyone knows each other.
JOSH
Yeah, definitely. It’s a weird one, really. I think if you do you just become attached to it, you know? And I suppose again, I look at the spire and I think other people look at that crooked spire and it’s because it’s just got that ‘so unique’ focal point to the town as well. And everyone’s got that kind of connection to it. You know, no matter where you live, you probably got a view of the crooked spire from where you live in Chesterfield. Even that- it just kind of brings people together I think, just everything about the town. Just… yeah… I love the place I love the people and yeah, obviously I’ve moved away now for a couple of years but still work there and yeah, I wouldn’t have it any other way, really. I think I’d always need some kind of connection to the area really because otherwise I think my life would be more miserable for it!
LOUIS
Yeah, the spire is almost emblematic, isn’t it? This sort of tall, crooked- obviously if you don’t know what we’re talking about, one of, the most famous landmark of and in Chesterfield that’s sort of become a symbol of the people and the town and the area is this- I mean, you probably know better than me if you want to tell them about it Josh?
JOSH
Yeah, so it’s the crooked spire church which is yeah, it was given its name because it’s got a wonky spire. It was built centuries ago and of course you know, there’s lots of myths about why it was wonky, you know, different things about, you know, that ‘the devil came and sat on the spire’ and things like that. But I think it was just because of the unseasoned wood or something like that, they just didn’t build it properly. No, it’s such a striking and unique building really and because it’s the tallest building in the town, you can see it for absolutely miles and it just kind of sits above everything on the landscape. And yeah, it’s just kind of you know, it’s just ingrained within, I suppose, the fabric of the town. There’s a lot of businesses with spire in their name, for example, and the course of football club, Chesterfield FC, nicknamed the ‘Spireites’. And they have a spire on the badge. So, you know, it’s just so ingrained in the DNA and no matter where you go in the country, if you tell someone you’re from Chesterfield, they’ll say, ‘Oh, the place with the wonky spire?’ and it’s a conversation starter straight away.
LOUIS
It’s definitely my favourite, sort of, landmark. It’s definitely the kind of one I think is just the most interesting, it’s the most emblematic of the culture and the people- this sort of like, big, large historic building that’s got this very wonky, sort of unusual spire at the top. I think it’s such a sweet, almost fairy-tale sort of building within Chesterfield, you know. I really do love it, every time I walk past it makes me smile, you know, just looking at it. I like that something like that can exist, you know?
JOSH
Oh, yeah, definitely. You know, I think there’s a lot to be said about a lot of these new buildings that go up in cities now, you know, these big office blocks and blocks of flats and things like that, but you can’t take away that kind of old school architecture and Chesterfield’s full of it, you know, it’s got shops with like, mock Tudor frontage on, you know, looking like it’s from centuries old. Of course, where the museum and the local theatre, the pomegranate theatre, is the Stevenson Memorial Hall. That’s the building that can quite often get overlooked. You just kind of walk past it without actually looking up to see the amazing architecture on the roof of that place. It’s such a beautifully designed building, that, and so there’s so many lovely little kind of buildings and landscapes in and around the town that you know, I think as someone from the area you might take for granted but I think for someone visiting the area it certainly gives it that unique charm.
LOUIS
Yeah, I actually- this this podcast turning into a bit of a love letter about Chesterfield, you know? This is an introduction to a large part of what Kakou is, but I’m just thinking about the visitor thing. This is more of a personal anecdote- I actually had my graduation ceremony, belated by a year, I had that on Monday, and my Dad, who, all his life has been kind of a London boy, been a Bexley boy, you know, someone who’s always loved these cities, and right now he lives in Swansea in Wales. He’s not so used to these small communities. And when he came to visit Chesterfield, and we were walking around, got something to eat- he was like, completely blown away by it. Like you said, the architecture, the spire, it was something that, I was almost- I was just looking at his face the whole time. It was very interesting to see someone’s first impression.
JOSH
Definitely, yeah, we went to the fire big fireworks event and my partner brought her friend up from Nottingham and we kind of drove past it on the way and she was like, ‘wow, I never actually thought it’d be that wonk! I heard it was wonky but I never thought it’d be that wonky!’
LOUIS
Yeah, it is crooked.
JOSH
Yeah, it’s like we’ve got our own, almost, Leaning Tower of Pisa kind of.
LOUIS
(Laughs.)
JOSH
Yeah, I absolutely love it.
LOUIS
So um, yeah, I mean, like I said, at the risk of this podcast just becoming a massive, sort of… making big heart eyes at Chesterfield, I actually wanted to ask you about something that Destination Chesterfield has very recently sort of… so, the ‘Made in Chesterfield’ campaign, which I believe you have a hand in recently, right?
JOSH
Yeah, so I’ve been kind of going along to the school tours. Yeah, I mean, I guess I should just explain an outline of what it is, shouldn’t I? So, yeah, we’re in touch with a lot of local businesses, kind of, construction, engineering, manufacturing, those kinds of sectors to try and encourage more young people into taking up careers in those kinds of fields. Because there’s a lot of that kind of work in the town, a lot of that kind of manufacturing and engineering stuff. And, you know, it’s important that we continue to drive skills into those areas really, and, and that’s going to benefit the local economy in the long run. So the whole idea of Made in Chesterfield is getting young people, while they’re still at school age, and getting them kind of inspired by these businesses. So, we actually take them for on trips round, for example, we’re at one, there’s a new office block being built in the town centre called the Northern Gateway Enterprise Centre, which is going to be fantastic, but they’re actually on site with the construction company, Woodhead, who are building it. And Woodhead kind of talked them through the site, you know, the planning around it, all the different roles that are involved with a project like that, and really trying to inspire them into, you know, the range of careers available in those kinds of areas, because a lot of people would just see it as maybe ‘dirty work’, I don’t know, low-skilled or low-paid. And that’s not the case at all, there are so many skilled jobs in manufacturing, engineering and construction, and the whole idea of Made in Chesterfield is to highlight those to young people, maybe, instead of taking that traditional University route, like you or I did.
LOUIS
Yeah, I mean, what I really admire about this project, and the reason I wanted to talk to you about it, is because at Kakou, you know, we’ve always really been- obviously, I must say, I’ve only been at Kakou a very short time- but the history of the company and the history of my brief work here so far, has been laser-focused on accessibility. And that’s not only for, you know, our work with disabled people or with students with special educational needs, it’s also been in terms of just accessibility to opportunities that young people and vulnerable people may not necessarily have the means to enjoy or get to take part in. And so seeing a project like this, which encourages children and gives them another option into the world of engineering, is just, I think it’s a great idea. You know, I think it’s an industry that, like you say, we need to remove from this very flawed and outdated idea of being like ‘dirty, low skilled’ sort of work, when really, it’s the engineers and the builders and the construction workers. They’re the backbone, everywhere you go, if it has a building, if it has some kind of urban development, there are people who planned it, who created it, you know, who worked out how to install it, you know, it’s something that I think is still today just so underappreciated, as an important line of work. And to see a project like this, which encourages young people to get into it, I think is really, really something special.
JOSH
Yeah, most definitely, and if you learn a trade, you know, like, you know, if you’re a bricklayer or a plasterer or whatever it is- electrician, plumber, you know, you’ve got a trade there for life and a skill for life. And they’re always going to need those kinds of jobs. And I think that’s what’s kind of the whole idea of Made in Chesterfield is to really address those issues around employability, because, you know, across- I don’t think it’s just a Chesterfield problem, it’s a problem kind of across the whole country with getting young people into work, really, because I think a lot of young people kind of, whenever they go to Uni, come out of Uni and then realise, ‘Oh, hold on, there’s not really many jobs in this sector that I’ve trained years for’ and then they kind of get to a bit a bit of a crossroads, unsure what to do with their careers. Whereas what we’re trying to do with Made in Chesterfield is highlight you know, there are some brilliant jobs available, you know, you’re setting yourself up with a good career for life where you’re going to be able to, you know, do things you know, earn a good wage, that’s obviously really important to people, isn’t it? And, you know, building a life for yourself in Chesterfield, you know, and making sure that those skilled people stay in Chesterfield, rather than going away to the big cities because that’s another important thing is the retention of the great talented people we have in the town and that’s the whole ethos behind Made in Chesterfield, really, is to ensure that those skills stay here, where we need them.
LOUIS
Yeah, I really hate the notion of work being described as ‘unskilled’, like there could be any kind of unskilled labour. When you think about the years of experience and training and apprenticeships these people go through in order to become engineers, to become construction workers, to take up a trade like that. It really frustrates me to sort of see them labelled as ‘it’s unskilled work, you know, it’s unskilled labour’ when it’s anything but, it’s anything but. I think, like you said, you’re kind of removing this stigma, you’re showing this new world of opportunities for young people who may have not considered it. If you show them that it’s work that can be a lifelong thing, it can be so rewarding, it can lead you down so many roles and it can take to so many qualifications and opportunities. Like I said, it’s something that I think it’s just very noble, it’s something that at Kakou, with our work in getting people into STEM, I think it’s something that is very, very important today.
JOSH
Most definitely, I think a good example of that, that you just mentioned, there is that is the care sector as well. Didn’t we see during the pandemic, the amazing breadth of duties and extra tasks that you know, those fantastic care workers had to take on and, and before it was, it was paid like an ‘unskilled job’, really ,wasn’t it? In terms of the salary that a lot of the care workers were earning. But actually, I think the pandemic has highlighted to a lot of people that, no, it is a very, very skilled profession, care work. And we were very pleased to see at our annual business awards, the ‘Love Chesterfield’ awards this year, we were pleased to see that the apprentice of the year award actually went to a girl who works for Heathcotes Group actually, which is a care company based in Chesterfield, so it really does show to work in that sector, you do have to have a lot of skills.
LOUIS
Of course.
JOSH
And you’re right, I think it’s like that with every single sector you go into, it doesn’t matter what job you do, you need skills to do it. You need training and it takes hours of hard work to give up and sacrifice and be able to become skilled in a certain profession, and yeah, certainly in Chesterfield we’re all about highlighting the importance of getting the people upskilled, trained properly to ensure that they’re into the jobs that are going to be able to provide them, you know, help them thrive, really, throughout their life.
LOUIS
Of course, yeah, I think, like you said, I think something that the pandemic really showed us is just how valuable these people are. Like you said, there seems to be this really strange, outdated stigma around certain jobs- as if anything could be unskilled, as if anything could be beneath someone, you know. I think something the pandemic has shown is that so many of these people who are so important to our society and to our everyday functioning lives, really showed up for us, you know. Food service staff, people who work in retail, people who work in supermarkets, the engineers, the scientists, the carers, the nurses. It’s something that, has highlighted just how important these people are, regardless of these strange opinions and, maybe, outdated views people have on these lines of work, it’s just shown how vital they are and how important a role they play in our community.
JOSH
Most definitely. And it does, it comes back to that word ‘community’ again, doesn’t it.
LOUIS
Yes.
JOSH
Everyone playing a part and making sure that no matter what area you live in, that that place does thrive, and that people can, you know, have a good quality of life and I think that’s really, really important you know. Yeah, everyone needs to play a part and a role, and it doesn’t really matter how big or small your role is. If you’re playing a role and you’re having that effect on somebody’s life and, you know, I think personally in the job I do, I feel like I have an impact on people, and certainly business owners, people in the town and I love that. When I turn my computer off at the end of the day, or whatever, and sit down and reflect, I always think ‘Yeah’, you know, ‘I’ve helped people out today’ and you can’t beat that feeling, knowing that you’re making a difference to people’s lives.
LOUIS
No, you can’t. I think that’s a really, really wonderful feeling to have. I think if you can finish your day and know that you’ve done good for even one person, I think that’s incredibly rewarding. I mean, I definitely felt that way when I interviewed for Kakou many, many months ago now. I mean, I did say in that interview, and I did think it and I was telling my friends about it- it’s so… it’s such a rare feeling to kind of see this job and interview for this opportunity that you really, really do believe is doing good. You know, it is a net positive for the world to have this job and to work with these people and to take up this opportunity, I think it’s something that’s very rare and I think that if you can feel like that, you’re very lucky. You know, you’ve done a lot of good, you’ve been a very fortunate person if you can close your laptop at the end of every day and think ‘I’ve actually done a very good thing for someone today.’
JOSH
Yeah, most definitely, and yeah, again, a bit of a shoutout for you guys there at Kakou, some of the work you guys have done during the pandemic, I mean, the events you’ve been putting on to try and engage young people in art and, you know, ensuring their mental health’s being looked after and those wellbeing sessions that you’ve put on during the pandemic, you know. Really, really inspiring stuff, to be honest with you. It was great to see and it was great to see so many young people take up that opportunity as well, and again, it’s that making a difference in those communities to people that perhaps might have felt left behind, might have felt forgotten, to have been able to go along to something, feel like they’re a part of a community and really get some good advice that’s hopefully going to help them- well, it certainly helps them navigate their way through the pandemic, so, yeah, really, really great to see the work continue at Kakou.
LOUIS
Thank you so much. Yeah, no, we’re very proud of it and like I said, I’m a relatively recent addition to the sort of, Kakou team, the Kakou family, I suppose but I just- already I’m so proud of what we’ve done, of what I’ve contributed to and what I’ve seen us do, and yeah, I mean, you know, Kakou is a Hawaiian word, it means ‘everyone’, it means ‘all of us’ and I think it’s a perfect name. We really do care, when we talk about accessibility, we don’t just mean wheelchair ramps, we don’t just mean disabled access, we mean opportunities for everyone, every single person, regardless of your disabilities, regardless of your financial situation, you know. We believe everyone should have an opportunity to do these things, and also, I have to return the compliment. I think Destination Chesterfield is such a wonderful organisation, I think that having such a focus on a place like Chesterfield, a place that I assume you and everyone else who works there just loves so dearly, and to have such a mission to uplift people who help, to give these opportunities to young people- I think that it’s definitely something we need more of, and the fact that we have it already here in Chesterfield, and we’ve worked with you so closely is something that, again, I’m very proud of it. It’s work we’ve done that I am happy to have been a part of.
JOSH
Yeah, most definitely. I can remember as well, working for- in my previous job at the local radio station, I was working at Peak FM as a newsreader and a journalist and obviously you saw a lot of the work in that role that Destination Chesterfield were doing, and at the time I did think, you know, it would be great to work for an organisation like that and really help to support the town and promote what a great place it is and yeah, you know, a year and a bit later, here I am! Sat here working for them. It’s just weird how things come full circle like that, you know, and I’m very grateful that the opportunity came up when it did and yeah, I’m absolutely delighted to be here and yeah- if any local businesses out there are listening, please do get in touch with us and see what we can do for you and see what you can do, really, to help promote what a great area we live in!
LOUIS
Yeah, no, please do reach out to Kakou and Destination Chesterfield, we’re always eager to work with people, we’re always eager to work within Chesterfield within the realms of accessibility. And yeah… Oh! There’s one last thing I wanted to mention, and you’ve been very polite in not plugging it thus far, but you actually host your own podcast for Destination Chesterfield, don’t you? Hence all the advice and help you’ve been giving to me with Kakou Talk in the last few weeks. Do you want to talk a little bit about that?
JOSH
Yeah, so we have a show just simply called ‘The Chesterfield Show’, and it kind of sums up everything we’ve just been talking about, really. It is just all about the town and what’s happening, a bit of local news, some upcoming big events that are happening in the area that people might want to take an interest in. Just raising the profile of the area and the great things happening right under our nose that people might not necessarily know about, because going back to when we started this conversation, talking about how people have very busy lives, it’s sometimes difficult to stop and take a breather, and I just wanted to create something that was easily accessible for people, just takes up, you know, half an hour out of their day or whatever, just to sit and listen about what’s happening and yeah, that’s where, kind of, the idea came from and yeah, still going strong now after, I think, six months or so. So yeah, it’s really good fun to produce and yeah, hopefully, you know, I mean, you’re currently at the start of your podcast journey here with the first one and hopefully you enjoy it as much as I have.
LOUIS
I have enjoyed it, yeah, obviously- learning experience, wet behind the ears, I’m still a bit green, But I’ve really enjoyed it and the opportunity to speak to you and get to know you a little bit better in terms of your work within Chesterfield and, yeah, you know, I’ve found this a really great time… and I think… this is probably a good point to bring the episode to an end.
JOSH
Yeah, thank you so much for having me, it’s been really good to talk to you and I mean, yeah, any opportunity for me to just yat on about our little town and the work we do- yeah, more than happy and I can’t wait to listen to some of the guests you’ll have on in the future, you know, it’s a really good thing that you’ve started here and yeah, I just hope that it can continue and, yeah, I can’t wait to listen to the inspiring stories of different people you have on in the future!
LOUIS
Okay, well I’ve had a great time chatting with Josh, and I just want to extend a massive thank you to everyone who listened to this very first episode of Kakou Talk! I believe, as we find our podcasting footing, we’re aiming to put out an episode a month, so stay tuned and keep updated by following us everywhere @KakouTechUK, and you can keep up with Josh and Destination Chesterfield everywhere @DesChes, that’s D-E-S-C-H-E-S.
LOUIS (Outro)
So there we go, from Josh Marsh at Destination Chesterfield, and from myself, Louis, at Kakou- we had a really great time, and I hope you did too! Thank you for listening, and goodbye.
