After taking a closer look at what's going on in Sunderland, this week the Northern Agenda podcast heads 130 miles south west over the Northern Pennines to the Lancashire city of Preston. Rob Parsons reports from the This Is The North Convention 2023, organised by the People's Powerhouse, a movement that aims to bring people of the North together to discuss, explore, share and celebrate all the amazing grassroots organisations in the North. The venue for the two-day conference is the Masonic Hall in Preston, a building which dates back to the 1830s and where visitors can see wood-panelled rooms and leather-bound chairs. It's easy to imagine the great and good of Lancashire society over the years debating the big topics of the day. But the members of the local freemasons may not have been totally onboard with some of the topics on the agenda this week, as the theme is 'A Radical North – The People Powered future Starts Here'. And even the location in Preston is a contrast to the venue for the conference last year, central Manchester, where skyscrapers are leaping up in all directions and the city's leaders have enthusiastically embraced big business. The political leadership here in Preston is plotting a very different course. We'll hear from - Edna Robinson, chair of the People's Powerhouse - Matthew Brown, Labour leader of Preston council - Adrian Murrell and Dan Bryant from Windrush Initiatives, an organisation devoted to tackling the disparities Black people face in Preston and further afield - Debbie Abrahams, Labour MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, on her new short film 'The Unequal Pandemic' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices