Community development and adult learning have long shared a common agenda--and often a common fate. People in both sectors are concerned with supporting people to develop their skills and knowledge, and to put them to use in the world around them. They often share a belief in social justice and democratic process as guiding principles for their work. And adult learning shares another, less desirable, characteristic with community development. Both have an enormous potential contribution to make to vulnerable communities in hard times, yet both have been largely marginalised during the current recession. The author believes that in the midst of recession, UK needs to think hard about how it can make the case for investment in adult learning as a means of community renewal and development.