Annual Conference 2024 in Review
26th November 2024
It is one of the best online conferences I have been to recently.
On Thursday 7th November 2024, we rounded off an incredible Befriending Week with our Annual Conference and Annual General Meeting. For the first time ever, our Conference programme was co-designed with our members to represent their needs and capacity.
Our Conference Steering Group helped us devise a flexible format that made it accessible to our members. They also generated ideas to help decide the themes that would be relevant and useful to our membership. A huge thank you to our Conference Steering Group for their invaluable contributions for helping us create such a successful event!
Attendees could come along to whichever sessions their schedules allowed. As part of the Conference, attendees could enjoy:
- 3 keynotes sessions with guest speakers
- 2 networking sessions
- Befriending Networks AGM
- Regular comfort breaks
- A delegate pack with links and additional information
Here’s an overview of Annual Conference 2024, along with some stats and feedback from the event.
Key Statistics
102
attendees
5.5
hour event
6
segments
71
AGM attendees
62
average segment attendees
76
average keynotes attendees
Feedback
I appreciated that this conference was online and therefore easy to access. Also that we were able to dip in and out of the conference depending on time constraints and specific areas of interest.
I enjoyed all 3 presentations and felt their was a good mix of subjects. I appreciated Susan’s honest assessment of the sector in the AGM.
I liked the content, the option to choose how much to join, the delegate pack and the networking opportunities. It is one of the best online conferences I have been to recently
I thought all the speakers at the annual conference were excellent, knowledgeable, good presenters and shared useful tools for befriending practitioners.
Delegate Pack
Each year, we produce a delegate pack to make it easy to access information about the event, speakers and other useful information. Our 2024 Delegate Pack is now open to the public, including a delegate list, presentation slides and videos shared on the day.
AGM
Our AGM is a fantastic opportunity to reflect on the past year and share our plans for the future. Our CEO Susan’s speech explored what the Future of Befriending might look like, in the face of the many challenges the sector is experiencing. We also looked back on the past year at Befriending Networks, and gave a snapshot of Befriending Week 2024. You can watch some of the videos we shared on our blog. We were also grateful to hear from our incredible Board with organisational updates.
Keynotes Speakers
Leading with Warmth and Edge
Don Ledingham, Ceannas
Don Ledingham is founder of Ceannas, a global leadership development company dedicated to enabling leaders to shape culture and influence organisational behaviour.
His talk explored how leaders can combine warmth and edge to create an environment where your team can deliver results while still feeling supported and valued. Download the Evolve app to access tools and resources to support your leadership journey.
Extremely dynamic presentation and I liked that Don engaged with us directly. We were able to give input without losing momentum of the presentation. Really interesting to discuss quadrants and reflect. Lots to take away.
– Attendee in Scotland
Innovation and Inspiration
Antonia Ypsilanti & Andrea Wigfield, Campaign to End Loneliness
The Campaign to End Loneliness (CtEL) is a UK-based initiative that aims to reduce chronic loneliness among people of all ages, hosted by Sheffield Hallam University. Antonia and Andrea are the directors of the campaign and leading researchers on loneliness, social isolation and mental health outcomes.
Their talk gave an update about the Campaign’s progress since its move to Sheffield Hallam University, including the resources, research, event and other opportunities that support those working to tackle loneliness.
I found the question and answer session particularly helpful and applicable to our befriending service, especially when discussing the reality of evaluating interventions.
– Attendee in England
Fantastic! Real energy and passion, would like to know more about their research and connect with them.
– Attendee in Wales
Demystifying Volunteer Recruitment
Wendy Halley, The Access Group
Wendy is Product Manager for Access Assemble, a market-leading volunteer management system designed to help organisations recruit, manage and retain volunteers.
Wendy’s talk explored how to design and manage an effective volunteer recruitment process. There was also a focus on how to retain volunteers through supportive management. Volunteer recruitment and retainment is a key issue across the sector so attendees were keen to hear these insights.
I thought this was an excellent presentation. Easy to follow and broken down into segments made it more flexible. I learned a lot of information and will be using these ideas moving forward.
– Attendee in England
Read the 2024 programme
Join our network
Our Annual Conference and AGM is a member exclusive event. Join the largest network of befriending organisations in the the world to take advantage of our extensive range of support, resources and events. Get in touch to start your journey today.