Voluntary Sector Conference to celebrate 50 Years of Support

We are excited to be holding a special conference on 6 May, to mark 50 years of supporting the local voluntary sector in Wiltshire and Swindon.

Held at the Corn Exchange in Devizes, this conference offers local charities and voluntary groups an excellent opportunity to connect with like-minded organisations, funders, and experts.

All attendees will have the opportunity to hear from The National Lottery Community Fund about their new strategy and funding to 2030, It Starts With Community. Over the extended lunch break there will be plenty of time to chat to other funders about their priorities and programmes as well as service providers such as Discover Adventure and Wiltshire Digital Drive. In addition, there will be a variety of breakout sessions including insights from local charities themselves.

Choose from one of 3 morning breakout sessions, with a further 3 choices in the afternoon:

Morning

• ‘Embracing AI For Good’, hosted by Simon Allen, from wearelevel.ai and Heather Kiel, Programme Director at Wiltshire Community Foundation. The aim of this is session is to help attendees work out how AI might benefit their organisation. The session will explore common terms used in Artificial Intelligence, some basic principles and concerns, funder and VCSE perspectives on the use of AI and a roundup of where to go for further information and resources, with time for questions and answers throughout.
• ‘Understanding impact and collecting data’, hosted by Margaret Firth, Director of Partnerships at Wiltshire Community Foundation, Amanda Wilkes from Help Counselling, Belinda Chandler from Arts Together, Liv McLennan from Sounds Better CIC, and Celebrating Age Wiltshire’s Rebecca Seymour. This session will share experiences from groups involved in Wiltshire Community Foundation’s current Targeting Health Inequalities Grants Programme and explore how proportionate data collection is helping shape delivery and demonstrating impact.
• James Gare, partner at Monahans chartered accountants, will host ‘What do your finances say about your organisation: the good, the bad and the ugly’. This session will be based around understanding how the presentation of an organisation’s finances has an impact on their funding applications and the decisions made by funders.

Afternoon

• Our Director of Partnerships, Margaret Firth, will host a session alongside Rachel Hawley from OCSI (Oxford Consultants for Social Inclusion), introducing and demonstrating Wiltshire Community Foundation’s new Local Insight data platform. This workshop will provide a demonstration of Local Insight, exploring why and how to use it.

• Mark Barnett, Trustee at Doorway, Sarah McClymont, Facilities and Events Manager at Doorway, and Nicola Hillier, Grants Manager at Wiltshire Community Foundation will host ‘Risk & Resilience: Planning for the Unexpected’. This session will equip attendees with the practical tools and strategies to strengthen their organisation’s ability to manage risks and respond effectively so that they are able to future proof their operations against unexpected disruptions.
• ‘User involvement and leadership: the importance of user voice at all levels in your organisation’. This will be hosted by Wiltshire Community Foundation Grants Manager Karen Hobbs, Louise Rendle from WSUN, and Sam Lloyd from Way UK. This session focuses on using experiences from local organisations to create a space to reflect on user involvement and leadership in an organisation.

Our joint Chief Executive, Vicky Hickey, said, “This conference is an important moment to reflect on 50 years of collaboration and impact, bringing the sector together to share insights, challenges, and opportunities.”

We are grateful to our main event sponsors, RWK Goodman, and our supporting sponsors, Gaiger Brothers, Wadworth, and T H WHITE Group, for making this event possible.

Tickets are £30, which includes lunch and refreshments.

Don’t miss out—book your place now via Eventbrite, by clicking the button below.

We look forward to seeing you there!

With thanks to our main event sponsor

and our supporting sponsors