Our Half Yearly Meetings

What’s new:

This year myself and the board are keen to find new ways to connect with more of our members. As a result there have been some changes to this year, most notably the addition of networking sessions held at the start and then a topical discussion after the formal section of the meeting.

The networking sessions have provided our community partners, members and colleagues with an opportunity to connect with each other. These have been a great success this year, with various community partners building relationships with each other and finding ways of working together that will benefit them both. They have also been useful for us providing feedback and finding out what really matters to our members in their local communities.

The topical discussions which took place at each meeting were on a theme important to that local community. They were:

• Swindon – local challenges around the national skill shortage in partnership with Swindon College and the part apprenticeships can play.

• Gloucester – the challenges facing vulnerable teenagers and young adults in partnership with Gloucester Young Carers and Beaufort Academy in Tuffley.

• Shrewsbury – a social media masterclass. The session was well-received by our community partners who found it particularly useful in helping them to expand their networks.

• Kidderminster – local sourcing and food provenance supported by Best of our Counties suppliers. We discussed the great partnerships we have formed with local suppliers like Mudwalls and the need to educate young people on where their food comes from and how to cook it.

• Walsall – the role of business in community supporting programmes in partnership with Street Teams. They talked to members about the vital work they do with vulnerable children in the town.

• Oxford – the challenges of social inclusion in employment in partnership with Aspire Oxford and Mind. At Oxford there was a lively discussion about getting vulnerable and homeless adults back into employment.

It was great to see and meet a wide variety of colleagues and members at these meetings, and having the opportunity to discuss the Societies performance with them.  Our members own the Society and it’s great to connect with them in this way.

That’s it for this week’s blog, please let me know if you’ve got any thoughts around the changes we are making or have any ideas for the future. I’m sure you all already know what to do if you want to get in touch, simply leave me a comment below. I hope you all have a great week and I look forward to sharing more with you next Friday.