Conference and Research Events

"I was amazed that an online conference could work so well. It was very well run!"

"Really enjoyed and look forward to continuing with our connections with Befriending Networks"

"All speakers presented very well, appeared to be passionate about their field and very happy to be online with us. Fascinating and pleasant to listen to."

"Great that the presenters addressed us - as in staff within the third sector, rather than just people in general. Was great to feel seen and represented within research - especially when I am often working alone and not really sure what is going on out there outside my walls."

Carers Week 2024 

We are looking forward to our Research event in June 2024 to acknowledge Carers Week and bring our members the opportunity to learn and discuss recent developments. We are aware that befriending projects may support Caregivers directly, while others may have volunteers or staff who are Caregivers. This event aims to be inclusive of all. 

Bookings are now open, please see listing below. This event is free to attend and exclusive to members of Befrienidng Networks, so make sure to log in to your membership account before booking. 

Thank you to everyone who attended our conference on Wednesday 1st November 2023. This event launched Befriending Week, hosted our Annual General Meeting, elected our new trustees and allowed staff from befriending projects far and wide to learn from one another and network. You can access resources from this event by clicking the button below. 

During this event, we hosted three spaces for peer learning and networking, assigning specific discussion points and a note-taker within each focus group. We are in the process of collating these discussions to create a resource. We hope that this document encourages further peer learning for those who could not attend the event. We are also using the outcome of our membership focus groups to highlight the needs for development, resources or events in 2024 from Befriending Networks. We thank everyone who took part and shared insights and experiences. 

In 2023, we are running our conference events slightly differently. In June, rather than November, we provided our Research Day. We know the Cost of Living Crisis has affected us on many levels: from community project operations; volunteer expenses; wellbeing of service users and more. This free and exclusive event for members was to discuss COL, with speakers & networking. Thank you for everyone who attended. If you missed the event but would like to see what you missed, please look to our research resources page where any member can access the presentations from Vounteer Scotland, Pro Bono Economics and Mental Health Foundation.

"Receiving an overview of the situation from three different perspectives – volunteer support organisation, charity economist and mental health lens. All perspectives blended into one another but were angled slightly differently which was great."

"The relevance of the discussion topics, the fact that the data is so current and can be used to answer questions on funding applications. Superbly facilitated and fantastic delegate pack."

Stay tuned for future opportunities to learn of research within the Third Sector. You can see the presentations from our Cost of Living event through the link below.