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08 December 2009
MBF conference report 2009 NOW available
Read what the hot topics for debate were at this annual event organised in partnership with the Prime Minister's Council on Social Action
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The conference seminars focused on the influential ‘Side by side’ report setting out CoSA’s work on one-to-one.
Nearly 300 people attended the conference, ranging from mentoring and befriending practitioners and leaders to policy makers, funders, commissioners and MPs. The key themes and recommendations within the ‘Side by side’ report provided the focus for the conference and in particular the 8 seminars which took place during the day.
Steve Matthews, Chief Executive of MBF opened the event saying:
"MBF’s vision is of a society where mentoring and befriending can empower all people to reach their full potential and explained how MBF are going to achieve that vision."
The conference was also supported by the Labour and Conservative parties. Angela Smith MP, Minister for the Third Sector said in her keynote speech:
"One-to-one work is increasing in importance as the global downturn impacts the social and mental health of communities."
She confirmed the continued support across government for mentoring and befriending through, for example, the DCSF Anti-bullying pilot and the Home Office commitment to mentoring for refugees.
Delegates were also invited to write one or two words that conveyed what mentoring and befriending meant to them and these were posted on MBF’s very own ‘Mother Elephant’ as part of the profile raising campaign which MBF has committed to delivering. Words and phrases such as ‘individual attention’, ‘a future’, ‘connecting people’, ‘change’, ‘support’, ‘trust’ were included. 98% of delegates pledged their support to the national campaign to raise the profile of mentoring and befriending.
Yet again, the conference, held on November 4th 2009 at the Inmarsat Conference Centre in London, proved to be a great success, with the content and format rated as ‘good’ and ‘excellent’ overall and 93% of those who completed the evaluation stated that it had met their expectations. Comments included:
“Interesting themes, content and delivery"
“It was inspirational and innovative”
“Overall, I was impressed with the level of conversation and debate”
“Good choice of speakers to lead discussions relevant to our core work and will be attending next year!”
Read the full conference report
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