Programme
To help shape your day, attendees are invited to choose one morning session and one afternoon session
Please secure your place through the main booking page. Spaces for each session are limited, so we encourage early booking to make sure you can attend your preferred choices.
Early Morning
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9:45 - 9:50
For three decades, CVS Inverclyde has worked alongside community groups, charities, social enterprises, volunteers and partners to strengthen communities, amplify local voices and support positive change across Inverclyde.
This conference is not simply a celebration of the past. While we are proud of what has been achieved over the last 30 years, today is focused firmly on the future. The third sector is operating in a rapidly changing environment shaped by increasing demand, financial pressures, workforce and volunteer challenges, technological change and growing expectations around collaboration and community empowerment.
Throughout the day, we will explore what the next decade requires from our sector and the systems around it. Together we will consider how we build stronger partnerships, secure more sustainable funding, reimagine volunteering, demonstrate impact, embrace innovation and ensure communities remain at the heart of decision-making.
Most importantly, this conference is an opportunity to bring people together. By sharing experiences, challenging assumptions and exploring new ideas, we hope to identify practical actions that will help create a more resilient, collaborative and future-ready.
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9:50 - 10:15
As CVS Inverclyde celebrates 30 years of supporting communities, this keynote session will look beyond our history and focus on the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. In an era of increasing demand, financial pressure and rapid societal change, what will it take for the third sector and its partners to deliver lasting impact over the next decade?
Delivered by Dr Jim McCormick, one of Scotland's leading voices on poverty, inequality and social policy, this thought-provoking session will explore the fundamental shifts needed to create stronger, more resilient communities. Drawing on his extensive experience of influencing policy and systems change, Jim will challenge us to think differently about how we tackle long-term social challenges and deliver meaningful, sustainable change. Recognising both the scale of the challenges ahead and the opportunities available, Jim will invite delegates to reimagine the future of the third sector and consider a vital question:
What must change now to ensure our communities, organisations and partnerships are strong enough to thrive over the next 30 years?
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10:20 - 10:45
As communities face growing inequalities, increasing demand and continuing financial pressures, the next decade will require new ways of thinking about how we fund, lead and deliver change. Led by our Host, Rona Dougall this thought provoking session will follow on the input Dr Jim McCormick, with additional speakers to be announced. the discussion will examine the future of funding, the realities of partnership working, and how community voices can remain at the heart of decision-making in an increasingly complex landscape. Delegates will be invited to consider what genuine collaboration looks like, where current approaches are falling short, and what is needed to create a truly future-ready local ecosystem.
Expect challenge, insight and practical reflections on the changes required to ensure communities, organisations and public services can thrive together over the next 30 years.
Mid Morning
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11:15 - 12:15
This facilitated workshop aims to equip leaders with the mindset, behaviours and practical tools needed to actively lead integrated partnership working across the third and public sectors, rather than allowing collaboration to depend on goodwill or informal relationships alone.
The workshop draws on two complementary frameworks: the Rainbow Model of Integrated Care, with particular attention to normative integration, and Patrick Lencioni's model of cohesive teamwork, which highlights trust, constructive conflict, commitment, accountability and collective results that can be applied throughout as leadership disciplines rather than general partnership theory.
The workshop is designed for leaders across all levels from third sector organisations, local authorities, NHS and wider public services, Health and Social Care Partnerships, commissioning teams and community anchor organisations. It is suitable for anyone with responsibility for shaping, chairing or sponsoring a cross-sector partnership, whether newly forming or long established.
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11:15 - 12:15
This workshop explores creating sustainable, youth-led volunteering that fosters ownership and impact, sharing practical tips for getting started, maintaining engagement and choosing activities.
Judith Hewitt, Museum Curator at East of Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Arts and Museums Service, will draw on over twenty years of experience to examine the different ways to engage young people. From creating volunteer placements for young people with Additional Support Needs to supporting those completing formal qualifications such as Foundation Apprenticeships and Masters, Judith will be sharing different avenues for engagement.
The session highlights successes, reflects on challenges, and offers insights for developing meaningful, long-term opportunities that empower young people.
Lunchtime
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12:45 - 13:15
The GP-based Community Link Worker Team will provide a snapshot of the service's development and impact since the Inverclyde pilot launched in 2017. They will explain how the service operates within the local TSI, keeping patient needs at its centre while promoting third sector support impartially.
The session will include a visual demonstration of how the team helps patients connect with community resources, overcome barriers to support, and improve their wellbeing. By addressing non-medical issues, the service also helps reduce pressure on Primary Care clinical teams.
The session will conclude with a look at the future direction of the Community Link Worker service at CVS Inverclyde.
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12:15 - 13:15
CVS Inverclyde is proud to mark 30 years of supporting and strengthening Inverclyde’s third sector. In this session, we’ll take a trip down memory lane, reflecting on the stories, milestones and community achievements that have shaped our journey. Together, we’ll look back at how our sector has evolved, grown and flourished over the past three decades.
We’ll also explore CVS Inverclyde as it stands today: a committed, community organisation working within Inverclyde, for Inverclyde. From supporting local organisations and building meaningful partnerships to engaging directly with people across our communities, we continue to champion a vibrant, resilient and collaborative third sector.
Finally, we’ll share our ambitions for the future, outlining how our strategy, priorities and long-term vision will continue to benefit Inverclyde’s third sector and contribute to a stronger, more connected community for years to come.
Early Afternoon
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13:15 - 13:40
Jamie Cooke will explore what success looks like for post-industrial communities in the 21st century and how places can move beyond responding to change to actively shaping their future. Drawing on international examples and his experience working across communities, governments and civil society, Jamie will lead a conversation about identity, belonging, civic pride and the role citizens play in creating prosperous, inclusive and thriving places. Participants will be invited to think boldly about the future of Inverclyde and the legacy we want to leave for the next generation.
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13:15 - 13:40
Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a future consideration for charities and community organisations. It has arrived in the third sector, and is already transforming how organisations approach communication, fundraising, service delivery and everyday operations.
This session takes a different approach. Paul Brooks has spent the past year building working AI systems inside Inverclyde charities, changing the way they approach data management, sourcing funding, and the many forms of day-to-day admin. He'll show you those systems running, explain what they cost, and be straight about what works and what doesn't.
Whether you're already experimenting with AI or just beginning to explore its potential, you'll leave knowing what's genuinely possible for an organisation your size, what it costs, what your trustees need to know, and what the sensible first step looks like.
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13:40 - 14:40
This practical workshop will explore how professionals can meaningfully include communities in the design, improvement and evaluation of public services. Aimed at those working across health, social care and the local third sector, it focuses on building stronger, more equal partnerships with people affected by services.
The session will begin with a presentation from Shumela Ahmed-Poole, Managing Director of Resilience Learning Partnership, on the importance of including the voice of lived and living experience and how to engage communities meaningfully.
Through discussion and hands-on exercises, participants will explore the differences between consultation, engagement, co-design and co-creation, and identify ways to involve communities earlier, more accessibly and with greater shared ownership.
Mid Afternoon
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15:10 - 15:40
The conference will conclude with an interactive, audience-led session designed to move the conversation from ideas to action. Using live polling and facilitated discussion through Mentimeter delegates will have the opportunity to share their experiences, challenges and priorities for the future of the third sector.
Together, participants will explore what is not working, what must change, and the practical actions that organisations, partners and policy-makers can take to create stronger, more resilient communities.
Delegates will be invited to identify one thing they will do differently as a result of the conference, alongside one practical ask of funders, public sector partners and government. The session will capture the collective insight, ambition and commitment of the sector, culminating in a short Conference Call to Action that will be shared widely after the event to inform future discussion, partnership working and policy development.
This is an opportunity for every voice in the room to help shape the agenda for the next 30 years.
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16:100 - 16:30
The future will require us to work differently. It will require greater collaboration, stronger leadership, deeper community involvement and a shared commitment to prevention, inclusion and long-term change. It will also require funders, public bodies and policymakers to recognise and support the vital role that community organisations play in creating stronger, fairer and healthier places.
As we leave today, our challenge is simple: to turn discussion into action. To build on the relationships strengthened here, to champion the voices of our communities and to continue working together to shape the next chapter of the third sector.
Thirty years ago, others laid foundations that continue to benefit Inverclyde today. The responsibility now sits with all of us to ensure that the next 30 years are defined by resilience, collaboration, innovation and community power.
Thank you for being part of that journey. Together, we can help shape a stronger future for Inverclyde and a stronger future for the third sector.