Supported by the Big Lottery Fund

'This is an opportunity to turn the spotlight on to our beneficiaries.’
Fiona Taylor, head of policy & communications, Groundwork UK

Chaired by Mark Easton, BBC's Home Editor, our Autumn conference focused on how communications can serve charities in the changing times to work within the Big Society. Leading Big Society minds discussed new ideas and communications solutions for the charity and community sector. The event was held at London's Barbican Centre on Tuesday 9 November.

Browse our Facebook gallery of photographs from the conference

 

'What is the Big Society? It's what the charity sector has been doing for years.'
Patrick Butler, editor of society, health and education policy, The Guardian

 

This one-day conference, supported by Big Lottery Fund, showed how the principles and assets of media and communications can become the pivotal tools in creating a Big Society.  The conference looked at how charities and social enterprises can sharpen their communications to reach into the communities they serve and how they can prove their worth in an ultra-competitive funding environment.

 

Speakers at the event included:

• Sarah Hunter, Head of UK Public Policy at Google
• Paul Twivy, Chief Executive of Big Society Network
• Paul Miller, Co-founder and CEO of School of Everything
• Fiona Thomas, Head of Policy & Communications, Groundwork UK
• Joe Clift, Brand and Customer Marketing Director, Lloyds Banking Group
• Stephen Cook, Editor of Third Sector magazine

 

'Improving communication skills is an essential part of the Big Society initiative.'
Joe Clift, brand and customer marketing director, Lloyds Banking Group

 

We are producing resources based on the keynote speakers’ presentations, designed to improve your communications and boost the non-profit sector’s skills, knowledge and confidence in communicating their impact and value in our Big Society

Download Stephen Cook's slideshow What does the sector really think about the Big Society? presenting exclusive research from Third Sector magazine and Local Government Chronicle.

Take a look at Fiona Taylor’s presentation slideshow Using communications to engage

Download Jaime Rose's (Digital Inclusion, CLG) presentation from the panel discussion A Big DIGITAL Society

See resources and tips from Google on using digital communications from our last partnership event with Google

• Working with the media to survive the cuts and help build the Big Society
• Decentralising delivery and using communications to engage locally
• A Big DIGITAL Society: how can digital media give power to the people
• Communicating up: demonstrating your Big Society impact to funders
• Keep it local: more local, more engaged
• Ingredients for a civil economy: the essential role communications play when communities and the private sector work together to deliver social change

We’ll keep adding further resources from our conference and linking to them from here, but don’t forget to look at our free resources hub for a full range of guides and tips for your marketing, PR, digital and comms work.

Download the conference programme

Community Media Champions

Media Trust’s Community Media Champions were out in force at the conference. Listen to Audioboo files and watch videos of our speakers’ tips, opinions and advice for non-profit communications, and our delegates’ thoughts from the day here

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