The privilege of facilitation

Last week the HVM team facilitated the Big Lottery Fund’s Help through Crisis programme National event. This is a day-long conference for the 69 Help through Crisis projects funded through the National Lottery. The projects combine partnerships of small voluntary organisations and established national charities to provide advice, advocacy and support to help people who are experiencing, or are at risk of, hardship crisis to overcome the difficulties they are facing and plan for their futures.

The National Event is organised by HVM on behalf of the Learning, Sharing and Evaluation Consortium led by Ipsos Mori working with HVM, Revolving Doors and Nef Consulting. Over the 5 year programme we co-design this annual gathering with the projects to ensure what we talk about meets their needs. This year sessions included seminars, consultancy drop-ins, and interactive case study sessions through which the projects raised challenges and shared solutions to working in a responsive and fast-moving environment.

It was a privilege to facilitate the event, giving space for such dedicated individuals to share their experiences of working in often challenging contexts, and celebrate their achievements in supporting people experiencing hardship crisis, to have a stronger, more collective voice to better shape a response to their issues .