Reflections on the UKCF Conference 2024
Blog post by Heart of Bucks Programmes Officer Amy
This year, I was fortunate to attend the UKCF Conference 2024 in Harrogate from the 8th – 10th October. This experience marked a significant milestone for me at Heart of Bucks, as it was my very first conference. It provided me the opportunity to connect with community foundations across the UK, as well as professionals from around the globe and various external organisations. It also gave me time to spend with my colleagues, sharing feedback about all the interesting ideas and topics we encountered at different sessions.
With the theme centered on ‘Foundations for the future: investing in communities’, I was keen to learn from others about different strategies and approaches, particularly in designing funding programmes and application processes that are more sustainable, regenerative and inclusive for our local community.
From the sessions I attended, my key takeaways focused on how organisations can rethink the way they design their funding programmes to facilitate long-term, regenerative and meaningful change within their communities, as well as how application processes can be made more flexible, accessible, and inclusive. This is especially crucial as we face emerging crises in our communities, whether climate-related or reminiscent of challenges posed by the pandemic. Innovative thinking about our funding practices is essential. It was enlightening to hear more about how involving local communities in these processes can yield benefits for both them and our organisations. Engaging in conversations with people from different organisations gave me some fresh perspectives on how we approach shared challenges, but also revealed some similarities in the ways we tackle them.
From a wider perspective, I feel I have come away from this conference with a better understanding of how UKCF and external organisations can collaborate in new and innovative ways. Whether this be influencing government policy, lobbying for funding, or integrating our processes with new technologies, such as AI, to create greater capacity. There is an abundance of ideas and a wealth of knowledge among us all. Our understanding of the community and our connections position us as a valuable point of contact for local needs. Therefore, it is essential for us to be proactive and to listen and utilise this knowledge when fundraising and advocating for the benefit of our residents.
Overall, my first conference with UKCF was an exciting experience. Stepping out of my comfort zone to network with people I wouldn’t normally get the opportunity to speak to and share my thoughts and ideas with them has helped to build my confidence. I feel inspired by what I have learned, and I am keen to pass this on to my team at work and further reflect upon how we could apply this to our day-to-day strategies and processes at Heart of Bucks.
