Partner Article

SkillsBridge to hold a Responsible Business Conference

BUSINESSES with an interest in corporate responsibility are being invited to attend a ground breaking conference in the North East.

The conference, on 30 September, at Muckles LLP, Gallowgate, Newcastle, will look at ways in which private and public sector companies can support their local communities and is the first of its kind to be held in the region.

It is the brainchild of Newcastle-based SkillsBridge, which matches business volunteers with charities and social enterprises in need of expert guidance and advice.

In the past year alone, SkillsBridge has put more than 100 charities in touch with 60 business experts, who have provided them with around 2000 hours of free support, on issues ranging from human resources and book keeping to creating a business plan and planning a strategy for growth.

Chief executive Andrew White will be one of the five-strong panel giving presentations on the value of corporate responsibility (CR) and the trends and challenges affecting it, prior to roundtable discussions and a question and answer session.

The half day event will begin with presentations from Northumbria University’s Dr Jenny Davidson on future trends and Sally Young, from Newcastle CVS, on the state of the sector and the challenges ahead. Andrew White will then present on the value of sharing skills, prior to a talk by Michelle Brannen, of Business in the Community, on the power of volunteering.

Amanda Tincknell from Cranfield Trust will then give a short talk on the key management skills needed by non-profits, before leading into round table discussions on the future challenges and opportunities for businesses committed to developing their CR.

Originally a voluntary, moral obligation to help the wider community, CR has become enshrined in law with the Social Value Act of 2013 and all businesses contracted by the public sector are now required to outline their CR agenda when tendering for work.

“The conference is aimed at those responsible for CR within their organisation,” said Andrew, “whether they’ve been involved with it for some time, or are absolutely new to it.

“We’ll be looking at the future of CR, turning values into actions and embedding it at every level in the business. They’ll be able to find out what it involves, why it matters and how partnerships can support their goals.”

The conference begins at 9am on Tuesday, 30 September and is expected to draw to a close at around 12.30pm to be followed by lunch and networking. Places can be booked by contacting Emma Walker on 0191 265 6111 or at emma@sortedpr.com.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sorted PR .