Thank you to everyone to made EVOC’s annual Conference and AGM such a success on 6th November.
There was a real buzz around the venue as delegates browsed the marketplace and networked with their counterparts. There were some very interesting, passionate and challenging conversations taking place.
This passion was echoed by Emmie Main who, in conjunction with Young Scot, spoke about the value of volunteering to young people and her experience in the sector. We also wecolmed Cllr Cammy Day to give an introduction to the City of Edinburgh Council’s Poverty Commission, which fits in with EVOC’s Mind the Craic project, and both will look at how prevention and early intervention can be used to find solutions to deep rooted social issues around inclusion, equality and poverty.
We then welcomed our keynote speaker, Aileen Campbell MSP and Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government, who praised the agility of the third sector and EVOC’s longstanding commitment to tackling inequality and poverty in the city of Edinburgh.
There was also a panel discussion that aimed to answer the question: Thinking about the next ten years – do we need a bigger or a smaller third sector?
The panel was chaired by EVOC Chief Executive Ella Simpson, and featuring Ewan Aitken, CEO of Cyrenians, Jan-Bert van den Berg, EVOC Convenor and ArtLink Director and Patrycja Kupiec, Director of YWCA Scotland. Questions and answers touched on lived experience, Brexit, gender inequality, zero hours contracts and much more.
To find out more about what EVOC is doing to celebrate 150 years supporting charities and the wider community- visit our news pages and read our blogs.
