Winning at Wellbeing

Date of event: 30th September 2009
Organised by: Target: Wellbeing
Venue: Novas Contemporary Urban Centre, Liverpool
Report by: Rob Squires, Wellbeing Network Co-ordinator (Third Sector)



Well the big day finally came and went! Thanks to Rhiannon, who put loads of time and effort into making it happen, the whole event was carried out without a hitch .. we even managed to keep to the schedule. I remember talking to other members of the TWB team as the day progressed, and sharing surprise at just how smoothly things were going. This was reflected in the feedback forms, which showed that participants appreciated the day as much as we did.

Despite the fact that Sue Henry, chair of the Board of Governors was not able to make it, due to sickness, we got the day of to a positive start with an inspiring Top 5 Good News stories. The Knowsley programme excelled in this, and have laid down the gauntlet, for other TWB programmes to get better at providing us with information on all the good things that are happening in your areas.

The day proceeded with a host of different workshops and activities, too many to name, from a diversity of partners and collaborators. TWB projects 'Shared their successes' by running mini sessions throughout the morning, in which they told us all about how their projects are working. There were also wellbeing exercises including chair based exercise by Age Concern Cheshire, and salsa dancing by Shimmey Shimmey Shake Shake. I delivered a 45 minute workshop on Sustainable Funding which was well attended, in which I reinforced the message that we are already half way through our 4 year TWB programme, and need to be thinking about how we can innovate, and work together, to sustain projects when the funding runs out.

After lunch there was an Open Space workshop session, which was an opportunity for participants to discuss issues amongst peers, that were of concern to them. I pulled together a group discussion on practice based commissioning, and we chewed the fat on this for a while, sharing a range of different views. Mark Dorris and Alan Farrier from UCLan, closed the day as our two appointed 'key note listeners', giving a wonderful summary of everything that happened, and the major learnings from the day.

The presentations from the event, along with Mark and Alan's final report will be made available on our new web site very shortly.