A great day had by team CHY at the Social Value Conference this year. Fantastic energy in the room and truly impressive attendance both in-person and online.
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Right from Thursday’s opening remarks with Lorraine Cox FIoL and Guy Battle it was clear the focus was on moving beyond simple figures to examining the difference we’re making in the world. As practitioners, how can we really make sure we’re changing things for the better? How do we take social value to the next stage?

This was so heartening to hear and really set the tone for the day.

Our MD Rob Wolfe FRSA was on the panel “Holding ourselves to account” which provoked some really interesting discussion. The phrase “green-hushing”, mentioned by Alison Woodhouse, was a great way to describe the reticence of organisations to talk honestly about the challenging road to net zero. But if we don’t hear about the reality of these sometimes messy journeys, how will we get there?

Of course theis expected to push forward the agenda in terms of transparency and accountability – but it's worth noting that this will not be mandated. It will be down to the social value sector to act on these themes and lead by example.

Throughout the day there was discussion around the need to get better at involving VCSEs in the conversation – this still felt like a struggle at times.

Social value was born from frustration in the Third Sector – social value measurement was embedded in charities long before it made its way into business. However, the default is still to assume corporates “give” value and “help” charities.

We need to remember there are insights, resources and value to be gained from both sides – and we multiply this further still when we work together. Definitely something for us all to work on.

Brilliant to catch up with so many there last week.

Hopefully everyone enjoyed their day as much as we did!