Annual Conference 2023 – new date

We are pleased to announce that we have rescheduled the BFSS Annual Conference to Monday 26 June. All bookings have been automatically converted to the new date and we really hope you will be able to attend. If you are unable to attend on the new date please email to let us know.

Although the conference format is designed as an in-person event, we are offering virtual access to the morning keynote session (11am to 1pm) which is themed around identifying the different barriers to learning.  Delegates attending in person will have an interactive afternoon exploring solutions to these barriers.

The event will focus on the critical issue of ‘Breaking Barriers to Learning’, looking at ways to overcome the many obstacles to education faced around the world. It will be fully interactive, with attendees having the opportunity to share and discuss the barriers that they are trying to overcome in their own organisations.

The conference is free to attend and open to all Members and current Grant Partners. We are looking forward to once again bringing together a community committed to helping us deliver BFSS’s vision of educational opportunity for all.

Joining instructions for all attendees will be sent via email the week of 19 June 2023.

Registration for the conference is now closed.  If you have booked a place and can no longer attend please email [email protected]

Key details

When: Monday 26 June, 11am-4pm (with welcome refreshments from 10.30am and after the event until 5pm)

Where: 110 Rochester Row, London, SW1P 1JP

The conference is free to attend, but open to BFSS members and Grant Partners only

Full Programme

10.30 Arrival & Refreshments 

11.00 Conference opening  

Jane Creasy, BFSS Chair

11.10 Keynote session – What are the barriers to learning? 

John Kanyaru, BFSS Trustee 

Ahmad Masood Amer, Afghanistan Project Manager, HealthProm 

Agnes Mirembe, CEO, Action for Rural Women’s Empowerment, Uganda 

Sharon McGhee, Trustee, Volunteers Tutor Association  

Panel Q&A 

12.30 Open discussion – Delegates share barriers they have come across 

13.00 Lunch 

14.00 Solution showcase  

14.05 Tackling gender-based violence in Northern Uganda
Naomi Campbell, Fields of Life 

14.10 Transforming Early Childhood Education for refugee children in Lebanon and Jordan
Victoria Lupton, Seenaryo 

14.15 Overcoming the Disability Barrier in Kenya
Rob Aley, Advantage Africa 

14.20 The Schools Advocacy Project for UK refugees and asylum seekers
Jan Dogar-Hurd, Asylum Welcome 

14.25 Overcoming barriers to education in rural Madagascar
Tabitha Middleton, Money for Madagascar 

Q&A 

14.40 Interactive session – identifying solutions to the barriers 

16.00 Drinks reception 

17.00 End