IPPR - Female speakers in majority at first summit of North’s civil society

22 Mar 2017 06:30 PM

The first summit for civil society in the North of England will take place next week – with a majority of female speakers.

IPPR North’s Whose Powerhouse is it anyway? conference brings charities, social enterprises, leaders from large and small businesses, faith groups, the public sector, entrepreneurs and grassroots activists together.

Through debates, workshops, panel discussions and keynote speeches, attendees will develop ideas to make sure the Northern Powerhouse amounts to more than “white men talking about trains behind closed doors”.

Taking place in Newcastle on 30 March, the conference will aim to take back control of the Northern Powerhouse agenda, so it is powered by the North itself and is more than a Whitehall buzzword.

The conference is part of IPPR North’s Future of Civil Society in the North programme. While it pre-dates protests last month of a Northern Powerhouse conference in which all the speakers promoted were men, such events make the conference highly topical.

IPPR North’s conference will help pave the way for the Peoples’ Powerhouse conference on 9 May, which IPPR North and a coalition of sister bodies are organising, coordinated by Tracy Fishwick with Jo Miller, chief executive of Doncaster council, and Donna Hall, chief executive of Wigan council.

Sessions at the one-day conference include:

Speakers, in alphabetical order by surname, include:

The event takes place on 30 March in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is both free and open to all, including charities, businesses and individuals. A final few places remain but booking is essential.

Sarah Longlands, senior research fellow at IPPR North, said:

“For the Northern Powerhouse to thrive, it must be about much more than white men talking about trains behind closed doors.

“Vital as transport connections are, they won’t by themselves do much for many parts of the North which have yet to feel the kind of progression from their industrial past we’ve seen in places like Manchester over recent years. The Brexit vote surely highlights this.

“The fantastic protests over the lack of female speakers at a Northern Powerhouse conference showed that there is huge appetite for a truly Northern Powerhouse: not as some Whitehall policy, but as a wholescale reinvention of the North by the North – which draws its strength from the diversity of our diverse people.”

Tracy Fishwick, project director of the Peoples’ Powerhouse conference, said:

“A lot of people feel they haven’t got a voice in the debate and events like the Peoples’ Powerhouse convention and this Third Sector Summit are trying to open up the conversation.

“Growth is about people, and people must be included in the discussion.”

Contact:

Ash Singleton, a.singleton@ippr.org, 07887 422 789.

Notes:

IPPR North is the dedicated think-tank for the North of England.

The following URL links to the sign-up page:https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ippr-norths-third-sector-summit-whose-powerhouse-is-it-anyway-tickets-31599107782

IPPR North has long argued that the Northern Powerhouse must be inclusive: of people of all genders, ethnicities and sexualities, not just white men; of all parts of the North, not just its big cities, and deliver inclusive growth and great public services, and not a smokescreen for austerity cuts.

All media are welcome to attend and can accredit by contacting Ash Singleton on the above or by replying to this email.

A press release outlining the findings of IPPR North’s Third Sector Trends report, which is being launched at the conference, will be circulated next week.