August tends to be a slow month when people take holidays if they can. This is true for us at Result, but this year, before everyone headed off for much-needed breaks, we convened a big event.

Inspired by a recommendation from our advisors in January, we held our first-ever gathering of all our associates from across the UK on August 5th and 6th. 20 of us, including lipspeakers and BSL interpreters, met in Manchester for an evening of food, celebrations and updates. We then worked together the next morning for half a day in a tailored CPD event.

Right from the start, the energy in the group was palpable. We kept hearing, ‘What lovely people!’ and ‘What a great bunch!’ This was the idea of the gathering – to get to know each other better and trust each other even more. We also thought it would be useful for people working on one project mainly, to be able to meet other associates working on a different one. Cross-fertilising of experience and ideas was precious. Conversations started to produce ideas for work together almost straight away and we are looking forward to developing some of these.

After dinner, it was time for some short speeches from Co-Directors, Jane and Hormoz. These celebrated Result’s origins in 2012, founded by Director Emeritus, Andy Hilton and Hormoz and how far it had developed in the 12 years since then. Jane noted that our work had actually ‘made people’s lives better’ and thanked everyone for their contribution to this. 

Hormoz gave a heartfelt speech about his personal journey and the impact of being able to use his life experience positively to benefit others who feel marginalised. He then announced his plan to step back from being a day-to-day Director of Result and move to taking a mainly delivery role. (Read his earlier blog about this here). Adviser, Jackie Driver, then gave a vote of thanks to Hormoz as well as a cheeky dog-themed gift! Jane was delighted and surprised to be presented with a gold crown ... pencil sharpener by Hormoz, to recognise, he said her role as networking queen!

We then announced that we were delighted to be welcoming Saif Ali to Result as a Co-Director and that we were looking forward to working with him more closely. 

The next morning, several of us still felt ‘wired’ by the excitement of the evening before. But there was plenty of energy left and it was great to share our learning from our coaching practice, learn about self-compassion, from Teresa Wilson and investigate, with Dr Ronie Walters, our CPD ‘flavour’ and what we could do to ensure we keep inspired – learning and developing professionally and personally.

Our Marketing and Communications Associate, Rob Martin, gave a crystal clear presentation about Result’s new brand and why and how we developed it. He used an older Social Impact report alongside the most recent report to illustrate the improvement and difference.

The feedback about this gathering was extremely positive. The event could not have happened without our Project Co-ordinator, Beverley Ross’s meticulous planning. Her patient, mainly unseen work in the background over several months, ensured the whole 24 hours went smoothly and allowed everyone to feel relaxed and be able to make the most of being together. A big thank you to Bev – and to everyone who took part, often travelling long distances to do so. It was wonderful to be together at last!

We are what we do and we love what we do.