THE DAY
15 September 2026, Birmingham
The Priory Rooms, Birmingham
A day of workshops, conversations, community organising and connection.
THE DAY AT A GLANCE
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
9:30
Arrive
10:00
Opening Plenary
10:30
Workshop Block One
12:00
Lunch & Open Space
13:15
Workshop Block Two
14:55
Workshop Block Three
12:45
Refresher Plenary
17:00
Community
Drinks
OPEN SPACE
ACTIVITIES
TRAINING
WORKSHOP
PLENARY
16:30
Closing Plenary
9:30 - 10:00
WORKSHOP
Arrival & Registration
.png){kind=small}
Coffee, name badges, community boards, giant Jenga, and time to meet people
Main Meeting House
Ground Floor
Opening Plenary
Join our CEO and Chair Esther Foreman, Immy Kaur, Mel Smith and Pedro Telles to set the context for the day and introduce the conversations ahead.
Main Meeting House
Ground Floor
PLENARY
10:00 - 10:25
WORKSHOP BLOCK ONE
TRAINING
WORKSHOP
Postcards from the Future
The Reading Room
First Floor
The Social Change Nest launch The Community Nest 2.0 and discuss what's possible together.
Weaving Community Knowledge on Moving Money Together
Open space session on participatory grant making to shape ideas and next steps together.
Introducing the 'Democracy Meter'
Exploring listening, outreach and conversation techniques for connecting people and building movements.
Lloyd Room
Ground Floor
10:30 - 12:00
Main Meeting House
Ground Floor
WORKSHOP
Place-Based Systems Change in a Time of Division
Exploring how people, power and place shape community-led systems change amid conflict.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
TRAINING
William Penn Room
Lower Ground
Craft in Common: Making medals for everyday courage
ACTIVITIES
WORKSHOP
Sturge Room
First Floor
Make a medal to take home celebrating your often-unacknowledged acts of everyday courage.
WORKSHOP
Building Power for Migrant Rights and Secure Status
Regularisation for undocumented migrants: what it means, why it matters, and how we build the power to win it.
Elizabeth Fry Room,
Lower Ground
Collective Care in
Action
Live case study: How do we make decisions rooted in care while navigating uncertainty, responsibility and pressure?
George Fox Room
Lower Ground
LUNCH & OPEN SPACE
Eat, rest and connect. Take time for informal conversations, quiet reflection or join one of the spaces and activities happening across the venue.
12:00 - 12:45
Refresher Plenary
Nadia Asri will chair a follow up conversation with Martha Mackenzie and Paul Parker to get our heads back into the game after lunch.
Main Meeting House
Ground Floor
12:45 - 13:05
PLENARY
WORKSHOP BLOCK TWO
13:15 - 14:45
Protecting our campaigning rights in the face of authoritarianism
Exploring how we defend & expand civic space together.
Elizabeth Fry Room
Lower Ground
Wild Demands: Write the Charter Your Community Needs
Join Our House to play the People's Charter building game and draft a Wild Times Charter together.
William Penn Room
Lower Ground
Meeting the Moment and Possible Futures
Think through what the authoritarian far right means for your work, now and in the future.
George Fox Room
Lower Ground
ACTIVITIES
Spinning Our Future
See & experience working with a drop spindle, and discuss how Fibresheds and natural fibre systems can contribute to soil health & regeneration.
Sturge Room
First Floor
Main Meeting House,
Ground Floor
WORKSHOP
WORKSHOP
WORKSHOP
Mutual Aid & Community Assets
TRAINING
Reshaping Who Owns, Decides and Belongs. How do communities take control of the spaces and assets they need to thrive?
Reading Room, First Floor
Participatory Grant Making and Care
An interactive, creative session to explore where care, connection and celebration can take you building a participatory grant making model.
WORKSHOP
Lloyd Room
Lower Ground
The Work of Change:
A Video Screening
Take a behind-the-scenes look at The Social Change Nest to explore four themes that are at the heart of our work
ACTIVITIES
WORKSHOP BLOCK THREE
14:55 - 16:25
WORKSHOP
How Campaigns Breakthrough
This session shares the lessons behind the Breakthrough campaigns changing policies and how to build your own.
How to stay present when the ground beneath us is shifting
Reading Room
First Floor
Through embodied & participatory practices, reflect on how to sit with uncertainty & discomfort.
William Penn Room
Lower Ground
Passing the mic: Youth, Power and the Future of Community Organising
Interactive live recording of The Social Change Pod.
TRAINING
Beneath the Surface: Making Sense of Economic Injustice in our Communities
Explore how the economy shapes the challenges facing our communities.
Main Meeting House
Ground Floor
ACTIVITIES
ACTIVITIES
George Fox Room
Lower Ground
Nurturing Flow: Mindful Movement for Wild Times
Wind down the day with a Nurturing Flow of mindful and restorative movement.
Elizabeth Fry Room
Lower Ground
WORKSHOP
ACTIVITIES
Bullsh*t Bingo
Nominate your favourite impact report and let's call it out. Play along and win prizes.
Sturge Room,
First Floor
Community Nest Advice Surgery
Got a question about developing &/or sustaining your group? Drop in & discuss things like HR, governance, fundraising, etc.
Lloyd Room
Ground Floor
WORKSHOP
Closing Plenary
Esther Foreman will close the day with reflections and next steps from what's sure to have been Wild Times!
Main Meeting House
Ground Floor
16:30 - 16:45
PLENARY
17:00-20:00
KEEP THE
CONVERSATION GOING
OLD STOCK PUB
​
4 Temple Row W, Birmingham B2 5NY
​​​
17:00 - 20:00
We'll provide hot nibbles
​
Buy your own drinks
​​​
Everyone welcome
