A Message from the Board of Scottish Mentoring Network

6 June 2019

A Message from the Board of Scottish Mentoring Network

We have advertised recently on our website that our 2019 Annual Event will take place on 13th November in St Paul’s & St George’s Church, York Place, Edinburgh. We hope that you are looking forward to it as much as we are! The evaluations from the 2018 event were extremely positive and we want to raise the bar further to keep delivering your expectations.

However, we are all experiencing a much more challenging financial environment. In these constrained times, the SMN Board has concluded, with some reluctance, that we need to introduce a nominal delegate charge. We want to continue to run a successful annual event, one that you want to continue to participate in.

The nominal charge for the 2019 Annual Event will be £25 for each delegate. For this very reasonable fee, delegates will hear from some inspiring keynote speakers, have the opportunity to network with fellow SMN members from across the country, participate in topical breakout sessions and, of course, celebrate the high quality of mentoring projects around Scotland through our Recognition Awards.  

We are investigating the potential to raise some sponsorship for the event, which may enable us to offer some bursary conference places. If you have any ideas from your own network about potential sponsors, please pass these on to our staff.

The SMN Board recognises that resources are constrained for the majority of our members, but we feel that our very affordable membership fees already provide great value for money without the inclusion of free places at the national event. We want to emphasise that we are committed to continuing to deliver a high quality annual national event that meets members’ needs.

As an organisation that exists to support its members, we would welcome your feedback on this decision. Please send your comments/views to our Chief Executive, Maureen Watson, maureen@scottishmentoringnetwork.co,uk. Maureen will relay all of your feedback to us.