National Black Police Association Annual Conference 2022, hosted by Gloucestershire Constabulary

On the 5th and 6th October 2022, Gloucestershire Constabulary welcomed members and affiliates of the National Black Police Association to Cheltenham Racecourse for the organisation’s annual conference. The theme for the conference was ‘Institutional Racism: the facts behind the headlines’ and featured talks sparking important conversation around discrimination issues in the UK from the likes of ex-Yorkshire cricketer Azeem Rafiq and police reform campaigner Mina Smallman.

The NBPA is a key agent in tackling racism and diversity issues within the UK Police Force and improving relationships between the police and ethnic minority communities. After headlines in recent years highlighting the still prominent issue of racism, such as the George Floyd case, the association is an integral player in changing the patterns of police behaviour.

Over the last 10 months, NR Events took on production management for the NBPA Conference, working with the Events and Campaigns Officers at Gloucestershire Constabulary to organise an event that could be the benchmark for future conferences hosted by other constabularies. We had heard that Belfast was one to compete with, however we could not trace any photos of what the event looked like so we were essentially working from a blank template.

There were many factors we had to be considerate of when planning for the conference as it would be catering for so many different cultural backgrounds. This includes, setting up prayer rooms, ensuring that all meat served was halal or there were vegetarian options, and dealing with highly sensitive personal data when delegates booked tickets through their police emails. It was also important for us that the branding of the event was consistent throughout. The designer, Christian from C+H Collective was great in pulling together striking assets from the stage banner, to conference programme, to the gala dinner menus.

 

Welcome Event at Tivoli Cinema:

On Tuesday 4th October, delegates were welcomed to Cheltenham at the new Tivoli Cinema in the town’s Regent Arcade. The stylish setting offered guests a chance to network during drinks and high quality bowl food, whilst showcasing archive and local filmmakers works in some of the screens. The short films covered topics such as the first black Police Constable in Gloucestershire and documentaries about modern day racism issues people still face in the UK.

The Welcome Event also featured short speeches from people such as the Chief Constable of Gloucestershire Constabulary and members of the Gloucestershire Ethic Minority Association.

The evening set the tone for the rest of the event, to showcase Gloucestershire in a smart and professional light and demonstrate the high standard we wanted to achieve for the whole conference.

Three guests at Tivoli Cinema laughing and enjoying bowl food and drinks.
Picture by Mikal Ludlow Photography

 

The Conference at Cheltenham Racecourse:

Cheltenham Racecourse was host to a day and a half of conference for the NBPA on the 5th and 6th of October. Nearly 300 delegates attended Day 1 and 2 which had numerous keynote speakers, debates, and panel sessions. The Hall of Fame entrance provided exhibition stands from the likes of the College of Policing and the RAF Police, alongside refreshments and lunches each day.

Day 1 was focused around keynote speakers, beginning with Ron Hampton and Jacqueline Edwards who had travelled from the USA and Canada to speak. There were many thought-provoking conversations that took place and sparked much discussion on the online questions portal we had set up prior to the event, Slido. This was all hosted by award-winning journalist, Poorna Bell.

Day 2 had more discussion opportunities with a panel debate from the morning speakers rounding the day off to conclude the conference at lunchtime. The day was still quite speaker-heavy and we struggled with time constraints, especially with trying to fit in an unannounced speaker into the agenda with little notice.

Despite this, we had many comments on how well the conference was run and the high calibre of the speakers that ourselves and the Constabulary had managed to secure.

The Centaur room at Cheltenham Racecourse filled with tables of delegates watching the speakers onstage
Picture by Mikal Ludlow Photography

Gala Dinner, Awards, and Live Entertainment:

Guests were invited to dress up for a black tie event on the evening of the first conference day. The Centaur was transformed in two hours with fresh tablecloths, chair covers, centre pieces, a dancefloor, and more.

The evening began with delegates arriving on red carpet, greeted by a local steel drum player and a drink on arrival. It was important for us to have quality non-alcoholic options due to many attendees religious views. Many guests took photos in front of the branded NBPA banner before heading into The Centaur when doors opened to begin a night of entertainment.

A three course meal was served, before the short awards ceremony took place. The awards celebrated numerous officers who had made great contributions towards the advancements in equality and tackling racism issues. These titles included ‘Community Champion’ and ‘Excellence in Race Equality Leadership Award’.

To round of the night, local charity The Music Works sourced entertainment in the form of cover band Soulection and DJ KevIn Clubs. They had the room up dancing throughout the rest of the night and celebrated music from lots of different cultural backgrounds.

Gala dinner guests dancing to the DJ on the dancefloor at The Centaur, Cheltenham Racecourse
Picture by Rob Lacey Photographer

Partners of the event:

We were lucky enough to work with many great brands, organisations, and charities for the NBPA Conference 2022.

The chosen charity that the NBPA supported this year was The Music Works. They work with young people in Gloucestershire from disadvantaged backgrounds to give them opportunities in music performance and production that they may not have access to elsewhere. The raffle tickets being sold throughout the event raised money for the charity which a great amount of attendees were happy to show support to.

The Hall of Fame at the racecourse was host to exhibition stands where delegates could get involved in activities and find out more about new plans and policies the organisations had put in place to tackle diversity issues.

We were fortunate to receive some generous donations from John Lewis who provided the stage furniture. This gave a really professional look to the stage and fit in with the red, black, and gold colour theme. A business selling in John Lewis, The Big Bloom Room, also provided the stage flowers and table centre arrangements which gave the final touches to a detailed setup at the gala dinner.

The Royal Air Force Police exhibitors demonstrating virtual reality to one of the NBPA's delegates
Picture by Mikal Ludlow Photography

We are extremely pleased with how the National Black Police Association Conference came together and grateful to have worked with many different people who contributed to various parts of the event. The event ran really smoothly overall and we believe that we achieved our initial aim of setting the benchmark for future NBPA conferences.

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Here at NR Events, we keep our prices fair and transparent by tracking the time we spend working on each of our projects. We do this with the brilliant app @timeular which we can input our budget into and compare time spent vs. how much budget is left. 💰

This means we can pretty accurately estimate how many days we will spend when pitching for a new event, leaving the client with no unexpected charges post-event! 🏆

(Even while writing this, Emily is using Timeular to track her time spent on the NR social media 🤭)

#timeular #timetracking #budgetmanagement #projectestimate #eventmanagement #eventproduction #wemakeevents #eventprofs
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How do you manage your projects?

We use an app called @wriketeam which suits all of our project organisation, scheduling, and task management needs. It`s simple to add client users to collaborate on projects and keep right up-to-date with progress ✅

We also build `master schedules` in Google Drive that has all the vital event information in one document - running order, staff & supplier contacts, printing list, budgets, packing lists, and more! 😅

#wrike #projectmanagement #scheduling #ganttchart #taskmanagement #googledrive #budgeting #eventmanagement #eventproduction #wemakeevents #eventprofs
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NR Events are always looking for the latest and simplest platforms to make our work easier and more efficient! This week we want to shout about our favourite platforms that make our lives just a little bit easier...

@tickettailor is our well-loved ticketing and registration provider that has delivered some of our smoothest events. Not only is the website and check-in app really easy to navigate, it`s also a lot cheaper than most of the top dogs out there 💪

What ticketing platform do you use and why?

#tickettailor #eventticketing #eventregistration #guestlist #delegate #eventmanagement #guestmanagement #eventproduction #wemakeevents #eventprofs
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We enjoyed working with Gloucestershire Constabulary so much last year on the Annual NBPA Conference, that we have returned to help deliver their annual Open Day plus other events for 2023! 👮

Join us on Saturday 23rd September from 10:00 - 15:00 for a free family day of fun to learn about how they police our county of Gloucestershire 🎉

#gloucestershireconstabulary #ukpolice #policeevents #eventmanagement #eventproduction #wemakeevents #eventprofs
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The Gift Card & Voucher Association is an organisation that NR Events has worked with loyally for many years and we are so pleased to be working on their Hall of Fame Awards in London again this year! 🪩

It`s a memorable night for all and we are looking forward to making an incredible guest experience, this time at @8northumberland 🏩

#gcva #halloffame #gcvahofawards2023 #awards #london #eventmanagement #eventproduction #wemakeevents #eventprofs
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Over the next few months (and then beyond), we will be delivering Q Community`s variety of events across the UK - in London, Birmingham, and Glasgow. 🩺

Q has a whole host of extraordinary members who will be able to network, share ideas, and celebrate their achievements within the healthcare industry. 🧑‍⚕️

Our first event with them is tomorrow and we are so eager to get started!

#qcommunity #thehealthfoundation #ukhealthcare #networking #corporateevents #london #birmingham #glasgow #eventmanagement #eventproduction #wemakeevents #eventprofs
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We have spent various days and weeks in fields building festival sites wishing that we could get stuck in and shift materials around when needed! 👷‍♀️

From October, NR Events will be able to offer telehandler drivers and help with quicker and more convenient site builds 🚜

#telehandler #sitebuild #festival #greenfield #eventmanagement #eventproduction #sitemanagement #wemakeevents #eventprofs
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Carbon Impact Reporting is a service that we offer as standard for each new project. We know that making events as sustainable as possible is really important and we support our clients and suppliers that think the same 🌏

We are constantly learning new things with TRACE`s newsletters and looking to improve this even more by taking part in an online sustainability course very soon 🪴

Get in touch to find out more about our sustainability services - hello@wearenrevents.com

#sustainability #sustainableevents #trace #carbonreporting #eventmanagement #eventproduction #wemakeevents #eventprofs
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NR Events understand that attending events as a disabled person can sometimes be very stressful 😓

But it doesn`t have to be this way! We are on a mission to make our events accessible for any type of disability. Especially working with @vision_fdn, it has opened our eyes to an events world for the blind and partially-sighted that needs to become much more inclusive.

Having already taken part in an Attitude Is Everything online course on Inclusivity, this is something we feel really passionate about 👏

#disabilityawareness #disabilitytraining #inclusivity #inclusiveevents #attitudeiseverything #accessibility #eventmanagement #eventproduction #wemakeevents #eventprofs
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For another year, we are lucky enough to be working with the team at REAP to deliver their events and sessions at COP28, this time in Dubai 🌍

The `Risk-informed Early Action Partnership` play a crucial role in bringing a range of stakeholders together with the aim of making 1 billion people safer from natural disasters by 2025.

We`re already stuck into the planning and looking forward to another memorable COP 🪴

#cop28 #reap #uae #dubai #climatechange #sustainability #eventmanagement #eventproduction #hybridevents #virtualevents #onlineevents #wemakeevents #eventprofs
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We will be heading to Amman, Jordan for the International Fundraising Skillshare in October with the @ifrc 🌙

After 2021`s event was online, we are really looking forward to delivering this in person and see our attendees flourishing in a great networking space 💪

#skillshare #ifrc #amman #jordan #inpersonevent #networking #eventmanagement #eventproduction #wemakeevents #eventprofs
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This week, let`s take a look at some of the events that we have coming up for the rest of the year...

NR Events are pleased to be programming the free entertainment around town for @cheltbid`s Food & Drink Week again this year! 🎼

There`s plenty to see so don`t miss out!

Friday 22nd Sept:
Brewery Quarter - 17:00 - 21:30 (Live music)

Saturday 23rd Sept:
Regent Street - 10:00 - 16:00 (Roaming performers, circus acts & street entertainment)
Montpellier Courtyard - 12:00 - 16:00 (Live instrumental & acoustic music)
Brewery Quarter - 12:00 - 17:00 (Live music), 18:00 - 20:00 (Silent headphone disco)

Sunday 24th Sept:
Montpellier Courtyard - 12:00 - 16:00 (Live instrumental & acoustic music)
Brewery Quarter - 12:00 - 18:00 (Family day - children`s music entertainment and roaming performers)

See you there 🎸🤹‍♀️

#cheltenhambid #cheltenhamfoodanddrinkweek #cheltenhamfood #cheltenhamnightlife #livemusic #streetperformers #circus #childrensentertainment #family #silentdisco #breweryquarter #montpelliercourtyard #regentstreet #eventmanagement #musicprogramming #wemakeevents #eventprofs
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We pride ourselves in being able to integrate with our client teams with ease, with all the tools and skills to work collaboratively. We can be an extension of your team and achieve the sleekest working practices to deliver the best event experiences for your guests.

Find more about the team at NR Events on our website, `Meet The Team` page 👩‍💻

#eventmanagement #eventproduction #wemakeevents #eventprofs
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Introducing our new Event Assistant, Alice! 🌟

Having just graduated from the University of Gloucestershire, Alice is starting out her career in events. She has already worked on multiple projects at NR Events and has demonstrated her existing skills and knowledge from previous experience.

Alice began volunteering and freelancing with us all the way back in October last year for the NBPA Annual Conference. We are so happy to have her and looking forward to delivering our upcoming projects with her 👏

#newstaff #newteammember #newstarter #eventassistant #eventmanagement #eventproduction #wemakeevents #eventprofs
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Team appreciation 😍

We went out to update our company photos and explore the amazing work of the @cheltenhampaintfestival!

We are lucky to be based in the thriving festival town of Cheltenham, working across the UK and internationally 🌍

#cheltenham #eventmanagement #eventproduction #wemakeevents #eventprofs
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One of our newest clients is `Q-Community` who have appointed us as their new events agency. Q- Community are an organisation delivered by the Health Foundation.

We are really looking forward to introducing creative and innovative ways for Q`s members to collaborate through a variety of different events, both in venues in person and online across the UK.

#eventmanagement #eventprofs #wemakeevents #eventproduction #newclient #qcommunity
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At NR we have been working hard on creating and building new and existing relationships with clients 👷‍♂️

Check out our new blog post for more information about our new clients and how we gain others!
https://buff.ly/405xIH7

#eventmanagement #eventprofs #wemakeevents #eventproduction #blog #newclients
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We had a great time in London at the launch of `My View : Transforming young refugees lives` @Refugeecouncil latest programme on the 4th July. The new programme helps to provide therapy and counselling for young refugees.

On the event day we assisted with Delegate, Stage and Speaker management, registration and ticketing, venue liaison and more! 🌟

📸 - @_taylography_

#eventmanagement #eventprofs #wemakeevents #eventproduction #refugeecouncil
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A couple of weeks ago we were experiencing a typical British festival in our wellies and raincoats 🌧️

But that didn`t stop our team from delivering their best in Evictions for Secret Garden Party and making sure that everyone in the festival was respecting the guidelines and partying safely 🕺🪩

Unfortunately that`s our last festival for 2023, but we`re looking forward to returning to the fields next year!

(Don`t forget to check out our blog about working in Evictions here - https://buff.ly/405xIH7)

#festival #ukfestival #sgp #secretgardenparty #wemakeevents #eventprofs
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NR Events are pleased to have built great relationships with some of the UK`s most-loved festivals in running their Evictions areas. 🎶

You may be wondering what exactly is Evictions? Well you can read about it all in our latest blog post linked in our bio or on our website in the "News" section!

#glastonbury #sgp #secretgardenparty #festivals #ukfestivals #eventsafety #festivalsafety #eventmanagement #wemakeevents #eventprofs
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