Events
Community remains central to our identity as a membership organisation. Our collective commitment to achieving shared goals strengthens our global community, which includes our customers and international team.
Click here to read the full Social Accounts document.
Annual General Meeting
The 2025 Annual General Meeting (AGM), led by Chair Dr Yvonne Gale, was held online with 134 members attending. While voting participation in advance of the meeting increased to 1035 from 913 in 2024, we maintained strong digital engagement with 447 people voting online (43%) compared to 37% the previous year.
The following comments are a selection taken from online feedback forms provided to members:
- “Thanks to everyone involved in running the Society and the Foundation for the great work they do.â€
- “Very well managed online meeting, measured pace, excellent clear answers to questions. Well done all!â€
- “Very informative and well-run meeting. Virtual meetings enable so many more members to attend that I hope they will continue.â€
Supporter Events
We delivered 3 face-to-face supporter events in Edinburgh (47 attendees), Leeds (70 attendees), and London (100 attendees). Each event provided an afternoon of connection giving members and supporters a chance to receive an update from our leadership team and hear from our overseas teams via live links.
Sessions concluded with a question and answer opportunity for attendees with the panel. Keynote speakers included Louise Davies, CEO of Scottish Fair Trade; Andy Ashcroft, MD of Koolskools; Dan Binks, MD of Liberation Foods; Lauren Morris, Communications Manager at Cafédirect; and Omar Rodriguez, General Manager of Capucas.
Event feedback survey scores were good to excellent, covering both operational and business aspects. Post-event analysis is encouraging, showing an increase of £66k in investments linked to attending members, and 34 enquirer packs were sent out.
Member, Michael, explained why he attended:
"To form a connection with likeminded supporters and hear from managers on °®¶¹´«Ã½ Interest’s policies and hear from people who work at the ground level and build trust and good relationships."
Members also shared why they continue to support °®¶¹´«Ã½ Interest. Hilary stated:
"It is one very small way that we can show our support & awareness of how lucky we are in the UK."
Caroline added her support, saying:
"Because you can invest with a relatively small amount of money, and it is used to help so many people and communities."
Click here to find out more about our events.
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