Susannah Mulholland

Going to the National Housing Federation Housing Finance Conference as an Apprentice.

The National Housing Federation is the voice of England’s Housing Associations. They use their knowledge to understand issues and risks facing the public and private housing sector. I was given the opportunity to shadow the Events and Marketing team at their Housing Finance conference and exhibition back in March 2022. The Conference is a chance for Housing associations to come together to collaborate, network and most importantly learn; that’s what I definitely did.

I got a behind the scenes peak into producing such a massive event in Liverpool, it can take a year or more from start to finish to plan! I learnt the individual roles of each member of the team as well as talking to external parties such as the ACC team which assists in the tech side of the event making sure it all runs smoothly. I talked with videographers and photographers who were capturing the event, we had a rather long discussion over our love of cameras. I even managed to talk to some key speakers at the event and gave my perspective on engaging young audiences with finance, that was a cool moment.

I got the opportunity to go to this conference through The Learning Foundry and The Regenda Group, Lesley Penton seen below leading the way and giving me advice for how to make the best out of this experience. There, they were taking part in the conference, closing out the second day with their inspirational session; talking about Youthquake, one of The Learning Foundry’s most successful courses. Youthquake is for young people to learn about social entrepreneurialism which resulted in learners, like Jamie Leigh and Alex, gaining employment with organisations who believe in making a difference. Along with Ben Chu of BBC News Night and Amar Latif, the blind man who wants to show you the world, they talked about the opportunities they were given through The Learning Foundry and how it had changed their life. It was amazing to feel that relate back to me, with the opportunity they wanted to give me by being a part of these teams for the Housing Finance Conference.

Learners talking about their experience of Youthquake at the Housing Finance Conference 2022

I learnt so much over the span of just 2 days, it has made such an impact on me personally, improving my confidence immensely, as well as in my professional career. I learnt so much about the Housing Sector, what’s Retrofitting? Now I know. I can’t thank each team enough in making this event such a great experience. This has helped me learn how to do my job better as a Digital Content Apprentice and also helping me figure out the next steps to take to further my career in this industry.