UpLift Live is the UK’s first conference for LinkedIn specialists, power users & enthusiasts. Join them in Birmingham on 21 March 2024 for a whole day of learning delivered by some of LinkedIn’s apex operators from around the world.

Your ticket gets you in-person access to the UpLift Live event, plus you’ll also receive fully captioned and transcribed replays of all the talks.

Join us at the Birmingham City Partnership – Cost of Living Conference!

It has been over a year since a Cost of Living emergency was declared in Birmingham. Since then, a city-wide coalition of partners has helped to deliver an unprecedented response – helping to deliver a network of 243 warm spaces across the city; cash contributions to over 100 foodbanks; energy bill top-ups to 3,400 households; and at least £1,717,285 in income and benefits maximisation for our most vulnerable residents. This could not have been delivered without the contributions of partners from across the city – business, public and voluntary sectors working together to demonstrate the power of partnership working.

At the Birmingham City Partnership – Cost of Living Conference, we want to continue the conversation with partners from across the city. What challenges and opportunities face our city? How can we learn from each other and share best practice? What do we want the future of Birmingham to look like?

The Birmingham City Partnership – Cost of Living Conference kicks off Birmingham Cost of Living Week, a week of activity taking place across the UK’s second city to recognise, promote and shape the city’s response to the Cost of Living emergency.

Why Attend?

Connect and Collaborate – Network with partners from across the city, members of the public, and change-makers who are committed to making Birmingham more affordable and equitable for all.

Unite for Change – Learn how you and your organisation can play a vital role in addressing the challenges our city faces. Your ideas and contributions are essential to our collective success.

Shape the Future – Be part of the conversation about Birmingham’s future, the challenges we face and the opportunities that we can unlock together.

What to Expect

Join organisations from across Birmingham, including leaders from the public, voluntary and community, and private sectors, to help shape the city’s continuing response to the Cost of Living Crisis.

The wide-ranging agenda will include:

• A look back on Birmingham’s Cost of Living response so far – including examples of best practice from across sectors
• The latest insight into the impact of the crisis on Birmingham
• Break-out sessions focusing on different sector responses and challenges
• Panel discussions mapping the way forward for Birmingham, including how we want to work together as a city
• A mini cost of living ‘marketplace’ for delegates and partner organisations to promote their work

Agenda

Detailed agenda and timings to be confirmed shortly, including registration for break-out sessions.

Conference Partners

The Birmingham City Partnership brings together stakeholders from many sectors to discuss Birmingham’s key opportunities and challenges and considers how the city responds to them. It includes representatives from across key sectors in Birmingham, including health, community safety, further and higher education, business and voluntary and community sector organisations.

Any Other Questions?

Please contact Mary Crofton at mary.crofton@birmingham.gov.uk or the Strategic Partnerships Team at strategicpartnerships@birmingham.gov.uk

Together, we can make a difference and create a brighter future for Birmingham.

Tim is the acclaimed author of Snakeskins and Hope Island, plus several sci-fil mystery novels and three Sherlock Holmes books. He’s also a professional editor working with emerging genre writers, focusing on both craft and writing habits.

Tim’s short fiction has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies, and has been selected for Best of British Science Fiction, Best of British Fantasy and The Best Horror of the Year. His upcoming novel Jekyll & Hyde: Consulting Detectives will be published in 2024.

We are pleased to welcome author, Alice James who writes urban (or rather rural) fantasies set in the Staffordshire countryside. The Lavington Windsor Mysteries series, published by Solaris, are fun books with a protagonist who is an estate agent by day and raises the dead at night. The first novel, Grave Secrets was published in September 2020 and the sequel Grave Danger was published in May. The third book, Grave Suspicions is due to be released this August.

Alice was born in Staffordshire and, after studying maths at university and training to be a Cobol programmer, became a writer. Her first venture into science fiction, the short story Breaking and Exiting features in the new issue of Andromeda Spaceways magazine.

We’ve got a little bonus event to finish off BDF 2023 – and what a bonus it is. On Saturday 10th June, Oliver Jeffers will be back on stage to present the 2020 film Here We Are: Notes For Living on Planet Earth based on the book of the same name alongside Director Philip Hunt.

Oliver and Philip first worked together on BAFTA-winning Lost & Found, an adaptation of one of Oliver’s first picture books 15 years ago. After the screening of Here We Are, held at the majestic Giant Screen, we’ll be delving deeper into the relationship between Oliver and Studio AKA and the process of bringing his wonderful picture books to life.

This event will be free to attend, and we encourage families to join us for the screening, which will be roughly 35 minutes. Once the film has finished, there will be a short break, after which we will be sitting down for a Q&A with Oliver and Philip. The Q&A will be aimed at folks looking to learn more about the development process of the film, so may be uninteresting for young children.

A unique opportunity to hear directly from award-winning fantasy author Stephen Aryan.

Stephen Aryan is the author of the Age of Darkness and Age of Dread trilogies. His first novel, Battlemage, was a finalist for the David Gemmell Morningstar Award for best debut fantasy novel. It also won the inaugural Hellfest Inferno Award in France.

In 2020, Stephen was picked up for a new duology by Angry Robot Books, set in a new world. The first novel, The Coward, was published in June 2021 and it received a Starred Review from Publishers Weekly. The sequel, The Warrior, was published in August 2022. In 2022, Angry Robot signed The Judas Blossom, the first instalment in a Persian inspired fantasy trilogy set in the 13th century.

There will also be an opportunity to meet other members of the legendary Birmingham Science Fiction Group.

If you are not able to join the event in-person. There will be an opportunity to join online via Zoom.

BOOKING INFORMATION

IN-PERSON
Birmingham Science Fiction Group Members: £3 (inc. booking fee)
Non-members: £6 (inc. booking fee)

ONLINE
Members: Free
Non-members: £3.15 (inc. booking fee)

BIRMINGHAM SCIENCE FICTION GROUP MEMBERSHIP
For more information on joining the Birmingham Science Fiction Group click here or email contact@birminghamsfgroup.org.uk.