Opportunity for members at Conservative Conference

BALI has been contacted by the Conservative Environment Network (CEN), an independent network for conservatives who support conservation and decarbonisation, to seek out a BALI Registered Affiliate member, ideally a nursery, who can help dress their series of upcoming Conservative Party Conference events, of which there are 15 individual sessions over four days (29 September - 2 October).

CEN works with a caucus of over 40 parliamentarians (previously including new Minister Rebecca Pow MP), and they also have a membership of councillors, SpAds and policy wonks who support conservative environmentalism. They aim to drive forward action on climate change and conservation in Westminster. Later this year CEN will be hosting over 15 events at the Conservative Party Conference on a variety of subjects, including the plans for the Northern Forest, celebrating Great Open Spaces, exploring routes to net zero plus more. Each event is currently sponsored by an NGO or business, including WWF, RSPB, the Woodland Trust and CPRE. 
 
These events will take place in a new space called the CEN Hub - which they hope will act as the environmental space throughout the conference. It will be linked to the Environment Zone, where businesses will showcase their green credentials (e.g. reducing plastics etc). This is a key time for the environment - so they are hoping to use these events both to raise awareness of environmental issues, start conversations on them and also engage with new stakeholders in the Conservative Party. The event speakers will include government ministers, MPs, senior NGO representatives and business representatives. 

CEN is looking to partner with one of BALI's members to decorate the Hub. It will be inside the secure zone, in Central Rooms 3&4 in Manchester Central. The conference is from Sunday through Wednesday (29 September - 2 October), and they will be hosting this series of 15 events throughout the duration of the Party Conference. They would like the Hub to look as 'green' as possible at the same time showcasing British horticultural businesses in the process. The room will be split in half for one of the mornings, there will be panels with theatre-style seating and also drinks receptions, so the plant materials will have to fit around that layout.

CEN has three staff members available to help the member set up inside the conference centre, but they would need guidance on setup/maintenance and the support in delivery and collection. The delivery would need to be on Friday 27 September in order to avoid the security sweep of the conference centre before the airport-style security screening is in place. Following that, on Saturday 28 September, everything must go through an airport-style scanner.

As the room fits 150 people, and they are hosting over 15 events, they hope to reach a wide audience at the conference, which would include politicians, businesspeople and conservative and environmental activists/campaigners. In exchange for support decorating the room, BALI members would receive:

• Partner banner in the room at all times
• Partner logos on all communications promoting the event to members, MPs, ministers and via social media - including on a PDF and hard copy conference brochure listing all of the event details
• Mention of the partner in CEN staff speeches during events where possible
• Thank you to the partner via their Twitter and digital newsletter before and after the conference
• Free conference pass for one staff member to support the setup and any management of the greenery, and also use at their leisure to attend events throughout the conference (the deadline for claiming this would be 30 August, due to deadlines set by the conference organisers)

If any BALI member is available to help and support and/or would like further information about this exclusive opportunity they are urged to contact BALI's Marketing and Communications Manager Darren Taylor ASAP to arrange details.