Exhibitors get ready

forum3 is a unique event. There is simply nothing else like it in the UK. It builds support for and capacity within the Voluntary and Community Sector, by helping source new volunteers, trustees, paid staff and supporters and through raising the profile of the sector.

At its simplest it is a careers event for VCS (Voluntary and Community Sector) organisations - charities, social enterprises, educational and professional organisations - across the UK and beyond - to find staff, volunteers and supporters.

Many third sector organisations struggle to find great volunteers, recruit trustees beyond their own network of contacts and find fundraisers and marketers who can help fund and drive forwards new programmes and projects. forum3 solves these problems cost effectively through community sourcing.

Community sourcing works on the principle that if all exhibitors actively promote the event to their constituents through their websites, job adverts and marketing collateral then all exhibitors will benefit - driving down hire costs and raising rates of employment amongst visitors to the show. Visitors who may have heard about the show from one source or exhibitor may well end up working with another - it's the principle of co-operation rather than competition on which the Third Sector is built. forum3 takes advantage of this.

The event also allows exhibitors to position themselves more accurately and with greater impact. Many exhibitors come to the show to improve their employer branding - make it clear to a highly targeted audience of job seekers exactly what kinds of hard and soft skills are needed to work there, what they'll get in return and also to provide a more accurate picture of what the organisation actually does.

Many visitors to the show come because they want to develop their careers with organisations that have a strong value base. To look at opportunities to volunteer or work overseas or to find work in the UK that builds on their skill sets. Because many Third Sector organisations are quite small, having the opportunity to talk to some of these recruiters is invaluable, as is the opportunity to attend skills development seminars or have their CV reviewed and improved in the CV Advice clinics.

Visitors arrive

Learning underway

Notting Hill Housing