“The greatest gift we can give ourselves is the gift of belonging.” — Gabor Maté
Human beings flourish when they feel a sense of belonging. But why is belonging so important? Join us in person this May as we explore the biological, physiological, and psychological impact of belonging.
This conference is organised as a non-profit event, ensuring that all proceeds will be reinvested back into our communities and the changemakers who are implementing these vital ideas every day.
Join us at the Crowne Plaza this May for an immersive and inspiring experience that promises to deepen our understanding of belonging.
We have invited a diverse array of voices from academia, industry, and personal experience to share their insights, knowledge and stories. Our speakers will share how belonging can enrich individual lives, foster healthier communities, and increase societal connectedness.
James Docherty
Dr Gordon Neufeld
Dr Claudia Gold
Dr Richard Schwartz
Darren Burns
Vivian McKinnon
Dr Darcia Narvaez
Dr Dan Siegel
Chair
Kate Silverton will chair this two day event.
Kate is a mum to two young children, a Sunday Times best-selling author, qualified child therapist, motivational speaker and one of the UK’s best-known broadcasters. Her passion is to support families and carers and to ensure all children feel safe, seen, heard and understood.
Kate will interweave her experiences as a child therapist & former broadcaster, to ask the important questions to our speakers, and frame the content of the day for our wonderful delegates.
As a previous speaker at our 2023 event, The Close Community, we can’t wait to welcome Kate back to Glasgow.
Workshops
Throughout your two-day experience there will be the opportunity to hear from our inspirational speakers and participate in immersive workshops hosted by our values-aligned partners. These workshops will help you reflect on the day, supporting you to embed theoretical knowledge into daily practice.
These will be on a first come, first serve basis with ticketholders being contacted soon.
Wednesday
Epione with Alex O’Donnell & Dr Dawn Harris
Aid & Abet with Kevin Neary
The Magic is within You with Vivian McKinnon
Thursday
Epione with Alex O’Donnell & Dr Dawn Harris
Men Matter with Martin Melly
Warren Larkin Associates with Warren Larkin
Our Workshop Partners
Enhanced Experiences
Outside of our main speakers, we will be hosting a number of morning and evening events with our speakers, including an evening reception on Wednesday evening, and a business breakfast with Darren Burns on Thursday morning.
Please note the evening reception and business breakfast are sold separately and not included in the One Day and Two Day ticket prices.
Evening Reception
Meet the speakers from both days on Wednesday evening in the Castle Suite at the Crowne Plaza.
Join them for an evening reception with canapes, Q&A and a fireside chat with our guest host.
Business Breakfast
Darren Burns, Director of Diversity and Inclusion at Timpson Group will be at a business breakfast.
It promises to be an immersive experience and insight into the Timpson Group’s innovative recruitment and business model
Book Signing Opportunities
On both Wednesday and Thursday, our speakers will be on hand to sign their books.
In partnership with Waterstones, you will be able to buy books by the speakers on both days at the event.
Lightning Acts
Throughout both days, we will be bringing you lightning acts in between the speakers.
These short, sharp acts will be performing songs, poems and artistic performances that communicate the meaning of belonging.
Across two days, we will welcome a broad range of voices from academia, industry and lived experience to share their insights and stories.
We will be updating this running order over the coming weeks with talk titles, and more exciting things to announce.
Claudia M. Gold, MD is a pediatrician and writer who practiced general and behavioral pediatrics for over 20 years and now specializes in early relational health. While working on the front lines in a busy rural pediatrics practice, she “discovered” the world of research and knowledge in the field of infant mental health through her studies with the Berkshire Psychoanalytic Institute in the early 2000’s. The experience led to a profound transformation of her clinical work with families. She has devoted her professional life to spreading this knowledge through writing, teaching, and public speaking. She is on the faculty of the Early Relational Health fellowship at UMass Chan Medical School and the Brazelton Institute at Boston Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Gold has extensive experience with families hard hit by the opioid crisis in her community in rural Western Massachusetts, and currently works as a clinician with Volunteers in Medicine, Berkshires serving a primarily immigrant population.
Dr. Gold’s most recent book is Getting to Know You: Lessons in Early Relational Health from Infants and Caregivers ( Teachers College Press Spring 2025) She co-authored The Power of Discord: Why the Ups and downs of Relationships are the Secret to Building Intimacy, Resilience and Trust with infant researcher and psychologist Ed Tronick (Little, Brown Spark 2020) Her other books include The Developmental Science of Early Childhood (2017), The Silenced Child (2016), and Keeping Your Child in Mind (2011) Dr. Gold speaks frequently to a broad variety of audiences including both parents and professionals in the United States and around the world. She received her BA from the University of Chicago and MD from U of C Pritzker School of Medicine.
Dr. Gordon Neufeld
Developmental Psychologist
Dr. Gordon Neufeld is a Vancouver-based developmental psychologist with over 50 years of experience with children and youth and those responsible for them. A foremost authority on child development, Dr. Neufeld is an international speaker, a bestselling author (Hold On To Your Kids) and a leading interpreter of the developmental paradigm. Dr. Neufeld has a widespread reputation for making sense of complex problems and for opening doors for change. While formerly involved in university teaching and private practice, he now devotes his time to teaching and training others, including educators and helping professionals. His Neufeld Institute is now a world-wide charitable organisation devoted to applying developmental science to the task of raising children. He is a father of five and a grandfather to seven.
