IVC Evidensia announces StreetVet as first UK charity partner
IVC Evidensia Announces StreetVet As First UK Charity Partner At Leaders’ Forum
11 months ago 
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During IVC Evidensia’s UK Leaders’ Forum, CEO Duncan Phillips named StreetVet as the first official charity partner for the leading veterinary group.
Over 1000 attendees gathered at the Hilton Metropole in Birmingham to the hear the news at the two-day event, which also included presentations, discussions and collaborative workshops. Delegates in attendance included clinical directors, practice managers and head nurses, amongst many other support staff representatives.
The annual summit is now the flagship event in IVC Evidensia’s calendar and continues to be a great opportunity for veterinary teams from across the country to celebrate past endeavours, as well as look optimistically to the future of the profession.
This charity partnership will initially entail providing fundraising toolkits to practices and the creation of a coordinated charity events calendar, allowing the entire practice network to raise money for StreetVet at once, with the aim of raising £100,000 in the first 12 months.
And the fundraising got off to the best possible start, as over £10,000 was raised during the Gala dinner alone, which took place on the first evening of the event.
Jade Statt, Clinical Director and co-founder of StreetVet, commented on the announcement:
“We are delighted that IVC Evidensia have not only chosen StreetVet as their charity partner, but also that they have made a commitment to helping pets belonging to those experiencing homelessness across the UK.
“StreetVet is a multi-award-winning veterinary charity that recognises the magnitude and impact of the human animal bond, and wherever possible, aims to protect it. By helping pets, we are helping their owners too, a value shared with IVC Evidensia. We can’t wait to see what the future holds for this exciting partnership. “
Connecting for the future
This year was the second UK Leaders’ Forum that had taken place and promised to be bigger and better than the first, with a mixture of insightful talks and collaborative workshops for attendees to indulge in.
Since the inaugural event in May 2022 there has been major investment into the IVC Evidensia network as well as pay and reward for clinical colleagues, plus an emphasis on UK evolution, which has hugely increased the operational support team providing more responsive assistance to all clinics.
Duncan Phillips, UK CEO at IVC Evidensia, emphasised the importance of ‘Connecting for the Future’, which was this year’s theme at the event:
“Twelve months on from our first national Leaders’ Forum, it is amazing to acknowledge our incredible teams and celebrate our successes alongside making new connections for the future, which includes our charity partnership with StreetVet.
“In every part of our strategy, we have seen immense progress and the leadership through our practice teams has been incredible. As the network gets more ‘connected’ the potential for growth and collaboration within the group only gets larger, which is so exciting to see.”
Daniella Dos Santos, Director of Professional Culture at IVC Evidensia, added to this sentiment of connection:
“Connecting with people during the Leaders’ Forum was so valuable and I’m so glad to see that we could shine a spotlight on so many wonderful individuals.
The wellbeing of colleagues is paramount to nurturing their talent and ensuring that we can progress as individuals, teams and as a group. We shared what we as a business are doing, and worked together to discuss what our leaders can also do to protect and enhance wellbeing across our network. I can’t wait to see what we have achieved by the next forum and look forward to surpassing new milestones on our journey there.”
Brilliant People
Alongside the charity partner announcement, two keynote speakers in the form of Sarah Furness and Ruby Wax also took to the stage.
Sarah Furness spoke about the importance of leadership, drawing on her extensive career as an RAF helicopter pilot, spoke about becoming an empowered leader and the importance of multilateral decision making within a team, leading to better outcomes, especially if you have a group of leaders all working well together.
She emphasised the need to embrace discomfort as it is specifically when you end up doing your best learning and will ultimately drive you forward to bigger and better career decisions.
Ruby Wax, on the other hand, brought her comic wit and incredible knowledge in the field of mental health.
And this is not to mention the Brilliant People Awards ceremony, which allowed colleagues from up and down the UK to gather and celebrate individual and collective achievements from across the group.
Over 850 nominations were whittled down to twelve winners that were handed out to deserving colleagues, including awards for sustainability, quality improvement and client hero, amongst many others split between clinical and non-clinical roles.
Sonia Billingham, Practice Director at Oakmount Veterinary Centre, who won the We Care (Non-Clinical) award, commented:
“I felt both humbled and honoured to be nominated for the 'We Care' brilliant people awards and to go on to win this award feels absolutely amazing!
“Reading the nominations blew me away and I would like to thank each and every one of the team that nominated me.
“I feel extremely privileged to work alongside the awesome team that I do and receive the support they give; I would not be where I am today without them... so this award is for them too!”
Lubos Kustra, Clinical Director at Eastbourne Vets and winner of the ‘We Share’ (Clinical) award, commented:
“To receive the award itself was a massive surprise, as I was already happy just to be one of the nominees.
“I would say, this award is not individual from my point of view, as I would have achieved very little without trust and support of my team. It is a good thing that hard work did not go unnoticed.”
Sustainability and support
Amongst the headline events in a packed schedule there was an exhibition space that included 29 partner companies from across the veterinary industry, who all had a hand in funding the superb event.
There was also a support zone representing internal departments such as Welfare and Quality Improvement, offering vital information and support to attendees.
Accessibility was a huge consideration in the planning of the Leaders’ Forum, with new additions to the format including a Quiet Room, a dedicated section on the internal intranet and guided tours of the venue.
Any sessions on the main stage were also recorded for those who would prefer to watch the keynote speakers in their own time.
The location of the Hilton was chosen specifically due to its accessibility but also sustainability, with easy links via train, plane or car. Visitors would not have to stay in one location and travel to another for the event in this iteration of the event, and reusable stands were also deployed to cut down on waste.
Aligned with values from the Positive Pawprint report published back in January, the events team have aimed to offset 100% of the event's emissions to make it a Carbon Neutral event. Stay tuned for more updates on this.
For more information about the IVC Evidensia Leaders’ Forum, head to the group’s website here, or to find out more about StreetVet, head to their website here.
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