Helen Carter, Membership Development Manager, Clinks
Clinks Annual Conference
November 2016
Clinks is a charity that supports voluntary organisations working with people in the Criminal Justice System and their families. Their aim is to ensure the sector and those with whom it works are informed and engaged in order to transform the lives of offenders and their communities. They do this by providing specialist information and support to inform them about changes in policy and commissioning, to help them build effective partnerships and provide innovative services that respond directly to the needs of their users.
They have over 500 members across England and Wales, ranging from the sector’s largest organisations to its smallest.
Clinks chose Woburn House to host its large, 120-delegate conference event, making use of the Woburn Hall as well as Woburn Foyer and the Foster Room as break out spaces.
What was the event?
The event was Clinks 2016 Annual Conference. This year’s theme was ‘What we do – the role of voluntary organisations in criminal justice’.
The event began with a panel discussion by some industry experts. We then had a variety of workshops running simultaneously across the venue, that delegates had pre-selected.
Why did you choose Woburn House for your event?
One of the primary factors in selecting Woburn House was its ideal location. The fact that it is within walking distance from Euston and King’s Cross St Pancras station, as well as Russell Square tube station, make it incredibly convenient and easy to find for all delegates.
The Woburn Hall was the perfect sized space for our event, and the variety of smaller break out rooms were just what we needed to run our workshops as well as to serve catering.
How did you find the booking process?
Booking the venue and organising all the logistics beforehand was incredibly simple. The Woburn House team are friendly and approachable and helped with all queries and requests quickly, quietly and efficiently.
What about food and drink?
There was such a wide range of catering options available which was great, as we could choose the food that we felt best suited the event and weren’t limited in our choices.
The team were also very accommodating with regards to food allergies and were able to supply special food to suit those who required it.
There was a delegate that had forgotten to tell us that they were gluten free but this proved no problem for the helpful team, and the chef was quickly able to rustle something tasty up.
Tell us about your experience on the day.
The day ran very smoothly, with a few last-minute changes being seen to swiftly by the helpful Woburn House team.
The AV set up, provided by the dedicated on-site AV technician, was very quick and efficient, we barely noticed he was there!
The food is always delicious at Woburn House and this occasion was no different; we had croissants and pain au chocolat in the morning, a variety of sandwiches and fruit for lunch and in the evening, we had a selection of 10 different canapes, from blue cheese tarts to salt-marsh lamb kofta kebabs. The delegates all thoroughly enjoyed the wide variety of food that was on offer throughout the day.
We’re already planning our next conference so that we can secure the same spaces, as they were so perfectly suited to our needs.
