CNWL Therapies Conference: Developing partnerships with our communities

Over 200 professionals, community leaders, and lived experience voices gathered at CNWL’s annual Therapies Conference this month to explore one vital question: how do we transform health through equity, hope, and community power?

Held across multiple floors and rooms at a vibrant central London venue, the event brought together a rich and diverse programme of workshops, keynotes, and interactive sessions that placed cultural competence, lived experience, and co-production at the heart of care transformation.

The 2025 CNWL Therapies Conference opened with a warm welcome and powerful message from Dr Ryan Kemp, Director of Therapies, who set the tone for the day by introducing the conference theme: “Developing Partnerships with Our Communities.” Ryan spoke about the importance of moving beyond consultation toward true collaboration engaging communities not as passive recipients of care but as active partners in co-designing services that are inclusive, effective and culturally relevant. His opening remarks framed the day as a space for reflection, re-connection, and collective imagining of a better, fairer health system.

This year’s conference was a call to connect more meaningfully with the people we support. It was about delivering services that reflect what individuals genuinely need not what we assume they need. By listening and working collaboratively, we can develop approaches that are responsive to real lives approaches that make a difference where it matters most.

Through inspiring stories, practical examples and cross-sector collaboration, the conference showcased how partnerships with local communities have led to innovation, improved outcomes and stronger relationships. Attendees explored the challenges of community engagement, shared strategies for working with charities and grassroots organisations, and highlighted long-term, adaptive efforts that have bridged gaps and restored trust.

Opening with vision: Reimagining health through decolonial futures

The continued with an energising keynote from Abdirahim Hassan of Coffee Afrik CIC, who challenged attendees to consider how trauma, marginalisation and systemic inequity have shaped our health landscapes. In his powerful talk, “Reimagining Health through Decolonial Futures”, he stressed the importance of self-determination, community-led hubs, and hope as a radical discipline.

"This is a polycrisis but we are also witnessing a reawakening. Healing begins when people have agency over their own narratives," said Hassan.

Listening, learning and leading together

A standout keynote panel featuring Robyn Doran, Fatima Elguenuni, Jenny Lanyero, Nipa Shah, Lucy Flaherty, Gabriela Ledochowski, Samreen Singh and Meryem Al Bouzaidi explored how CNWL is embedding cultural competency by learning directly from community partnerships. Drawing lessons from Grenfell services, Ealing and Brent initiatives, the panel underscored how trust and transformation grow through authentic collaboration not top-down models.

"We don’t 'deliver' cultural competence we build it together, every day, in conversation with the communities we serve," said Jenny Lanyero.

Workshops that inspire, engage and move

With over a dozen dynamic workshops, the conference invited attendees to immerse themselves in real-world practice and participatory learning. Highlights included:

• “We co together”: A hands-on, high-energy co-production workshop led by Fran Lepori and Renee Hepker that had participants moving, laughing and deeply reflecting on shared ownership.

• “See me autism”: A powerful interactive session showing how a co-produced QI project is improving safety and experience for autistic children in paediatric emergency care.

• Community psychology in Action: From Brent to Camden, from the Somali community to the Irish Traveller community, speakers shared tangible stories of outreach, partnership, and healing in often unheard communities.

• The Alice Magic Collaboration: A moving multimedia session showcased a ballet and health collaboration between the Royal Ballet and CNWL Arts in Health showing how creativity and health go hand-in-hand.

• Inclusive involvement: Alzheimer’s Society, in partnership with the Farsi Action Foundation, illustrated how true engagement with underrepresented communities can shape more equitable services.

Real practice, real people, real impact

Every floor of the building buzzed with innovation from sessions on occupational therapy with the Somali community to the development of neuro-condition feedback forums in Milton Keynes. In smaller, intimate rooms, participants dug into the complexity of practice, trust, and identity, and shared what books often leave out like in Dr Angela Byrne’s insightful session, “Some Things I Learned about Community Psychology that I Didn’t Find in Books.”

The Occupational Therapy team from Camden presented a powerful case study on work with the London Irish Centre, showcasing how a grassroots preventative approach delivered both clinical outcomes and community resilience.

A future fueled by co-creation

The Therapies Conference closed on a high note with a renewed call to action: keep listening, keep learning, and keep leading with communities at the centre. CNWL’s therapies teams are already trailblazing a future where equity, trust and cultural responsiveness are more than ambitions they are lived realities.

"It’s not about inviting people to our table it’s about rebuilding the table together," one participant reflected.