BelongCon is a community project set up by Brightonian Alice Reeves, who runs social media and content marketing consultancy The Joyful Web, and is also an author for Truth and Tails, children’s fiction that aims to eliminate prejudice, encourage acceptance, and celebrate diversity. After a successful first event in March at The Brighthelm Centre, BelongCon returns to the venue on June 6 for a second stint. Explaining her motivation behind the conference, Ms Reeves said: “There has been a growing sense of isolation and disempowerment around the world, and recent events have left many people feeling powerless. I am so excited to see people coming together to do something about this, to support one another and bring about change in the world. "By building networks and conversations, we can create a world where everyone feels they belong.” The event seeks to bring people together to discuss belonging and acceptance, and inspire attendees to make a positive difference to their community. At June's event, speakers will include Claudia Barnett, star of BBC documentary Mind Over Marathon, who will be speaking about living with OCD and how taking part in the London Marathon helped her. Also speaking is: Pippa Moyle, founder of the City Girl network; Jo Ivens, CEO of Brighton & Hove Impetus; and Jimmy Dorrell, founder of Creative Bloom. Previous speakers include Natalie Lloyd and Sophia Hill, telling the story of their “speed friendships” experiment, Manner, and burlesque artist Vanessa Barrett – aka Coco DeVille – on self-expression, as well as Martin Rowsell on founding the charity Postcards for Peace. Now, founder Alice Reeves has expanded the project from a conference to an ongoing conversation, running a series of panel discussions streamed live on Facebook. Tickets for BelongCon are on sale now, here.
