Purposefest X BBN Summer Special

IF YOU'RE A BBN MEMBER, A 1% FOR THE PLANET BUSINESS, A B CORP, OR SIMPLY USING YOUR BUSINESS TO MAKE THE WORLD BETTER, PURPOSEFEST SUMMER SPECIAL IS YOUR PLACE TO LEARN, SHARE AND DO BUSINESS DIFFERENTLY.

PurposeFest Summer Special returns to the stunning Belmont Estate near Bristol on Wednesday 10th June, and this year we're going bigger.

After last year's sell out, we're extending the evening to run 4pm–9pm, more time in the walled garden, more time around the fire, more time with the kind of people who actually get it.  Join the BBN for FREE to apply the BBN Member Rate to your ticket.

What is PurposeFest? PurposeFest brings together purpose-driven businesses and changemakers for events that go well beyond networking. Expect honest conversation, genuine connection, and a shared belief that business can — and should — be a force for good.

This Summer Special is headlined by the Better Business Network (BBN) a UK-wide community of hundreds of purpose driven businesses working together to create real change. Whether you're a BBN Member, a B Corp, a 1% for the Planet business, or just starting your purpose journey, you're in the right place. 

WORKSHOPS — 1pm to 3.30pm (Add-on — limited spaces per workshop, Arrive at 12:30)

Seven sector-specific workshops running in parallel. Each is a curated conversation circle exploring how businesses in your sector can support one another and create the kind of ripple effect the world actually needs.

• Built Environment
• Digital & Creative Agency
• Food & Drink
• Finance
• Recruitment
• Fashion
• Travel (weather dependent)

These aren't panels. They're working sessions. Peer-to-peer, sector specific and designed to leave you with something useful.

EVENING — 4pm to 9pm

From 4pm, Belmont opens the Walled Garden and the Potting Shed Pub. The team will be serving a BBQ feast of seasonal produce with vegan and gluten-free options throughout.

But this is more than a party in a field. The evening is built around genuine reconnection. With nature, with food, and with each other.

Evening events are first come, first serves running 4:30 - 5:30 with food being served from 5:30.

Tour Of Watercress Farm: Belmont Estate. Guided walks through ancient woodland, an organic regenerative farm and the walled garden. Slow down, look properly, and hear from the Belmont team about the restoration work happening right under your feet.

Nature and Photo Walk: Ancient woodland, a regenerative farm, a walled garden — and your camera (or just your phone). Walk, explore, and actually see what's around you.

Woodland Yoga: Unroll your mat under the tree canopy and let the ancient woodland do half the work. Guided practice in one of the most quietly restorative places in the North. (mats provided)

Forest Meditation: For those who'd like a reset, lie back in a waterproof bivy, and be guided through a deep restorative meditation while cocooned in a lush woodland setting to gently refill you before the fun of the evening begins. (bivys and pillows provided)

Walled Garden Amphitheatre — sit, breathe, and let Bristol's countryside do its thing.

Children's Activities — kids are welcome and will be facilitated by the Belmont Nature-Connection Team. (Limited spaces — details to follow.)

A paid bar will be available at the Potting Shed Pub throughout the evening.

Women in Sustainability Network @ PurposeFest

6pm - 7.30 pm

From Terrified to Troublesome : An inter-generational conversation about navigating the authority gap, claiming your voice and refusing to disappear - for women building careers in sustainability, climate and impact.

Mary Ann Sieghart called it the authority gap - the extra work women have to do to be taken as seriously as men of equivalent standing. If you work in sustainability, climate or impact, you've almost certainly felt it. In meetings where your idea lands only after a man repeats it. In performance reviews where drive reads as aggression. In comment threads that turn hostile the moment you share an opinion.

But the authority gap isn't a single, fixed experience. It shifts - sometimes sharpens, sometimes changes shape entirely - depending on where you are in your career. And right now, with the organised pushback of the manosphere and a cultural climate that seems determined to wind the clock back, every generation of women in our sector is navigating something distinct.

"Terrified at the start. Tragic in the middle. Troublesome at the top. Sound familiar? Good. You're exactly who this conversation is for.

This is an honest, solutions-focused session designed to bridge those experiences. Not a panel talking at you. Not a performance of resilience. A real conversation, across career stages, about what this moment actually asks of us - and what we can do about it together.

Join us for a a facilitated discussion across career stages - honest, structured for insight, not just catharsis. We don't leave without practical takeaways - strategies, scripts and solidarity you can actually use.

This session is for the women (LGBTQ+ friendly) in and intrigued by sustainability - so we can create a psychological safe space for exploring tricky subjects

GETTING THERE

Belmont Estate, Bristol Road, BS48 1NF

From 3pm, there'll be a series of cycle rides departing from different parts of Bristol. A big hit last year — more details to follow.