Our annual conference is a key part of the CHEX calendar and we build on our knowledge and experience every year, showcasing community-led health in action across Scotland and discussing the hot topics in our sector.

What it takes to make it happen - 2026

This year we focused on the urgent need to move beyond ambition and into reality.

The conference followed the publication of a joint statement in late 2025, issued by CHEX and our colleagues from across the sector, on the role prevention plays in tackling Scotland’s growing health inequalities crisis.

We have heard much policy ambition, but finding practical and sustainable solutions to this ‘implementation gap’ is essential. Delegates discussed what we need to do to ensure that policy and practice are informed by the knowledge, skills and experience of the people in communities, and those organisations providing support.

With a wide range of real-life examples and stories from across the network, the event really highlighted the role that people play in the heart of this work. Those who work within our struggling systems do crucial yet invisible work in and for our communities, not only supporting those in need of help, but catching things before they fall.

Knowledge into action - 2025

In 2025, our focus was turning knowledge and learning into action on the most pressing issues facing communities. We introduced our new format and instead of focusing on speakers, we hosted keynote listeners who were there to hear our network’s experiences and insights and work with us to ensure that our collective knowledge and experience is better understood and fed into work at the national level.

From a lack of funding to the impact of burnout, community organisations and wider partnerships tackling inequalities on the ground are facing huge pressures just to keep the doors open and the lights on. We heard those concerns clearly from participants, with big questions remaining about how we sustain this important work, and the impact the current environment is already having.
 
We also heard how valuable peer support and learning are, and why it's never been more critical to talk honestly, and collectively, about how we can work better together to address the issues facing our communities.

Our annual conference is also a great way to get involved in the community-led health conversation and the resources from recent conferences are available for you to browse through.

Now more than ever - 2024

IN 2024, we aimed to build on the 2023 conference, which had focused on health inequalities and the role of community-led health in addressing its causes and effects, and which had informed the latest CHEX policy briefing on health inequalities. Delegates had a chance to explore some of the issues being faced by our sector, and how we rise to these challenges.

A way to the better - 2023

The focus of our first face-to-face conference since before the pandemic was on the impact of cost-of-living and ways to address this in our roles within community-led health, while recognising the wider political, economic and social factors driving the crisis.

Healthy minds, healthy communities - 2022

The 2022conference was online and delegates explored the role of community-led health in supporting good mental health, focusing on the importance of supporting people in inclusive and empowering ways that are accessible to them.