The BEARR Trust Annual Conference 2025
The BEARR Trust’s 2025 Annual Conference took place on Friday, 14 November 2025. The theme of this year’s conference was:
“Solidarity and stamina: how civil society builds and sustains resilience.”
The conference examined resilience and what it entails at individual, community and organisational levels. Grassroots, frontline organisations from across the BEARR region shared their perspectives and experience of sustaining their work in the face of diverse challenges.
You can find the report of the event written by BEARR Trustee Sam Thorne here, and the recording of the conference on our Youtube channel here.
About the conference
The Annual Conference took place on Friday, 14 November 2025, from 10:00 to 13:30 (London time). It was a hybrid event with participants joining online via Zoom or in person at Voluntary Action Islington, 200a Pentonville Road, London N1 9JP.
Our speakers represented civil society organisations from countries throughout the area in which BEARR works, most of which have received grants from The BEARR Trust.
They took part in two moderated panel discussions with opportunities for Q&A throughout the conference.
Conference programme
09:30 Registration in London
10:00 Panel 1: Building resilience for individuals and communities
- Sergey Babin, Chairman of the Board, International Bridge, Kharkiv, Ukraine
- Lana Chkadua, Chairperson, Women Fund for Development, Gal/i, Abkhazia
- Leonora Meriel, Chair of Trustees, Restart Foundation, London, UK
11:35 Panel 2: Shaping the future with organisational strength and partnerships
- Medea Khmelidze, Executive Director, Eurasian Women’s Network on AIDS, Tbilisi, Georgia
- Nataliia Muzyka, Head, Association of Mothers and Wives of Ukraine’s Defenders, Kyiv, Ukraine
- Meerim Osmonalieva, Founder, Oasis, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
13:00 Conference round-up
- The chair of The BEARR Trust will provide an overview of the key points of the discussions from the panels and invite comments from the audience
13:30 Online conference ends. Light lunch in London
If you have any queries about the event, please contact BEARR’s Information and Administration Officer Valdone Sniukaite on info@bearr.org.
