The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations is the membership organisation for Scotland's charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises. Charity registered in Scotland SC003558. Registered office Mansfield Traquair Centre, 15 Mansfield Place, Edinburgh EH3 6BB.
Event host information
We're delighted that you'll be hosting an event with us at the Gathering 2025! We know that the lead up to a big event can be quite stressful, so we’d like to make your time as a Gathering host with us as comfortable and relaxed as possible. For a hassle-free event, please take some time to read the following information.
Deliveries, collections and logistics
This year, we are arranging all deliveries for event hosts via one courier, Cameron Logistics.
We are working with Cameron Logistics as our preferred courier to help us reduce our carbon footprint and keep in line with our commitment to making this year’s Gathering greener than ever. If you need to deliver anything to/from the EICC for your event, this service will be available to you.
Please note, this is a chargeable service, depending on weight, size and location. Cameron Logistics will pick up everything from your location and deliver it back to you after the Gathering takes place. Alternatively, you can deliver packages to their East Kilbride warehouse from Monday 27th January, and they will transfer it to your space in readiness for your staff arriving.
Cameron Logistics will be in touch with further information and to find out if you would like to use this service.
If you would prefer to use your own courier, you can arrange for deliveries to arrive at the EICC from 9.00am - 5.00pm on Monday 3rd February. You should mark all deliveries in the following way:
Name of event: The Gathering
Date of event: [Tuesday 4th/Wednesday 5th February 2025]
Name of Contact on site: Sofia Fenoglio
Room name, event start time and date: [e.g. Ochil Suite 9.30am, Tuesday 4th February]
Edinburgh International Conference Centre
The Exchange
Loading Bay Off West Approach Road
EDINBURGH
EH3 8EE
Please be aware that any deliveries arriving at the venue before Monday 3rd February may be turned away, and the EICC or SCVO can’t be held responsible.
Pick-up
If you need anything picked up by Cameron Logistics after your event, please ensure all your materials are packed, clearly labelled with name and delivery address, and left in the loading bay accessed via the Cromdale Hall by 6pm on Wednesday 5th February. Cameron Logistics will collect your materials and deliver them back to you.
If not using Cameron Logistics as your courier, you should clear your materials from the EICC between 3.00pm and 6.00pm on Wednesday 5th February via the loading bay. Items can be left for up to one working day (i.e. until 3.00pm on Thursday 6th February). After this time, charges for storing items may be incurred up to £100 +VAT per day.
Unloading and parking
Event hosts who are bringing their own materials on Monday 3rd February, you’ll be able to unload your materials at the loading bay door (for vehicle access) at the above address. Please ensure you use the loading bay to unload, and not the parking spaces in front of the pedestrian entrance to the EICC.
Below is a map of how to access the EICC’s loading bay:
Please note, there is no dedicated parking for the Gathering at the EICC. Once you have unloaded everything from your vehicle, it must be removed off site and parked in an appropriate place. We recommend that you plan where to park ahead of arriving at the venue. The EICC lists the following car parks in close walking distance:
- National Car Parks (NCP) in central Edinburgh
- Sheraton Hotel Car Park located 150 meters from the EICC, with limited accessible parking spaces
- Semple Street Car Park located 300 meters from the EICC
- Spaces near EICC available via yourparkingspace.co.uk
The EICC provides a discount code for parking at the NCP Car Park on Castle Terrace. You can access this by following the below steps:
- Download the free NCP App
- Register and add the SaverID: EICC4R to your park pass account before arriving at the car park and you must enter and exit by scanning your QR code to qualify for this discount.
Opening and closing times
Access for speakers and presenters begins at 7.30am on both days (Tuesday 4th and Wednesday 5th February). If you need to get in before this time, please contact the Gathering team.
Badges and registration
When you arrive at the Gathering on Tuesday or Wednesday, you will be given a badge for you to write your own name. Please make sure you wear it all the time as it will allow you access to all event rooms, the Exhibition and the free cloakroom.
Audio visual information
Technical support will be provided by the EICC. All event hosts should bring their presentations on a memory stick or other USB storage device to the speaker preview room in the Strathblane Office two hours before the session is about to begin (for those presenting at 09.30am sessions, please bring your presentation one hour before, i.e. from 08.30am).
EICC staff will scan your memory stick or storage device for viruses before making your presentation available in the corresponding room. If your presentation is using online presentation software (e.g. Slido, Google Slides) you can bring your laptop, but otherwise we ask that you don’t bring along your own laptop/device since they won’t be needed.
All presentations should be in 16:9 ratio.
Please refer to the map below for the location of the speaker preview room. Staff at the registration desk will also be able to guide you.
Event hosts will have access to the following:
- Technical support from the room technician
- A slide advancer for the presentation which will have been uploaded at speaker preview. You will be able to see your presentation on a comfort monitor located beside the lectern
- Lectern microphones for audio
- Top table microphones for panel discussions
- Handheld microphone(s) for Q & A
- Either a large projection screen or a 80” LED screen to show presentations
There will also be free reliable Wi-Fi available throughout the EICC.
Please ensure that all speakers use the microphones throughout. If your event has a Q&A element, please ensure that everyone asking a question has access to the handheld microphone(s), in order that everything is audible for delegates who use a hearing aid.
If you require any additional audio-visual equipment or items such as flip charts, please contact us and we’ll be able to provide you with a quote to hire from the venue.
Presentations
Your organisation may have its own style guidelines for presentations, and you may be used to presenting to audiences. If not, here are some tips for creating and delivering an effective presentation:
- Keep the text on your slides simple and minimal, using bullet points or short sentences where possible. You want your audience to listen to you present your information, rather than read the screen
- Use clear graphics and charts/graphs to help convey your message
- Practice the presentation so that you can speak from bullet points. The text on your slides should be a cue for the presenter rather than the full message for the audience
Room set up
Each suite is set up theatre style or round table style as per your booking and confirmation from us. Please note you won’t be able to rearrange the furniture yourself for health and safety reasons.
As your event suite will be used by other organisations on the same day, please arrive 15 minutes before your event starts. Please also leave the room 15 minutes after your event is scheduled to finish.
On the day registrations
A Gathering team member will be allocated to help you at the beginning of your event with set up and to register your delegates. They will also help to accommodate delegates' access requirements.
General information
Registration
Bookings have opened for the Gathering 2025. It's important that delegates use the SCVO booking system to book into the sessions they'd like to attend. Booking a session is the only way to guarantee entry, and events are often fully booked. We don't want people turning up on the day and being disappointed if they're turned away from an event.
We have let you know the number of speakers/facilitators that your room can accommodate. If you plan to exceed this number, please contact us, and ensure that any additional speakers/facilitators book onto the event. Health and safety regulations in the venue mean that we are unable to exceed the room's capacity, therefore if your additional speakers/facilitators do not book onto your event, we cannot guarantee that there will be space for them in the room. If you have any questions, contact our team.
Correspondence
You’ll only receive Gathering-related correspondence from an official SCVO email address (@scvo.scot, or occasionally @scvo.org.uk). If you get any requests from any other email address about appearing in guides or anything else related to the event, just ignore them. The only exception is Cameron Logistics - please see the Deliveries, collections and logistics section for more info. If you get other requests for payments or credit card details, contact us.
Catering
There are plenty of places to buy food and drinks inside the EICC. Please note, these take card payment only. All our Gathering catering will be vegetarian, with vegan and non-gluten containing options available. We will share each day's menu in advance with everyone attending.
Greener Gathering
SCVO is committed to making this year’s Gathering greener, so to help us reduce our carbon footprint, here are some things you might find useful and ways you can play your part too.
Accessibility and inclusion
We want the Gathering 2025 to be accessible, inclusive and enjoyable for everyone. We are applying a range of accessibility measures as standard. We warmly invite you to tell us about your needs by emailing the Gathering team so we can address those too wherever possible.
As well as the in-person Gathering on 4th and 5th February 2025, we are hosting the Gathering Extra on 5th March 2025. The Gathering Extra is in addition to, rather than an alternative to, the in-person Gathering. It is an online event that will feature recorded sessions from the Gathering and special live guests with an SCVO host, in a format that is designed specifically for an online audience.
Our aim is to maximise accessibility, inclusion and delegate experience for both the in-person and online Gathering experience.
What to expect
To prepare for the in-person Gathering on 4th and 5th February, SCVO’s event team and internal staff accessibility group used the ‘Access Chain’ resource. We also took guidance and advice from the venue and specialist organisations. The accessibility measures we are taking as standard include:
In advance of the Gathering we will:
- Proactively ask delegates to tell us their needs
- Provide information about access and accessible facilities in a range of formats
- Offer information in accessible formats
- Present a welcoming and inclusive image for all visitors
- Provide transport and accommodation information and details of car parking/drop-off
- Welcome people bringing their own lunch, snacks and refreshments to save on cost
At the Gathering we will:
- Have a dedicated accessibility and information desk with welcoming and informed staff
- Provide online and hard copy event and venue information
- Ensure clear signage and easily identifiable staff to provide support
- Provide induction loops at registration and all event rooms
- Limit public address (PA) announcements and ambient music
- Provide a prayer room, a quiet room, and a work room, in addition to quieter spaces around the venue. These will be clearly marked on signage throughout the venue.
- Provide Gathering exhibitors and event hosts with tips on how to be more accessible and inclusive, stressing our commitment to making the exhibition accessible
- Provide British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters as standard at the most important and/or popular events, which will also be recorded for the Gathering Extra.
Thank you!
Finally, we would like to say a massive thank you to all our event hosts for taking part in the Gathering! We hope you enjoy your time with us.