The FoNS Alumni

What are the benefits?

Alumni events are held four times a year. They involve a range of FoNS and external presenters and are designed to continue the learning and enable alumni to network and share.

Next event:

An approach to sustaining healthy communities through applied (digital) storytelling, presented by Dr Caroline Dickson and Dr Kath MacDonald

30 April 2026, 10.00am-12.00 noon, online

The culture across health and social care is problematic, leading to issues with recruitment and retention. Stories of burnout are everywhere, and workplace culture is blamed. But how do you change the culture in your workplace so that people want to work there, where they flourish?  We know that if we look after the workforce, there will be a positive impact on patient care. We (Caroline and Kath) a couple of nurse academics have developed a (free) digital, interactive resource called CAKE.  Each slice of CAKE is one part of the process in creating a healthy workplace.  In this session we’d like to share it with you.

The aim of this session is to introduce you to the CAKE resource that you can use to promote well-being and develop healthful cultures; give people with lived experience a voice and to evaluate projects or services.

By the end of the session you will:

1. Have gained insight into CAKE – a free, online digital resource
2. Had the opportunity to experience the power of storytelling
3. Considered the impact of the CAKE resource and digital storytelling
4. Discussed application in practice

If you are already a member of the Alumni, you will receive an email invitation to all events – if you are not a member of the alumni, please email [email protected].

Recent events:

January 2026: Developing healthful cultures through the ‘being’ of leadership

Presented by FoNS Associate Facilitator and Dr Caroline Dickson, this event explored self as a leader and the impact that has for the culture of care. We were introduced to six leadership practices that emerged from research exploring how nurses and midwives sought to maintain and promote well-being of individuals and teams during the Covid-19 pandemic.

November 2025: Psychology safety for self and others in teams

FoNS Associate Facilitators, Amy Dunmall and Maaike Vandeweghe facilitated this deep dive into psychological safety, moving beyond concepts and theory into the practicalities of cultivating it when working in health and social care. This session was not recorded.

No recording was made.

September 2025: Inclusion and facilitation

Wendy, who facilitated this session alongside Sonia, is one of the Joint Co-production Lived Experience Leads at FoNS. She is passionate about creating inclusive spaces and using her own lived experience to open up honest conversations around inclusion.

July 2025: An introduction to origami workshop

This online session explored the ancient art of origami! If you were unable to attend, a link to a recording will be sent to you.

January 2025: Zentangle drawing

An online session to explore the Zentangle Method. Zentangle is an art therapy, designed to calm and quieten the mind through the repetition of lines. It is an easy-to-learn art form, whereby we create patterns to promote relaxation and focus.

October 2024: A practical approach to RBCS

A 2-hour interactive virtual workshop to introduce, develop or enhance your knowledge and skills in a model for restorative supervision; Resilience-based Clinical Supervision (RBCS).

Who is it open to?

The FoNS Alumni is open to anyone who participated in one of these FoNS Programmes:

• The Inspire Improvement Fellowship
• Any Creating Caring Cultures Programme
• The FoNS Learning Disability Aspiring Leaders Fellowship
• Teaching and Learning Care Homes
• The FoNS Residential Programme and Practice Development Schools
• The Richard Tompkins Nurse Development Scholarship
• Programmes based on the Guiding Lights model
• Patients First

Participants on Resilience-based Clinical Supervision programmes have their own, dedicated RBCS network group. There is also a RBCS for Social Care network.

How do you apply?

Email [email protected] with your name, preferred email address and the name of the programme you participated in (and when if possible). We will add you to the alumni mailing list and you will receive links to future events.