Reflections on July's Foundation Dinner
Ben Hart
Three weeks on from The Atmosphere Foundation Dinner on 21st July I felt it was time to say a few words about the event and the reverberations which have followed.
This initiative has always been something of immense personal importance, we kicked off in September 2015 with our first Foundation Dinner, which was wonderful. At least in part a personal reaction to a difficult year, an opportunity to achieve something positive, something compelling, unique and good. We achieved that without any doubt and following on from some amazing feedback and offers of help we had our initial platform to build upon. I stood up at that event nearly a year ago and said very transparently that I didn’t quite know what it was that we were creating but that we were building something amazing.
On the 21st July we reconvened. Those of you that were there I’m certain will reflect on a warm, generous and hugely rewarding evening. With 4 wonderful courses cooked by the masterful culinary duo Nordish in the beautiful environs of St George's church in Notting Hill we had the food and the venue covered. It was a meeting of the right minds and a truly inspirational experience. From hearing the man responsible for E*trade UK telling us the financial system is still broken to listening to a trainee solicitor explain her vision for solving the liquidity problem in Greece, it was an evening that ably demonstrated the potential; people really are looking for purpose. It was clearly no longer a personal initiative, but a shared one, one that had not only momentum but also all the feeling of the start of something big.
Crucially the evening was so much more than the sum of its parts; the people, the ideas, the will. Thank you for everyone who was there and who made it quite so wonderful and thank you to everyone for supporting us.
Over the last few weeks since the event we’ve moved into the next phase of work. How can we capture this momentum and put our ideas into practice? The team has been working hard to figure out a plan for the next couple of quarters. We’re busy exploring ways to keep the connections alive including setting up a LinkedIn group here - it’s a bit quiet right now so do join us and share your thoughts. More importantly we want to create real impact, more than simply a network or chance to connect, a place where those connections can form together to make a difference. We want to create impact projects, even businesses, joining ideas up with people, companies, finance and support to make them real. It’s no small ambition, we do however know it's a very worthy one and we do hope you’ll continue to support us along the journey.
The next Foundation Dinner is 24th November - save the date. And we’ll be announcing some more practical initiatives to begin to shape the outcomes and impacts we’re looking for shortly.
Get in touch if you’d like to help, have a look, or just grab a coffee.
All the best,
Ben Hart
Big thanks to:
Nordish
Tomas Carruthers & SSX
Susan Trepeki
Team Atmosphere
Grub Club
Giovanni Calemma 
