Please note, due to availability of speakers, we have postponed DepFest to 4th-6th November 2025.
We want to make this event as accessible as possible so we have made it free for all to attend. To ensure that we don’t have wastage on the day, any no-shows will be invoiced a £50 fee.
The Shared Health Foundation is a clinically-led and evidence-based not-for-profit, passionate about reducing the impact poverty has on health.
The impact of poverty is catastrophic on communities from the most deprived neighbourhoods. DepFest is not a celebration of poverty but an event that celebrates best practice in these hard-pressed areas. By bringing together practitioners, academics, politicians and those with lived experience, we dare to hope that things can and will change for those impacted by health inequalities.
On the back of the success of our previous events (Doctors in Deprivation Training Day: Find Your Tribe, Homeless Families Conference: Dare to Hope and other professional development training), this year we are combining them into one Deprivation Festival where you can mix and match which content you engage with.
Please choose from the following events to attend:
- Doctors in Deprivation Training Day: Find Your Tribe – Tuesday 4th November: GPs and clinicians in Primary Care interested in deprivation.
NHS Managers (half-day) – Wednesday 5th November: training for managers who run services or practices in the NHS. - Secondary Care Clinicians (half-day) – Wednesday 5th November: workshops, networking and peer support for Secondary Care clinicians interested in deprivation.
- Homeless Families Conference: Dare to Hope – Thursday 6th November: frontline, policy, local authority and people with lived experience of homeless families in temporary accommodation.
All proceeds from this conference will be donated to The Crib, our frontline service supporting homeless families.
If you would like to present at any of our events, please get in touch at contact@sharedhealth.org.uk
Doctors in Deprivation Training Day: Find Your Tribe
Tuesday 4th November, 9:00 am – 4:30 pm
Good health should be shared with all. It should not be damaged by social or economic disadvantage.
Alongside colleagues from Deep End GM, Shared Health Foundation invites any GP or clinical lead who is working in the Deep End of medicine to join us at our annual Doctors in Deprivation Training Day. You will be inspired, challenged, encouraged and most importantly find your tribe of other clinicians working in areas of deprivation.
The training day will explore the challenges faced by those working in areas of deprivation and disadvantaged communities and share the hopeful work organisations in Greater Manchester and beyond are doing to reduce health inequalities and the impact of poverty on health.
Get to grips with the health inequalities that many people face, and how you can help put things right. Learn about the causes and effects of health inequalities, and find out about the ways in which GPs and healthcare staff can do their bit to make a difference.
We hope that after attending your skills, outlook and understanding will have been transformed and you will feel more hopeful in your vital grassroots work.
Drinks Reception
Tuesday 4th November, 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm
An opportunity to network and meet other attendees of the conference. The reception will be held at the same venue.
NHS Managers
Wednesday 5th November, 9:00 am – 1:00 pm (half-day)
Training for managers who run services or practices in the NHS.
Lunch will be served at the end of the event, from 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm, for colleagues attending both half-day events.
Secondary Care Clinicians
Wednesday 5th November, 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm (half-day)
Workshops, networking and peer support for Secondary Care clinicians interested in deprivation.
Lunch will be served at the start of the event, from 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm, for colleagues attending both half-day events.
Homeless Families: Dare to Hope Conference
Thursday 6th November, 9:00 am – 4:30 pm
There are 165,510 homeless children in England living in Temporary Accommodation. Many are living in dangerous conditions with little support to help them navigate through our complex systems. Families are continuously placed out of area, far away from their school, GP and community. The educational attainment of homeless children plummets when they become homeless. The barriers to healthcare increases and children’s health and development suffer. There is a national focus and political will for rough sleeping, but less so for families. And tragically, 74 children have died in Temporary Accommodation, most were under 1.
And yet, we dare to hope.
If you work with homeless families in any capacity then this conference is for you. We want to bring together our experts by experience alongside colleagues from housing, health, education, the home office and the voluntary and faith sector. Whether you are front line, a volunteer, a commissioner or a politician, the crisis of homeless families is all our responsibility to share.
Things can and will get better.
Additional Information
Lunch and refreshments are included for all events. Dietary requirements can be specified on the order form.
This event is hosted by the Shared Health Foundation.
Getting to the venue
By train:
The closest train station is Manchester Victoria (10 min walk).
If you are coming from Manchester Piccadilly, the venue is a 25 min walk away.
By car:
Fairfield Social Club does not have parking on-site. The closest public parking spaces are ParkBee Bankpark Gould St, NCP Manchester Gould St, and Parking Eye Rochdale Road.
