A Partnership Approach to Creating Affordable Coaching & Mentoring Opportunities for Staff
We're Opening Our Doors...
International Coaching Week 2026 11 -15th May
As part of International Coaching Week, we’re opening the doors to Yorkshire Accord and inviting you to experience our Coaching & Mentoring community first-hand.
Across the week, we’ll be hosting a series of free, informal events, including an in-person session in York and a number of short online sessions.
Whether you’re exploring how Coaching & Mentoring could support your organisation, or simply curious about what we do, you’d be very welcome.
No pressure, no sales pitch — just come along, meet the people involved, and see what you think.
Who is this for?
This week is open to anyone with an interest in Coaching & Mentoring — whether you’re already part of Yorkshire Accord, working within a partner organisation, or from an organisation curious about partnering with us.
You might be thinking about developing your own practice, exploring how Coaching & Mentoring could support your organisation, or simply be curious to experience it for yourself. Wherever you’re starting from, you’d be very welcome.
Our Programme of Events
Heres what's happening across the week
Monday 11 May
10 am - 10.45 am Online Informal Discussion
Launch Event: Unlocking the Potential of Coaching & Mentoring
An informal space to launch the week and bring people together to consider what Coaching & Mentoring means to us, and how that shows up in our work.
We’ll look at the events we have coming up, and also consider how we might bring coaching into our wider conversations and interactions with others across the week - who we could connect with, support, or encourage to get involved.
A chance to pause, reflect, and set some intention for the week ahead
Monday 11 May
1 pm - 2 pm Online Sharing Best Practice
Coaching Tools Swap Shop
A relaxed, interactive session focused on sharing coaching tools, techniques, and approaches that others are using in practice.
You’re invited to bring something you’ve found useful and are happy to share, something you’d like to try out and experiment with, or something you’re looking for help with — a tool, approach, or perspective that could support you in your work.
We’ll exchange ideas, explore different approaches, and create space to work through these together in pairs and small groups.
Informal, practical, and shaped by those taking part.
Tuesday 12 May
1 pm - 4 pm In-Person Askham Bryan College
Join us for this relaxed, in-person event with an informal Afternoon Tea feel, and a chance to meet and hear from our Coaching & Mentoring community.
Whether you’re already participating in Yorkshire Accord, working within one of our partner organisations and thinking about getting involved, or representing an organisation that’s curious about what we do and how Yorkshire Accord could support your people, you’d be very welcome.
You’ll hear first-hand from those involved in Yorkshire Accord as they share their experiences of working in Coaching & Mentoring partnerships, and hear more about the organisational thinking behind getting involved.
Alongside this, you’ll be able to take part in a selection of informal experiences, giving you the opportunity to engage in different ways — whether through conversation, shared activity, or simply connecting with others.
Main Event
Thursday 14 May
10 am - 11 am Online Informal Discussion
How Becoming a Coach Shapes the Way You Lead
A facilitated conversation bringing together Coach/Mentors from across the Yorkshire Accord community to explore how their involvement in the scheme has influenced their leadership in practice.
Through shared experiences, we’ll explore what it’s been like to support others through the scheme, and how this has translated into changes in how they think, lead, and work with others — offering insight into the wider impact within their organisations.
This session offers an opportunity to hear honest reflections from those actively using coaching in their roles, and to consider what this could mean in your own context.
Friday 15 May
10 am - 11.30 am Online Workshop
#IAmRemarkable - Learn the importance of Self Promotion!
During this 90-minute workshop, you will learn the importance of self-promotion in your personal and professional life, and be equipped with tools to develop this skill.
The session is based on the global #IAmRemarkable initiative — a not-for-profit programme originally launched at Google — which aims to empower individuals to speak openly about their achievements and challenge the social norms that can hold people back. Now in its 10th year, the movement has reached hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, with an ambition to reach over one million participants.
Your facilitator, Holly Walton is part of the HEY Confident Futures network and a Coach/Mentor with Yorkshire Accord. Having first experienced coaching herself, she went on to train as a Coach/Mentor, and has recently completed her Level 5 ILM Coaching Diploma. She has been supporting the scheme for over three years, and is a certified #IAmRemarkable facilitator.
