14 OCTOBER 2025
ST GEORGE’S CHURCH, LEEDS
Sponsored by Ecclesiastical Insurance
Welcome
I’m pleased to welcome you to this year’s Communicate, the 2025 DC Comms Conference in Leeds.
Our annual gathering of Church of England communicators is aimed at connecting you with others across the country in similar roles, as well as equipping and inspiring you in your work.
A particular welcome to you if you are new to the network, or attending this conference for the first time.
We have an excellent line up of speakers, Q&A sessions and workshops throughout the day, as well as plenty of time planned in for you to get to know others in the network.
As you take part in this conference, my hope is that you will not only receive new communications tips, tools and approaches, but you will also feel recharged and valued - part of a supportive community, with a key role to play in the mission of the Church of England.
I look forward to seeing you at the conference.
Chloe Axford, Director of Communications and Engagement at the Diocese of Exeter and Chair of the DC Network
Programme
Tuesday 14 October
9:00
10:00
10:05
10:20
10:50
Arrivals and refreshments
Welcome / Housekeeping
Chloe Axford, chair of the DC Network
Welcome to Leeds
With Bishop of Bradford Rt Rev Toby Howarth
Facing Challenging Situations and Building Personal Resilience
Amanda Coleman, Crisis Communications Specialist
Breakout groups
Q&A with Amanda Coleman 11:10 Break 11:40
12:00
Our Best Campaign This Year and How We Did It
Laura Frank and team at the Diocese of Southwell & Nottingham
12:30 Lunch 12:45
A word from our sponsor
Annaleise Jones & Louise Daker, Campaign Managers, Ecclesiastical Insurance (Benefact Group)
Influencer Marketing in Cathedrals
Daniel Coole, Head of Communications, Diocese of Liverpool and Megan Plowman, Digital Communications Officer, Liverpool Cathedral 14:00
Breakout groups 14:20
Q&A and discussion 14:30 Break 14:45
Workshop session 1 15:00
Workshop session 2 15:45
16:30
16:45
Closing remarks
Chloe Axford, Chair of the DC Network
Close of the event
Main talks
Facing Challenging Situations and Building
Personal Resilience
Amanda Coleman, Crisis Communications Specialist
The session will focus on how to maintain personal resilience when an organisation is going through significant threats, issues and reputational challenges. It will touch on understanding reputation and trust, personal wellbeing and accessing support, and identifying the positives that come from situations.
Influencer Marketing in Cathedrals
Daniel Coole, Head of Communications, Diocese of Liverpool and Megan Plowman, Digital Communications Officer, Liverpool Cathedral
Daniel and Megan will share how influencer marketing has transformed the way Liverpool Cathedral connects with audiences. By working with carefully chosen, niche creators, they’ve been able to expand the reach of their events by over one million people. In this presentation, Daniel and Megan will explore what has worked best, the strategies behind their collaborations, and how influencer partnerships can make a real impact in a cathedral setting.
Workshops
There will be three interactive workshops running in the afternoonyou will have a choice to attend two of these.
How to use AI tools in your everyday work
Ruvimbo Makumbe, Digital Labs
This session is for everyone, whether you’ve used AI or not. You will explore how these tools can help enhance your work, from creating new ideas to managing communications. Ru will also share how to use AI the right way, making sure everything you do fits with your values as the church. By the end, you’ll have new ideas and a clear picture of how AI can help you.
As the Digital Labs Manager, Ruvimbo Makumbe develops and delivers training programmes to equip churches, Ordinands and dioceses with digital skills. Her extensive experience in digital strategy and marketing informs her work, which is further enhanced by her research and testing of AI to identify the most effective and ethical use cases. She has also deepened this expertise with a recent course in the Ethics of AI.
What do you do when going to church feels like going to work?
Alexandra Zhirnova, Everyday Faith editor and (by video) Andrew Caspari, Diocesan Secretary at the Diocese of Europe.
Many people who work in the Church of England will spend their week dealing with clergy and perhaps issues such as safeguarding or finance. On their ‘day of rest’ they may then face similar things when they attend their local church. How can we balance our work, and faith lives and what solutions could work best? And how do we fit faith into our work? This interactive session is designed to bring open and honest discussions, as well as equipping you in your work and church life.
How we grew our 50K following on TikTok
Rev David Sims (@tiktok vicar), Rev Pippa White (@not_a_priestess) and Arun Kataria, Director of Comms, Diocese of Lichfield.
Between them, they have engaged with thousands of people online and built a following of over 50,000 people. Rev David Sims is the vicar at St Thomas’ Church in Aldridge, and moonlights on social media as the TikTok vicar.
Pippa, who was born in 1995, sits on the cusp between Millennial and Gen Z - this has given her an interesting insight to the church and how it is often perceived by the ‘missing generation.’
David and Pippa will be joined by Arun Kataria, Director of Communications at the Diocese of Lichfield, as they share how this new line of ministry has impacted the communities they serve, giving examples of how they integrate their TikTok work with their local ministry and how they work alongside the dioceses, offering tips and practical advice for parishes and dioceses.
Speakers
Bishop of Bradford Rt Rev Toby Howarth
After ordination, Toby was a vicar in Derby, then in Birmingham, and later in Rotterdam, for a Dutch church working with Moroccan and Turkish Muslim communities. In 2004 he took up parish work as Vicar of St Christopher’s, Springfield, a church in a majority Muslim area of the city. In addition to the parish role, Toby was the Bishop of Birmingham’s Adviser on Inter Faith Relations until April 2011 when he became Interreligious Affairs Secretary for the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Toby was consecrated as Area Bishop of Bradford in York Minster on 17 October 2014. The Diocese of Leeds has five Area Bishops and he is also currently the Interim Bishop of Leeds during a Vacancy in See due to the retirement of the Rt Rev Nick Baines. Toby is very involved in interfaith work within the diocese and last year was honoured with the Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation, for his leadership in interfaith work in the north of England and the wider Church of England.
Chloe Axford
Chloe is the Director of Communications and Engagement at the Diocese of Exeter and also the Chair of the Church of England’s Diocesan Cathedral (DC) Communications Network. She is a Licensed Lay Minister (LLM) in a multi-parish mission community on Dartmoor. She previously worked for ITN and the BBC as a broadcast journalist, as well as spending two years working in a creative arts ministry at a church in London. Her passion is for creative, engaging and culturally relevant worship.
Amanda Coleman
Amanda is a crisis communication specialist and the director and founder of crisis communication consultancy Amanda Coleman Communication Ltd. She has more than 25 years’ experience in crisis and emergency communication.
Amanda led the law enforcement communication response to the Manchester Arena terrorist attack in 2017. Now, Amanda provides consultancy support to public and private sector organisations facing challenging times, as well as training individuals and teams to more effectively communicate in a crisis.
Annaleise Jones & Louise Daker
Annaleise Jones is a marketing professional with over 20 years’ experience delivering strategic, multi-channel campaigns across a range of sectors. She is recognised for her expertise in communication strategies and campaign management.
Louise Daker brings more than 25 years of experience in financial services marketing and charity fundraising, with a strong focus on strategic communications. She excels at building brand trust, driving engagement, and connecting organisations with their communities.
Together, Annaleise and Louise support the retention and growth of Ecclesiastical’s church and home insurance sectors.
Car parking
There is no on-site parking, however there are drop-off zones outside the main entrance. Car parking is available at The Light Q-Park, St John’s Centre, and the Merrion Centre - all within 5-8 minutes walk to St George’s Church.
Arriving
Please go up the steps from the car park to the main entrance of the church building.
Accessibility information
There are three disabled parking spaces outside the building. St George’s Church has step-free access via a lift, accessible toilets and a hearing loop.
Wireless network
WiFi: St G Visitor
Password: stgeorge
Food and refreshments
All food and drinks at the conference will be provided by Nurture Catering, a not-for-profit division of St George’s Crypt. Nurture Catering provides a platform of training and engagement for offenders, service users and anyone who has difficulty in moving their lives forward. Trainees work at their own pace until their confidence and skills are built to a level they feel allows them to go into mainstream work. They are pastorally supported and mentored by Head Chef, David Pilling, to help fulfil their own potential.
Smoking
There is a non-smoking policy throughout the premises.
Accidents and first aid
In the event of an accident, please inform your host or a member of staff. They will then seek assistance from a first aid trained member of staff.
Fire safety
If you discover a fire, sound the alarm by breaking the glass at any call point situated throughout the building. In the event of a fire alarm sounding, please stay seated and await instruction from the host as to whether to evacuate. Further fire evacuation procedures will be given at the beginning of the day.
The DC Communications Conference has been partly sponsored by Ecclesiastical Insurance, part of the Benefact Group.
Originally founded in 1887 as the Ecclesiastical Buildings Fire Office to protect Anglican churches and church buildings against the risk of fire, Ecclesiastical offers insurance across a broad range of specialisms, including faith, charity, heritage, education, art and private client, real estate and schemes, across Ireland, Canada and the UK.
Being part of the Benefact Group, Ecclesiastical Insurance are owned by one of the UK’s largest Christian grant-making charities, Benefact Trust, with over £250 million donated to charities and other good causes over the last 10 years.
Find out more:
www.ecclesiastical.com/church
Graphic design provided and sponsored by Max Creative:
www.maxcreativeuk.myportfolio.com
