FPOP Annual Conference 2025
- Older people
The Faculty of the Psychology of Older People is pleased to invite you to attend its 2025 conference
The conference offers a unique learning experience, featuring insights from renowned keynote speakers, practical applications of Older People psychology, and the perspectives of academics.
This year, the conference will be held at:
- DoubleTree by Hilton Lincoln
Brayford Wharf North
Lincoln
LN1 1YW
The venue is conveniently located just a few minutes' walk from the train station, which is on the East Coast Main Line. There are also car parks in close proximity.
The event will consist of two days of workshops and presentations from academics and clinicians in the field, keynote speakers and networking time to meet your peers.
Alongside the conference, a Gala Dinner will be taking place at a nearby venue on the first evening.
Due to limited capacity, we encourage early registration for this event.
Beyond the academic program, our conference is about building connections within the field of older adult psychology: mental ill-health, dementia and ageing equality issues
Conference theme and aims
This year, our chosen theme is "We'll meet again….Nice to meet ya!"
Two musical references spanning the generations from Vera Lynn to Niall Horan. This conference will see us reconnect for the first time in person since before the pandemic and celebrates 45 years of the Faculty's important work.
If you are interested in presenting at the conference within the theme, you can submit an abstract for review.
Please read the abstract submission tab before submitting an abstract.
Abstract submission deadline: 24 February 2025.
Key submission dates
Authors are strongly advised to register on the on-line submission system and begin preparing their submissions well in advance of the following deadlines.
- Submissions System Opens: 02 December 2024
- Submissions Deadline: 24 February 2025
- Notification of Outcome: 21 March 2025
- Programme Released: 04 April 2025
- Registration Closes: 04 June 2025
If you wish to submit more than one abstract, please complete individual submissions for each.
Your submission will consist of a Title (50 word limit), and an Abstract (500 word limit).
The organising committee will communicate with successful presenters to discuss the presentation method in the process of drafting the timetable.
If you are successful in being selected to present at the conference you will also be required to write a precis of your presentation for a special Conference edition Bulletin in an article of up to 3000 words.
Please ensure you read the submission guidelines before submitting, including the reviewer guidelines. These allow you to see how your submissions will be reviewed.
If you have any questions on submission please contact [email protected].
Registration fees
The registration fee includes daily lunches, refreshments and access to all content.
All rates listed are inclusive of VAT at 20%, and exclusive of service charge.
| 1 Day | 2 Day | |
| FPOP Member / Presenter | £174 | £258 |
| BPS Members | n/a | £296 |
| Non-Members | n/a | £335 |
| Concession (Student / Trainee) | n/a | £215 |
| National Committee | n/a | £129 |
How to register
Please note: booking is being provided by Oxford Abstracts on behalf of BPS.
When booking online you will be directed to Oxford Abstracts.
Both the BPS and Oxford Abstracts terms and conditions and privacy policies will apply.
If you have any questions on submission please contact [email protected].
The Faculty of the Psychology of Older People has a number of allocated rooms on-site at the DoubleTree by Hilton.
Andy Bell: Chief Executive - Centre for Mental Health
Talk Title: Systemic ageism: how mental health in later life is neglected and what we can do about it.
Bio: Andy has been with Centre for Mental Health since 2002 and became Chief Executive in January 2023.
He has worked for more than 25 years in the voluntary sector, striving for equality and social justice through research, communicating evidence, influencing policy, and informing debate.
Andy was the driving force behind the Commission for Equality in Mental Health, funded by the Elliott Simmons Charitable Trust, established to investigate inequalities in mental health.
The Commission's work culminated in a final report, Mental Health for All, which set out what a system for equality could look like across communities, local and national government.
He is at the forefront of Equally Well UK, a collaborative to support the physical health of people with a mental illness.
He plays a pivotal role in facilitating the Local Authority Mental Health Challenge which engages elected members across the country.
Adrian Whittington: National Clinical Lead for Psychological Professions at NHS England
Talk Title: Staying Safe from Suicide Guidance
Bio: TBA
Tommy Whitelaw: Honorary Master Open University for Health, Social Care and Policy
Talk title: ‘You Make a Difference’
This talk is based on the key principles of person-centred care, Intelligent Kindness, ‘What Matters to You?’, self-care, and active listening.
Tommy shares learning from his own experience as a carer for his Mum Joan and promotes reflection on how we can make our workplaces and systems more compassionate by asking what ‘works well?’ and also ‘what can we do differently in the future?’.
Last year, we released our "Effecting Change" publication, a collection of case studies from across Scotland that have made progress towards compassionate, person-centred care.
Earlier this year, we were proud to launch the first "Concert for Caring" film, which gives a glimpse into the atmosphere of an event celebrating the immeasurable work of unpaid carers and the contributions of health and social care staff, as well as third sector organisations that support many people in living well.
Bio: For five years Tommy Whitelaw was a full-time carer for his late mother Joan who had Vascular Dementia. In 2011 Tommy undertook a walk around Scotland's towns and cities to collect hundreds of life stories and letters detailing the experiences of individuals who care for a loved one living with dementia. Tommy took this collection of stories to the Scottish Parliament to raise awareness of the value of carers, providing a platform for people to share their experiences and highlight what is needed to better support carers in Scotland.
Since then, he has engaged with thousands of carers through his 'Tommy on Tour' blog and as National Lead for the ALLIANCE's Person Centred Voices Project. In this role he delivers frequent talks to health and social care professionals, students and carer organisations across the UK ,Europe and North America promoting the values and principles of 'What Matters to You?', 'Intelligent Kindness' and 'Civility Saves Lives' – movements that identify active listening, kindness, and person centredness as key to providing inclusive support and care to all individuals, as well as healthy work environments.
This outreach programme has now reached over 280,000+ people across 2,300+ talks, gathering 30,000 'What Matters to You' pledges, capturing people's commitments to putting this work into practice for the benefit of individuals and families.
In 2014, 2019 and again in 2023 Tommy produced Concerts for Caring. Each concert, held at Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall saw over 1,850 individuals join for an evening of music, celebration and respite.