Social value networking events can sometimes be a bit of an echo chamber. Those with an established interest in the subject matter nodding self-righteously in agreement with each other.

This one was a bit different.

I’d say most people came away having learnt something. For me, it was that more than pounds, shilling and pence, it’s the human stories that matter.

For people to ‘buy in’ to social value they’ve got to feel connected to the real impact felt by people and communities. I had this lightbulb moment in listening to the work undertaken between AECOM and Crash, where a company’s CSR contributions have made a meaningful difference to hospice users up and down the country.

Similarly I learnt something from my own colleague, Ruth Skidmore, and our Impact of a Home report that we’ve recently published. The report measures and articulates the impact of delivering the right homes in the right places. I knew this was important work, work that will be an industry-game changer when it comes to motivating support for new development.

But it was hearing Mat Buckham bring this report to life, telling stories of some of SNG’s residents that really made me stop and think. It’s the human stories that stick with you, not the numbers.

It’s at this point I try to write something poignant but in the age of Google, I have borrowed from a Native American proverb that sums it up perfectly.

‘Tell me the facts and I’ll learn. Tell me the truth and I’ll believe. But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever.’

We would all do well to remember this.