Chair’s Welcome
Following our AGM in May 2007, I am delighted to have been re-elected Chair of the Branch for another 12 months. Our last 12 months have been very busy and extremely productive within the Branch and the Branch Committee. I would like to take this opportunity to formally thank everyone who has contributed to our success over the last 12 months.
Some of our successes include:
- The design and delivery of the Branch Mentoring Scheme. We now have around 20 mentoring partnerships established.
- The design and delivery of a varied and interesting programme of events to Branch Members. The average attendance at branch events is around 60 people.
- The establishment of a new Training and Development Special Interest Group (SIG), which has now delivered some very interesting and innovative events. More importantly this SIG addresses a gap identified by the membership back in December 2006 when we received requests to put on more events targeting Training and Development Professionals.
- The establishment of sub groups within the Branch Committee. The subgroups all have terms of reference and are required to present reports back to the full Branch Committee about their activities and actions. We currently have four subgroups
- Events Planning Group (EPG). This group is responsible for co-ordinating the design and delivery of the Branch Programme.
- Publicity and Marketing Group (PMG). This group is responsible for co-ordinating the Branch’s publicity and marketing activities such as the Branch website, monthly mailings, newsletters plus co-ordinating any requests to advertise in these publications.
- Training and Development SIG and the HR/SME SIG. These groups are responsible for co-ordinating special interest events.
Looking to the next 12 months we are continuing to work towards achieving our Strategic Themes:
- Inspire pride in our profession
- Engage members in our profession
- Advance the profile of our profession
We aim to do this by
- Continuing to design and deliver an exciting range of events.
- Expanding our Branch Mentoring Scheme.
- Continuing to find new and innovative ways of engaging with hard to reach sections of our membership, including Students and Senior Managers.
- Continuing to communicate with the membership through our website, newsletters and monthly mailings.
You can help us over the coming months by
- Attending Branch events and providing us with honest and constructive feedback on these events – don’t forget to book your place(s) in advance.
- Reading the newsletters and mailings and providing us with feedback on them and/or by writing articles for them.
- Getting in touch through the website and/or by emailing anyone on the Branch Committee and telling us how we can
- do things differently and better
- engage with hard to reach groups like Students and Senior Managers
- volunteering to get involved in the Branch Committee and/or any of the subgroups.
I hope the next 12 months are successful for all of you as well as for the Branch and I look forward to meeting you at future Branch events and/or receiving your feedback via the website or email.
Ann Cartwright
July 2007