A decade of change

After 10 years in the role,  I have stepped down as a vice chair of the MJA — although I will continue to play an active role in the EC and around the awards, sponsorship and website.

It has been a privilege to have been part of such a period of growth and development for the Association.

Over the past decade, our membership has grown by more than 25 per cent, our winter and summer awards have evolved into the prestigious and more professionally staged annual awards we have today and we have introduced new events such as webinars and the annual symposium which is so brilliantly organised by vice chair Emma Wilkinson.

There have been some challenging times in recent years, and we still have some hurdles to navigate, but the future is bright.

Thanks in large part to Shaun’s efforts, the MJA’s finances are in excellent shape and we have now appointed an enthusiastic new administrator to replace Sallie.

In a sense, I have come full circle as helping to find a new administrator was one of my earlier tasks as a vice chair, alongside Lawrence McGinty and then honorary secretary Philippa Pigache.

We had also just launched what was then our shiny new website — though I’d like to think I’m not creaking with age in the same way as the site is now doing.

I’m excited to be part of the sub committee working to oversee an upgrade of the site and we would love to hear your thoughts and feedback on what you would like from our new website.

Having worked alongside four chairs, two vice chairs and so many members of the EC it’s impossible to say thank you to everyone, but I’d like to give a special shout out to my first chair, Victoria Lambert, and EC members Jill Palmer, for her tireless work on the awards, Isla Whitcroft for her enthusiasm and hard work on so many MJA projects, Nicola Hill for her support around sponsorship, John Illman for his wise counsel  and Sallie Robins, for her organisational skills, common sense and good humour.

I look forward to being able to spend more time catching up with everyone at this year’s awards.

I also encourage anyone who might be tempted to serve on the committee to get in touch — we need a combination of experience and fresh ideas to take the MJA forward for the next decade, and. many beyond.