Welcome to the President's Blog which is one of the latest changes you will notice on our evolving website. I will aim to provide regular updates to keep you informed of what is going on and what I am up to during my term in office. Can I start by asking you to have a browse around our updated site and see what you think. We were aware there were a number of frustrating broken links and anomalies which is an inevitable part of the process and we have worked to fix these. We welcome any feedback, particularly on how easy or not you find it to navigate the site and find the things you are looking for.

My first months as President have been busy both in terms of my private life, working life and SRP business. I chaired my first Council meeting in May and was pleased to welcome two new members Pete Cole and Paul Leonard and a new Affiliate Representative, Nick Hutchinson. It never fails to amaze me how much is going on within the Society and these meetings are always busy. Of course a degree of formality is required but meetings are often full of laughter and not the stuffy affairs you might imagine. I urge anyone who might be hesitating to consider putting themselves forward for election when nominations are invited.

In June, having been persuaded by colleagues in AMEC, I managed to complete the Coast to Coast Challenge when I cycled from Whitehaven to Tyneside across some extremely hilly terrain. We cycled around 150 miles in three days. To put my achievement in perspective, when I began training 3 months before, my bicycle still had a tide-line on it from a flood I suffered at home 3 years before. It had not been moved since! It was one of the most challenging but fun things I have done; the camaraderie with fellow cyclists was great. We called ourselves "The Thatcham Pscyclepaths" and raised just over £3,000 for charity. Two other recent Presidents (Colin Partington and Rick Hallard) have completed the route so the challenge is there for those that follow!

Also in June I attended the Third European IRPA Conference in Helsinki where I was pleased to present on the work of the SRP over the previous year, at the Partner Societies' Forum. The vast amount we had achieved certainly looked impressive against the other Societies and I was proud to be part of it. I was also pleased to have within our group Craig Morissey who we had nominated for the Young Scientist's Award. He had submitted a successful paper to the SRP and was invited to attend the Conference at our cost. Although Craig did not win he had a great week and made some new friends from Sweden, Finland and Germany.

July and August have seen a round of Committee meetings which has meant me regularly commuting to London. If you want to see what these committees are and what they are up to take a look at the website where each committee now has a page with a summary of its function and membership. These pages will be spaces for the Committees to use so keep coming back to them as there will inevitably be updated information of interest to members.

The Thatcham Pscyclepaths with Richard Wilkins on far left and Martin Lyons, SRP Graduate Member, third from right.

Click on each picture for larger size.