North West England Branch

By Peter Banister (Chair, North West England Branch)

After the problems related to colleagues unexpectedly leaving the area last year, this year has been relatively quiet; the finances have now all been sorted out and regular well attended committee meetings have taken place throughout the year. Thus the overall picture has been one of steady progress in terms of our general mission of helping the progress of psychology throughout the north west of England.

The year started with the Annual General Meeting in Manchester Metropolitan University, where members were addressed by the then President Ray Miller on 'Fit for the Future?' where he reviewed the Society's achievements, developments and possible future in detail with an entertaining set of slides which included a picture of himself at his degree day. The role of the branches was given particular prominence, as it is the one part of the Society which attempts to provide for all the members in a particular geographical region. The year ended with an AGM in Manchester addressed by the current president Pam Maras, who spoke of her research on reasons for succeeding in education and how aspirations for higher education were changing from 'learning' to 'earning'. There have been extensive discussions in between of issues of current concern including the development and likely impact of statutory regulation, the involvement with the Health Professions Council (HPC) and the implementation of Continuing Professional Development (CPD). Our views have been well represented at Council meetings, and extensive reports on them have been provided for members of the committee.

The Branch has its own web presence, generic e-mail and occasional newsletters. We have provided careers ‘outreach’ work in schools and colleges around the region, along with prizes for the best psychology student and support for the PsyPag conference. The Branch was represented at the official opening of the Society's new London office, pictures of the Lowry and Beetham Tower providing visual images of the modern north-west.

There was a highly successful forensic psychology conference on ‘Violence’, which was attended by over 200 people, including some from many other parts of the country. Committee members are continuing to work hard to organise new events for the coming year, including a very popular Careers in Psychology Conference, and ones on Developmental, Occupational and Clinical Psychology. There will also be another Forensic Psychology conference during the next year.