Welcome to the South West of England Branch of the British Psychological Society (inclusive of the Channel Islands).
Our aim is to create a lively, informative and supportive network of Psychologists to bring Psychology to all our members (students, academics, practitioners) and the wider public.
Hello and welcome to the South West of England Branch. The branch represents over 3,400 psychologists and stretches from Bristol in the north to Cornwall and the islands of Jersey and Guernsey in the south. I am delighted to say that our committee has Hubs representing all these areas so you will not be too far away from a local group.
We are keen on collaboration in the south-west working with the Division of Clinical Psychology (DCP) South West Branch and neighbouring Wessex and Welsh BPS Branches. As a group all the branches communicate through a Branches Forum.
I joined the branch in February 2019 when I moved from Sheffield to Devon. I became chair in November 2019 allowing Iain MacLeod to step into the role of Past Chair. I would like to thank him for his huge contribution of four years of leadership.
We have a lively branch that is keen to be involved in a wide range of psychological activities. For example, our popular multi-disciplinary Gathering will be exploring the important topic of poverty. Tacking poverty: How can psychology contribute? Unifying Sciences is being held as a webinar on Friday 29 January 2021. This event is free to members. but we ask delegates to send a contribution to their local food bank.
The branch reviews its activities at an Annual General Meeting (AGM) and our next AGM is scheduled for Wednesday 17 November 2021. As a BPS member you will receive an invitation to this event.
Over the last 12 months we have been developing a strategy for the support of psychologists in the south-west featuring forward planning, engagement, and empowerment.
These three facets guide our activities and over these pages you will see the things we are doing: supporting young people to learn about psychology in schools and colleagues; helping undergraduates and postgraduates build their knowledge and practice; enabling continuous professional development for all grades of psychologists; and collaborating and supporting activities in our communities.
The Branch covers a large area from Bristol in the north, Cornwall and the islands of Jersey and Guernsey in the south; and to the east we border on the Wessex Branch in Dorset.
Coordinating activities over such an area requires a structure that guides the strategy of what we do (by the co-ordinating working groups) and local activities (by the Hubs).
Mindful of wishing to support members during every stage of their journey in the study and application of psychology we have four co-ordinating working groups.
We are keen to establish other local groups and maybe you would like to help us do this?
Or perhaps you would like to join a working group and contribute to Branch activities?
No matter what, we would encourage you all to get as actively involved as you can.
In particular, we are looking for:
Contributions for our newsletter - articles, photographs, event or book reviews etc
Event updates - what’s going on in your local area? Do you have any suggestions?
Website updates - let us know if you would like to share information with others
If you have any comments, queries, or would like to help us out please email us