GCMA | NEED TO KNOW | INDUSTRY | CAREERS | GOOD PRACTICE | GRASS ROOTS
‘Let’s move forward with confidence and
WITH POSITIVITY’
T
his is my first AGM as your CEO and it’s certainly been a very busy, extremely interesting and exciting first 6 months in the role; and not without its challenges! It’s been an unusual start under the current climate, of course, and most of my time so far has been spent working from home. So, I’ve definitely had excellent value from our Zoom account! However, with the very worst of the pandemic hopefully now drawing to an end, I’m now very much looking forward to getting out to Regional Meetings and to other industry events to represent the GCMA and to meet with you, our members, to hear what you have to say and to do my very best to represent you as we move forward. We have so many fantastic and hugely committed people involved within this association – the team at HQ, the Board, our Regional Managers and you, our members. I’ve been made to feel very welcome and extremely well supported in my first months with the GCMA. Thank you to Brad McLean and the Board for putting their trust in me and thank you to the Regional Managers and the team at HQ for their support so far. COVID19 Looking back to 2020 and what a year it was. Whether we say a ‘year to remember’ or a ‘year to forget’
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– I think for different reasons we need to try and do both. Whilst many of us have experienced extreme heartache that will never be forgotten, let’s do our very best to put behind us the high levels of stress and uncertainty that the circumstances caused for us all, both professionally and personally. Let’s also learn some important lessons about what we are all truly capable of as individuals when we really are put up against extreme challenges such as this one. Let’s also remember the importance of physical and mental wellbeing and how greatly this has been highlighted in recent times. I would like to take this opportunity to recognise the incredible amount of hard work and effort that our team at HQ, our Board and our Regional Managers contributed in order to support our members throughout the pandemic, particularly during last Spring and Summer when we entered the first lockdown. A big thank you to Gavin, Craig and Lianne, who were all very new to the team in March of last year when the pandemic first struck in the UK. It was a hugely uncertain time for them, as it was, of course, for everybody, but they immediately turned their attentions to whatever needed doing to support our members and, from all of the feedback I’ve received, they did this remarkably well. I’d also like to recognise the huge amount of work and effort of Jim Cunning.
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