Well reader I have finally done it – my CRadP application was submitted to SRP for assessment late last month and it is a weight off my mind to have completed it. I should have done it years ago but my progression route meant I didn’t need it for work and with a young family and a full time role I never got around to it. There was a requirement for RPAs to be CRadP at my work, but I got promoted to a higher grade so never needed the CRadP for that.

So why did I finally do it now? Well I am now a team leader for one of the two RPA teams rather than a manager of a multi discipline team and I am a great believer in leaders walking the walk, so, as I expect my team to hold CRadP, I need to hold it myself. I agreed to get on with applying for it when I took on the Director of Engagement role with SRP in 2018 and again from a leadership perspective I should have acted on it sooner. The kids were also a bit older and I felt I could give myself the time to invest in me again. It didn’t really take that much time to do, most of the time was thinking of examples to give on the form and working out which one to claim where.

Have I inspired you to look at professional registration and apply for either TechRadP, IRadP or CRadP? Then here is the link to the details.  There is also a webinar coming soon on the topic, so keep an eye on SRP Weekly for more information.

I am chuffed to be able to share with you that SRP will be running a hybrid Annual Conference in July - this is one where there are face to face sessions in Bournemouth as well as online options for those who either can’t attend or don’t want to yet. The physical event will be Covid secure and will comply with the Government guidance at the time, but since my crystal ball is on the blink, we don’t know what controls will be required yet. If you still haven’t booked and fancy getting involved all the details are here.  The picture shows my SRP Bag for Life all ready for it's trip to the south coast.

There will be the first SRP 5K run at the face to face event along with the Bodytalk workshop which I am looking forward to; it is an interactive session to help with communication skills, something I know I need to work on. I won’t be running the 5K, as running is more Mr H’s bag, but I have volunteered to be a marshal, which I am fairly sure means I have to get up early, wear Hi Vis and I don’t even get a medal at the end of it for my efforts (all the runners do).

At the conference we will be launching the new SRP Magazine – Radiation Protection Today (or RP Today to its friends). The articles are all written and we are in the process of getting everything approved for issue and then having a graphic designer make it look like a magazine rather than a random group of articles. It’s the first new SRP publication in over 40 years (since JRP started) and it should have something for everyone. It will be arriving with your June copy of JRP (if you receive this by post) or, if you don’t, it will be emailed straight into your Inbox.

At home we are looking forward to half term. Mr H will wave goodbye to his Yr 11 (old fifth form) class and we are due to travel to Yorkshire for the first time since last summer to see my Dad. We have a few local days out planned, a trip to the Yorkshire wildlife park (which is full of lions, zebras and giraffes, rather than bitter drinking ferrets!) and a local bird of prey centre.

Stay safe and be kind

Jennifer Humphries
SRP Director of Engagement
Twitter - @jenkhumphries
Email - engagement@srp-uk.org