Happy Spring everyone! Warmer weather is finally here, banishing the cold and hopefully no more snow! Here in Spain, it’s getting up to 28 degrees, so the ideal time to sort out our terrace to have somewhere to sit outside and enjoy the sun before it gets to ridiculous Toledo summer temperatures. 

This month SRP Council had our 294th council meeting. It was supposed to be an in-person meeting but because of the train strikes we settled for online instead. It was a shame not to see everyone in person this time, but I do love the flexibility of being able to switch to virtual when needed. It can sometimes feel like a long slog, being in an online meeting all day, but there was so much to discuss, a lot of it very exciting…I alluded to this in my last blog, and hopefully soon all shall be revealed! 
We’ve also been working really hard behind the scenes on developing the Delivery Plan to complement the Strategic Plan for 2023-2027. I say we, Jennifer Humphries, President Elect, has been working really hard on this! It includes contributions from the directorates in setting tasks to make sure that we achieve all of our Delivery Commitments. You’ll be able to read a summary document at the AGM. There’s plenty of actions on Engagement Directorate, so busy times ahead!  

To make up for the disappointment of not seeing SRP Council in person, I got to attend our quarterly RPA meeting at Jacobs, Birchwood. It also coincided nicely with Mother’s Day, so I came back and spent some time in Leeds with the family beforehand, and the meeting also happened to be on the first day of spring, which I’ve celebrated for a long time. Lots of cultures celebrate the first day of spring/vernal equinox, including Iranians as the tradition spread along the Silk Road, where it is considered to be the first day of the new year (you can watch Mickey Mouse explain more here! Or on the BBC here). I like this idea that winter is over, and new life and birth starts to welcome in a new era. To celebrate, I went with some friends to an Iranian restaurant in Manchester. Iranian food is one of my favourite cuisines. The mixture of herbs and rice and meat is just exquisite. It’s making me hungry just typing about it! Here’s some links to some of the types of food eaten for new year.

Speaking of food… the 23rd of March marked the start of Ramadan. A month of fasting from sunrise to sunset. It’s not just refraining from food but trying to break bad habits and create new healthy ones, learning self-discipline, and focusing on spirituality. It’s also a good time to reflect on those people in the world who don’t have the luxury of being able to eat once the sun goes down and appreciating how privileged we are. 

Lastly, some good news, I managed to get my RPA recertification through. It took an incredible 11 days from submission to confirmation of renewal, which is amazing. Thank you to all the people at RPA2000 who work behind the scenes making everything go so smoothly.

Hope you are all celebrating the coming of spring and better weather ahead, and may every day be a new beginning for us all.