Sometimes I am so organised, that as soon as I submit one blog I carry on writing the next one. I did this in December and have just deleted most of it as it sounded like someone else had written it. Her kids were going to school every day with their friends…she was able to go out of the house for fun things (rather than just the essentials) and was living in a non-lockdown world. Still there are some positives out there…… 

Just before Christmas I was able to submit the IRPA15 SRP Outreach poster – it did require editing as I got a little carried away with how many words would realistically fit on an A0 poster with SRP branding on it.  But it looks professional and tells the story of what SRP has done with its Outreach Programme over the last 8 years.  Then I remembered the SRP Annual Conference abstract deadline had been extended to Friday 2 April so I submitted the poster abstract for that conference too.  If you want to submit an abstract you can do it here. 

The week before the Christmas break was the test event for the IRPA General Assembly on 14 January.  I did have to use my personal IT as the work computer said no, but the system worked well and was very professional.  I was able to see and hear all the speakers.  So, I can join the webinar on my iPad and use the work computer for viewing the papers and the voting system.  We have a UK IRPA15 delegation WhatsApp group so we can discuss voting intentions on my phone, so my desk will look like I am one of those IT people who need at least two screens to prove how clever they are.  I also need a packed lunch as it runs from 11:30 until 15:30, but it could be much worse, as it’s a live worldwide event so there are some people for whom this will be held in the middle of the night.

The rest of the IRPA15 Congress happens in the weeks after the General Assembly; it’s all virtual and I’m quite looking forward to reviewing the detailed programme and deciding which talks to watch.  There’s a mix of live and recorded talks, so I need to get the time difference sorted (South Korea is 9 hours ahead) so I can put the live sessions in my work diary. I enjoy seeing what other RP professions such as hospitals and research labs do to see if the nuclear industry can learn from them.  And there are always the ones which are a bit off the wall, though I haven’t found any yet. 

My SRP facemask arrived on Christmas Eve which meant I quickly tried it on and put it away and nearly forgot about it.  I am modelling it in the blog photo along with an SRP scarf which co-ordinates with it beautifully.  Hopefully I’ll be able to wear it when we have the SRP conference in Bournemouth in July. 

We had a brilliant time at Christmas with my dad (support bubble) and brother (travelled from Germany, isolated for 5 days and joined the household).  My brother ended up staying almost three weeks as they closed the border due to the new variant of COVID-19 so he was a few days late leaving.  It was a typical family Christmas, we ate too much food, played games and all got on each-other’s nerves.  What more do you want?

You can get in touch on the usual details.

Stay safe, be kind. 

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