The Royal College of Psychiatrists is delighted to have won the ‘Memcom Sustainability Award’ and been Highly Commended in Best Member Engagement/Recruitment for its transformative Choose Psychiatry campaign at the Memcom UK membership sector awards on Tuesday night.
The College was also very pleased that one of its excellent members of staff, Senior Project Manager Pippa Paton, was Highly Commended in the Rising Star category for the work she has done helping the College delivery effective hybrid events for members.
The Memcom UK membership sector awards celebrate organisations and individuals who, through creativity and hard work, have improved standards in the membership sector.
The Sustainability Award judges recognised our innovative policies on reducing the carbon emissions of the College and the NHS in England. The College has already completely divested from fossil fuels, put in place a detailed roadmap to reach Net Zero by 2040 and has been advising NHS England on the establishment of a Net Zero Mental Health Commission, to help drive down carbon emissions across the mental health estate.
The College’s Choose Psychiatry Campaign was also Highly Commended for Best Member Engagement/Recruitment Strategy.
Since it was launched in 2017, Choose Psychiatry has helped to increase fill rates in core psychiatric training from 67% to 99-100% for the last four years, across the UK.
As part of the campaign, we created a video that combined the expertise of psychiatrists with the personal perspectives of patients to demonstrate the varied and rewarding nature of a career in psychiatry.
Meanwhile, Senior Project Manager Pippa Paton was Highly Commended as a Rising Star for transforming the way the College runs its hybrid events. In one period, after some IT challenges with earlier events, Pippa managed to lead the successful delivery of 18 hybrid events over the course of 23 days, allowing us to reach more than 3,500 delegates in a slick and joined-up way.
RCPsych President Dr Lade Smith CBE said:
“These results reflect the exceptional work of our members, affiliates, people with lived experience and staff who continue to achieve excellence. We could not be prouder of all their hard work and look forward to seeing what more we can achieve together.
“A special thank you to Pippa whose ability to work well under pressure, meticulous planning and positive attitude were a constant source of support for her colleagues and in ensuring that we deliver for our members.”
RCPsych Chief Executive Paul Rees MBE said:
“We have made great strides in our commitment to get to Net Zero by 2040 and it is fantastic that this work has been recognised recognised. Climate change is an issue that affects us all and we will continue to work tirelessly to be a leader in the field of sustainability.
“I would like to congratulate all of those College members and staff who have been involved in this project.”
For further information, please contact:
- Email: press@rcpsych.ac.uk
- Twitter: @rcpsych
- Out-of-hours contact number: 07860 755896