It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year…yes that’s right, the SRP Annual Conference has come around again and this week we’re in Aberdeen. It’s been a jam-packed week so far, kicking off with the Schools Show on 'The Science of Superheroes' which we delivered to over 400 school kids and their teachers. It’s been a while since we did one of these and I’d forgotten how fun, crazy, and utterly exhausting they are! All worth it though! It was also the venue for the Big Reveal of our new mascot .... who was a huge hit with the kids. Check out our social media for some videos of the bee.

Tuesday saw the proper kick off of the conference, with (now Immediate Past President) Jim Thurston welcoming us to the conference and Aberdeen and a recap on what the Society has achieved over the past year. Then some very interesting talks in the afternoon, one from SRP's archivist John Jackson who gave a brief history of our 60 years through the documents in the archives. It was fun to see how much lunch expense claims were back in the day (less that £1!) and pretty inspiring to see our founders and the people who came before us and the great work they did. Hopefully we can carry on their legacy through Council and the committees. Another talk was by Jim Hondros, President of the Australasian Radiation Protection Society (ARPS), whose founding was inspired by our partner society AURPO back in the 70s!

The exhibition hall is the fullest I’ve ever seen it, with lots of great exhibitors with their latest wares, and I’ve also been told that we have a record number of delegates this year, over 350 - long may this trend continue!

Yesterday ended with the AGM. It had a decent turnout, but the ARPS delegates did suggest that, to get a better turnout, we should do as they do and serve beer and wine!   We discussed budgets and other Society business and then there was the big reveal of the secret I’ve been hinting at in my past couple of blogs: we have a new Patron – Lord McNicol of West Kilbride. Jim and I met him at a parliament event earlier this year and he made a great impression on us.  Jim approached him to see if he would be interested in becoming our next Patron as Lord Carlile of Berriew steps down this year after six years of support, and thankfully he said yes. Then it was time for Jim to hand over the president’s medal to our new President Jennifer Humphries. The youngest female president to date. I’m sure she’s going to do an amazing job.

If you’re not here, we miss you! Hopefully you’ll be able to make it next year. I’ve taken over SRP’s social media channels this week, so my own will be a bit quieter, but check out SRP's for updates on all the activities of this week.

Sarah Hunak
Director of Engagement
engagement@srp-uk.org