Dear PPMA colleagues and friends, on the 7th working day before #PPMAHR18 we wanted to take some time to reflect on Caroline’s year as President.

Incoming President Karen Grave says that “A two minute conversation with Caroline is all you need to get an idea of how passionately she feels about working in public service.“

An extra minute also gives you a sense of her commitment and passion for learning and building great teams.

By the fifth minute of conversation you couldn’t be clearer about her drive and desire to look forward.

This year we have seen that drive, commitment and passion for Public Service HR in action. Her own experience as an apprentice when she first joined public sector has given her a particular passion for our Apprentice of the Year programme. She’s done such a lot to ensure that her voice has been heard around the governments Apprentice Levy programme. This years Apprentice of the Year programme has been particularly good and so good in fact that we’ve had 2 winners!

As we all know, PPMA Principal Officer roles are voluntary. So essentially it’s a day job on top of a day job. We do these roles because we love PPMA; and Caroline has certainly shown that in spades.

She’s tirelessly contributed to articles, raising the PPMA profile with key stakeholders where she could – plus she’s travelled the country to meet other colleagues – PPMA members and non-members alike – to advocate for our wonderful organisation. During her term we have also completely reviewed our marketing, sponsorship and membership approaches.

You can’t do these roles without the support of your family. Kevin, James and Sarah have been an incredible support to her this year and I know she would want PPMA to acknowledge their contribution to her successful year.

As her term comes to an end, she is embarking on the next adventure in her career. OneSource’s loss is the Financial Ombudsman Service’s gain. Caroline is their new HRD and will be starting her new role in June – once she’s had a very well earned holiday.

I’m sure you will join me in thanking her for her contribution and wish her well for the future!”