Volunteer Newsletter December 2025
Welcome to the December update, our last one of the year, celebrating all your volunteering activities and a look ahead to 2026.
Give Gain Grow
In October we held our inaugural UK & Europe Volunteer Conference & Awards, a fantastic event to come together and celebrate the amazing work you do as volunteers. The conference offered a varied programme of talks and workshops and an update from CIPS CEO Ben Farrell, plenty of opportunities to network and then the awards…
Congratulations again to all the nominees, winners and highly commended.
| Community Champion | |
|---|---|
| Winner | Mark Osmer FCIPS |
| Highly Commended | Kate Palmer FCIPS |
| Corporate Volunteer | |
|---|---|
| Winner | The University of Salford |
| Highly Commended | Hays |
| Branch Event of the Year | |
|---|---|
| Winner | Birmingham & Coventry Branch, Career Success through the Voice of Women |
| Highly Commended | Manchester Branch FLIP Event |
| Outstanding Contribution | |
|---|---|
| Winner | Mike Hammond FCIPS |
| Highly Commended | Lucie Fierdehaiche Mahéas MCIPS & Mike Brown FCIPS |
| Branch of the Year | |
|---|---|
| Winner | Manchester Branch |
| Highly Commended | Central London |
| Volunteer of the Year | |
|---|---|
| Winner | Laura Scarfe FCIPS |
| Highly Commended | Gaynor Smith FCIPS & Oliver Jones FCIPS |
Recognitions Awards were also presented to Alison Barto FCIPS as the outgoing Chair of the Global Board of Trustees and Daniel Bassey MCIPS and Joshua Gitoho Njoroge MCIPS for their volunteering activities in Nigeria and Kenya.
We plan to hold the event again in 2026 and this model will become a blueprint for future volunteer events globally.
Branch Event Spotlight
In November Procurement Heads launched the Empowering Women to apply for FCIPS event in London and left everyone buzzing, echoing the energy of the UK & Europe Volunteers Branch Award-winning Career Success through the Voice of Women event hosted by the Birmingham & Coventry CIPS Branch in 2024.
These gatherings have empowered and connected procurement professionals through inspiring stories and practical insights, spotlighting women’s achievements and journeys.
The enthusiasm is still electric, and to build on the momentum the volunteers are already planning to build on this success next year.
Gaynor Smith FCIPS, Dimitra Koutsochera FCIPS, Vicky Hinchliffe FCIPS
Regional Spotlights
CIPS Australia and New Zealand:
In October, CIPS ANZ held their annual New Zealand Procurement Futures Conference in Wellington!
A huge thank you to the CIPS Auckland branch for organising a fantastic networking event in the lead-up to the Conference, members of the ANZ team had the pleasure of joining, and it was a wonderful opportunity to connect with the Auckland community.
Another big thank you to our CIPS Wellington branch for hosting the Pre-Conference Networking event. Your efforts created the perfect atmosphere to spark excitement and kickstart the networking ahead of the conference!
Wellington – Pre Conference Networking Event
A highlight of the Conference was the outstanding contribution from our inspiring ANZ volunteers, who shared insights across a diverse range of topics.
Fiona Nissen FCIPS (Fellows Committee and ANZ Mentor) Jane O’Toole FCIPS (Christchurch Chair), Kim Innes (Christchurch committee)
🌟 MCIPS and FCIPS Celebrations! 🌟
Congratulations to our ANZ volunteers who have recently achieved MCIPS and FCIPS! Your dedication and hard work to the procurement and supply community is outstanding. Thank you for your invaluable contributions and for inspiring others with your commitment to excellence.
- ACT Chair: Anita Morris MCIPS
At the New Zealand Procurement Futures Conference in Wellington Charlotte Payne CIPS ANZ General Manager had the pleasure of acknowledging FCIPS achievers:
- AKL Committee Member: Dane McIndoe FCIPS (CS)
- WEL Committee Member awarded Ismail Halim FCIPS (CS)
New content articles featuring volunteers from Australia and New Zealand:
Summerset Group & Purpose-Driven Procurement - featuring Anna Laity MCIPS (Christchurch Committee)
FCIPS Drives You To Become a Visible Role Model - featuring Kendall Richardson FCIPS (South Australia Branch Chair)
In other news
Welcome to our volunteers who have recently re-launched the CIPS Germany Branch chaired by Jafles Pacheco FCIPS
Thank you to all the Branch Chairs and committee members who have worked with the CIPS team to create the fantastic Branch Spotlight posts. Take a look at some of the spotlights via the links below and if you would like to create a spotlight for your branch please get in touch
MIDLANDS BRANCHSURREY & SUSSEX BRANCHNIGERIA BRANCH
CIPS updates and what’s coming up
CIPS wants your feedback – help strengthen procurement skills industry-wide. CIPS is reviewing its Level 2 Certificate in Procurement and Supply Operations to ensure it remains relevant and valuable for the profession. Your feedback will help CIPS understand whether the content, skills, and knowledge taught at Level 2 meet business needs and reflect current industry practice. We’re working with Mustard Research on this project and can confirm your feedback will be confidential. Mustard have created a short questionnaire; they are also looking for volunteers to have in-depth 1-1 interviews (lasting 1 hour each). If you would like to get involved, please complete the questionnaire by 12th December or contact us if you are available for one of the interviews
In the new year, Ben Farrell plans to launch ‘The Great Conversation’ — a global dialogue across the procurement and supply community about the future of our profession, we are keen to hear your views on
- What skills will define the next generation of leaders in supply?
- How do we build resilient supply systems for a world that is changing faster than ever?
Engagement opportunities
- Global Volunteer Drop-In’s 22 Jan 08.30 GMT, 19 Feb 13.00 GMT, 19 Mar 16.00 GMT
- Volunteer Induction 27 Jan 12.00 GMT, for all those new volunteers recently onboarded
- UK & Europe Branch Chair Drop-In 29 Jan 08.30 GMT, 26 Mar 12.30 GMT
Upcoming branch events can be found here.
And don’t forget………
CIPS Connect community platform is the perfect place for you to share these, and other stories, first hand.
Finally, thank you for everything you have contributed in 2025, you are amazing and we really appreciate you! Enjoy the festive holidays and lets do it all again in 2026
CIPS Membership Team
Contact us please get in touch if you have any questions or suggestions for our next newsletter, we are always happy to hear from you. Please email branchevents@cips.org.