Name
Rebecca Holmes
Career background
Started in branding and moved into third sector work. Got recruited into agency life, and have been there ever since – running digital and social across several agencies. Most recently in my role as the Digital Director at Cirkle.
How long have you been a volunteer?
My time with the CIPR London group is relatively new and began during lockdown!
What made you want to volunteer with us and how did you get involved?
The CIPR Greater London Group Chair, Darryl Sparey, got in touch asking for support on moving tickets for a virtual event and I decided to join the CIPR after attending the event. It was so impressive – such incredible speakers, so much to offer. I knew that I wanted to be a part of the CIPR community. I was then asked to join the London committee and have really enjoyed it so far!
It feels great to be a part of something and it is such an inspiring group of leaders in the industry.
What kind of work do you do on the committee?
The GLG committee runs a lot of events – both networking and continued learning/discussion based events.
I usually help support on the social channels, primarily to push attendance, and also do a mean live tweet during the events. I’m getting more involved with organising events now as well which is really exciting.
What's been the best thing about volunteering so far? Any particular highlight or achievement you're most proud of?
I think for me, it has been the connections and relationships that have really been a highlight – not to mention getting our Covid event trending (a blessing and a curse!) which was really exciting. We caused a bit of a stir!
Did you volunteer through the pandemic and how was that?
I did. It was the pandemic and lockdown that opened the door for me into the CIPR and I’m so glad that it did.
I was furloughed for part of the year and freelancing before joining my new agency, and it was wonderful to have this volunteer opportunity grounding me in the industry when things were in flux.
Why is volunteering important?
We have all been given opportunities in the industry thanks to the generosity of leaders volunteering – I think when we have the chance to do this for others, we owe them to pay it forward.
Whether it is by sharing our knowledge or our time – volunteering helps to move our industry forward and improve our work and its impact.
What would you say to another member thinking of volunteering?
Absolutely get in touch. There is so much flexibility in terms of the time commitment, but you will absolutely get out of it, more than you put in.