Find out about volunteering opportunities for members and students in CIPFA in the North East.
Volunteering with CIPFA in the North East
Volunteering is a great opportunity to develop skills in areas that you may not get a chance to experience in the workplace, as well as being a way to meet new people and attend events. We offer a variety of roles and we're always looking for new support to join our friendly team, whatever your skills or experience are to date.
CIPFA in the North East regional executive is almost entirely made up of volunteers, who provide their time free of charge to promote and be the voice for CIPFA in the North East region. Many of our volunteers are supported by their employers who see volunteering as a good development opportunity. We are always looking for new members and remain especially keen to hear from people willing to help with our events programme.
Regional Executive meetings are held every two months, usually start at 5pm and last no longer than two hours. Our AGM is once a year, typically in March, which we are legally required to hold. We also hold many events throughout the year that require additional resources to ensure the smooth running of such events. These offer a great way to get involved in events and attend events for free!
See below to find out more about the types of volunteer roles that are available in our area, including the typical tasks and responsibilities that are required. However, this list isn't exhaustive. If you think there's a role that should be on our list, please let us know!
Why volunteer?
Do you want to learn new skills? Meet new people? Gain more knowledge of regional and national CIPFA activity? Gain CPD points? There are many advantages in volunteering with us, including:
- making a difference to the careers of others,
- feeling valued and part of a team,
- spending time away from work or a busy lifestyle,
- gaining confidence, new skills, knowledge and experience,
- developing existing skills and knowledge,
- using your professional/specialist skills and knowledge to benefit others,
- meeting new people and make new friends.
This is not an exhaustive list and what you get out of it is largely up to yourself! If you need any more convincing that volunteering is a great thing to do, read this article on the benefits of volunteering.
This is what our current volunteers had to say about the experience:
Vice President
"I joined the CIPFA North East Exec as a CIPFA student in 2016, thanks to the encouragement of my training coordinator and CIPFA North East Vice President at the time. This led to me getting involved with the national CIPFA Student Network (CSN) and later becoming President of the CSN. I also volunteered as Secretary of CIPFA North East, a role I thoroughly enjoyed and took immense pride in before taking on my current role as Vice President. I've been fortunate to attend CIPFA events all over the country, meeting some amazing people and learning loads along the way so I'd encourage anyone to get involved in whatever capacity you can!"
Website/Social Media Editor
"Following a stint in the private sector with a financial software provider, I took the plunge back into the Public sector a few years ago. I had never considered being involved with local CIPFA activity, however a colleague suggested my IT skills would be useful as the current techie was looking to retire from the role. I agreed and have never looked back. Getting involved in local decision making with a great bunch of people, and being able to apply my skills to promote the region, makes the role all the more enjoyable. I would highly recommend getting involved as it's a great platform for meeting new people, building wider networks, learning new skills, increasing knowledge; the benefits are plenty."
Events Coordinator
"As a CIPFA student I often felt isolated, as at the time there were fewer students working in the NHS. Attending courses, I found many students already knew each other - something I found daunting and made me feel self-conscious. Becoming involved with the Regional Executive gave me an opportunity to develop student and member networks, develop my professional confidence and have a lot of fun along the way.
I initially became involved as a volunteer of the Sixth Form Management Games event, which is an extremely fun event held annually. My passion for the institute both at a national and a regional level grew from there and I was encouraged to join the North East Exec. With no experience of sitting on any kind of committee and as a student in a junior role in the NHS I felt I had little to offer, but attended the meetings anyway because every Executive member I'd met had been so welcoming. I soon realised my opinions as a student and a fellow public finance professional were valued and appreciated.
Six years on I have enjoyed many wonderful opportunities as a North East Executive member, made many friends and have developed skills and confidence to support my career. I would encourage anyone to get involved with their regional Exec, supporting and shaping the Institute to which we all belong."
What type of roles are there?
Here are the Executive roles with a brief summary of what's expected from each post holder:
Treasurer
- manage and monitor the budget for CIPFA NE,
- manage the regional bank account and prepare/authorise payments,
- produce the annual financial statements and present to the AGM,
- work with other volunteers to develop sponsorship and pricing structures,
- prepare quarterly VAT returns,
- liase with CIPFA HQ on financial issues.
Website and Social Media support
- maintain and manage the CIPFA NE website and content, using CIPFAs content management software,
- liaise with CIPFA IT/Technical support on website issues,
- post updates on social media and manage social media accounts,
- post live updates from events on social media,
- provide website/IT updates at regional exec meetings.
Events support
- plan and develop events,
- liaise with speakers and conference facilities,
- coordinate events on the day itself,
- promote and market events.
Secretary
- coordinate external organisations/volunteers with presidents,
- arrange various meetings and events appointments,
- book meeting rooms and conference facilities,
- produce meeting agendas and taking minutes,
- answer queries and handling correspondence,
- maintain documents and members databases,
- other ad hoc and delegate work as required.
Vice President
- provide support to the president,
- speak at public events,
- carry out strategic support,
- assist in writing the annual regional development plan.
President
- set and support the strategic direction for CIPFA North East, including leading on the annual Regional Development Plan,
- speak at public events,
- liaise with CIPFA, employers and other accountancy bodies,
- chair CIPFA North East committee meetings.
Regional Rep at CIPFA Council
- attend national CIPFA Council meetings.
- provide updates to regional meetings.
- provide updates and thoughts/comments from the North East on national CIPFA debates.
- directly input into the strategic governance of CIPFA.
We also have committee members who do not hold any of the roles above but actively contribute to discussions at our bi-monthly meetings and support our activities and events throughout the year. If you are interested in joining the CIPFA North East Committee, please email northeast@cipfa.org.
How do I get involved?
If you are interested in volunteering, or have any questions about any of the information on this page, please email northeast@cipfa.org. Someone will contact you to discuss current opportunities and register any interest you may have in holding a place on the executive board.
If joining the committee is not for you, there are other ways you may wish to get involved, such as being a speaker at our events, writing an article for our newsletters, or assisting us in raising the profile of CIPFA in the region by promoting CIPFA within your professional networks and encouraging attendance at our events. If any of these are of interest please email the secretary using the above email address.
