FEATURE VOLUNTEERING
Be an ambassador for your profession
Committee elections for RCOT Regions are open until 31 August 2020.
Here we talk to some current and past members about the opportunities
these roles offer
Do you want to be an ambassador for your profession, improve your local network and
professional development? Joining your Region’s committee could be a great move for
you.
RCOT Regions are branches of RCOT, dedicated to supporting members locally by
providing networking, development and learning opportunities as well as funding through lifelong
learning grants.
As a member of your Region’s committee you will be engaged and motivated to
make positive change. You will be supported by RCOT and existing committee
members to learn new skills, share fresh ideas and help build a stronger local
presence for your occupational therapist peers.
Rena Findlay, chair of the RCOT Scottish Western Region Committee,
who is approaching the end of her second three-year term says: ‘As I
approached retirement after a long, full-time career in occupational therapy, I
couldn’t quite imagine walking away from it all without feeling bereft.
‘I decided that a good way to keep in touch with the profession while beginning to
ease out of the day-to-day full-on involvement was to express an interest in supporting the region’s committee.’
For Vonnie McWilliams, chair of the RCOT Northern Ireland Region, the main motivation was wanting to get involved
in raising the profile of occupational therapy within Northern Ireland – shaped by what its members want and the
stakeholders need to know.
‘There is time to contribute even if you have different roles to juggle,’ she stresses. ‘I work full-time in
education and have my own therapy company, and family commitments, but there is time for committee
work.’
Suhailah Mohamed’s first introduction to a Region committee was as a student occupational therapist,
as an observer, then in the co-opted voluntary role of student representative for RCOT’s London
Region.
‘Once I graduated, I submitted a nomination form to the role of Secretary on the committee,’
she says. ‘I was able to do a lot of the requisite work using my trusty mobile devices. The
freedom this gave me to satisfy my duties around my full-time commitments was invaluable.’
In 2018, she was successfully nominated to the role of vice chair for the committee.
‘It’s hard to identify the single most significant learning outcome since joining the Region’s
committee,’ she reflects. ‘Aside from getting invaluable insight to the reach of RCOT’s influence and
work, I have learned most about my leadership abilities and team working skills.
‘I have found that leadership has little to do with job title or status within an organisation’s
management structure. Instead it has much to do with active listening and maintaining a
questioning approach to situations… good leaders support the development of others by
allowing learning from errors. The motto, “Fail fast, learn faster” comes to mind.’
Rena adds that being on the committee has enabled her ‘to keep up-to-date with
what is happening in the profession’. She says: ‘We are a membership organisation,
and it is so important that the members engage with the professional body. Being on the Region’s committee is one
way to enable and be part of that interaction.’
28 OTnews July 2020