It’s farewell from Josh Payne
The outgoing Chair of Welsh Branch reflects on his three years in the role.
27 February 2023
Read this article in Welsh
After three years as Chair of the BPS Welsh Branch, it is time for me to step down and say farewell. The main goal I had when I took on the role of chair was to strengthen and develop the voice of Welsh psychologists and make the Welsh Branch more visible.
I think we have begun to achieve that. During my time as chair, we developed strong working relationships with the divisional committees in Wales, providing mutual support to one another, and opening up opportunities for further development. With the support of Deryn, the voices of psychologists working on the frontline in Wales were heard in the Senedd and we contributed evidence to a number of bills.
In addition, the committee launched two grant prizes for postgraduate students studying in Wales and we lobbied for full translation of our communications into Welsh, resulting in our bilingual newsletter and ongoing dialogue with BPS centrally.
One of the things I am most proud of is bringing representation for the thousands of psychology students studying with the Open University, who historically had little representation with the BPS in Wales.
In April 2022, I left academia and my role as Lecturer in Psychology at Wrexham Glyndŵr Univeristy, to take on the role of Principal Information Analyst at Clatterbridge Cancer Centre.
My intention had been to stay on to support the committee but family life, a new role, and the shedding of my academic responsibilities meant that wasn't possible. With that I had to stand down and step away. You are all most certainly in safe hands with Dr Sharon Davies.
Just as a final thought... I am writing this on the evening of the first day of strike action. None of my colleagues who took strike action today had a choice. They did it to highlight crippling conditions in academic institutions and the precarity of short-term contracts for students and early career researchers who cannot afford to strike.
Fundamentally, they strike because they care so very deeply about upholding the quality of support and education that they provide students, at the very real cost of their personal lives.
To any students reading this, know that the a-ha moments that cross your face are the best moments of the day but to get you there, there is an incredible amount of work that goes on that you do not see. To my colleagues on the picket lines...I am sorry it has come to this. My support might not be worth much these days but I am with you!
Hwyl fawr a diolch am y pysgod i gyd!
Josh