A night of celebration at the APM Volunteer Achievement Awards

Association for Project Management (APM) paid tribute to the contribution of its volunteer community at the annual Volunteer Achievement Awards.

The virtual event, which took place on 20 January, saw awards presented across seven diverse categories to recognise APM’s mentors, branch members, Specific Interest Groups (SIG) members and others whose efforts support the success not only of APM but of the entire project profession.

The winners were:

• APM Branch of the Year - Wessex Branch
• APM SIG of the Year – Women in Project Management (WiPM) SIG
• Education Volunteer of the Year - Georgia Shaw, apprentice ambassador
• Volunteer Event of the Year – Creative Collaboration for Project Professionals, delivered by Penny Pullan, Programme Management SIG committee member
• Volunteer Innovation Award - Kevin Parry, Benefits and Value SIG committee member; and Dr Hugo Minney, Benefits and Value SIG co-chair, Enabling Change SIG committee member and North East Branch committee member
• Special Achievement Award - Carol Bell, Thames Valley Branch and WiPM SIG committee member, VSG member, mentor
• Volunteer of the Year - Daniela Pinto, Wessex Branch committee member; and Martin Gosden South Wales and West of England Branch chair

‘An unexpected surprise’

Winners told APM they were ‘delighted’, ‘surprised’ and ‘honoured’ with their awards.

Georgia Shaw, junior project manager at ATOS, has been volunteering with APM for roughly 12 months as an apprentice ambassador. In that time, she has created content to encourage people to pursue project management apprenticeships and helped APM plan and deliver sessions at its recent Virtual Volunteers’ Forum.

She said: “I’m very surprised but very happy. I didn’t expect it at all.

“For me, it’s very important for apprentices to have this kind of outreach. The most important thing for apprentices is to have a network; to go out and build relationships.  That’s what going out to events and networking is all about. Being able to help people do that virtually is a really great feeling.”

Kevin Parry, Benefits and Value SIG committee member, was named joint-winner in the Volunteer Innovation Award for his research with Dr Hugo Minney into human factors that affect the ability of projects to achieve their projected benefits.

Kevin said: “We held webinars to pose structured questions to attendees. The data was captured and analysed to find patterns, trends and types of bias that can impact people in project roles.

Kevin said: “I’m delighted and honoured. I’m very lucky to be part of a very active, engaged and energetic SIG.”

Vicki Griffiths, chair of WiPM SIG, which was named SIG of the Year, said: “It’s an absolutely fantastic achievement. Everyone in the group has put in so much effort.

“Things like Specific Interest Groups are more important now than ever. What we’re missing now that we’re all at home is a sense of community. It’s vital to keep that going, even when we’re all sat behind computer monitors. It’s great that we’re able to help provide that.”

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