This has been a fairly quiet month, although I did have the pleasure of meeting the new president of Adept, Paula Hewitt, with Hannah Bartram, Adept’s chief operating officer, and Sue Percy. It was interesting and unusual to have an all-female meeting of this nature and shows how we are making progress in terms of gender equality in our industry. Paula is going to be a great president of Adept and shares many of my aspirations for our two organisations. We talked about the opportunities for Adept and CIHT to collaborate including on climate change, road safety, planning, road pricing, and the live labs programme.

In the middle of the month, we held our annual Board of Trustees away day with Gordon Baker chairing for the first time. It was great that most Trustees were able to come to Britannia Walk so we could meet in person in what seems like a very long time. We had an update on the position of CIHT in terms of our key statistics benchmark comparators achievement of KPIs and budget targets and delivery of key initiatives. It was reassuring that as an institution we are doing so well after what has been and obviously very difficult year I want to be in particular our financial position is secure we then moved on to thinking about the next 5 to 10 years and received feedback about the consultation process on the new strategic plan.

After lunch we moved on to thinking about the next 5 to 10 years defining what success would look like measuring success and considering immediate challenges there's a lot of work to be done, but I'm confident the trustees are up for the challenge and will work hard to ensure the continued success of the institution.

On a personal note, I was delighted to receive good wishes from a number of past colleagues and professional contacts. In particular I was pleased to hear from my professional reviewer John Carrington and from my professor and programme leader for my MSc Chris Wright. I am confident that I would not have had the career I have had, or indeed be president of CIHT today without the support, encouragement, and good advice I've received from so many colleagues and contacts, so it is really nice to be able to have the opportunity to thank these people for their support and where possible to pay back the support I've received to the next generation.

Many people will have helped and supported you on your route to professionalism including teachers, professors, and mentors. Why not spend 10 minutes making contact and telling them how their help and support has encouraged you on your journey and thanking them for taking the time to make a difference to you. And then pay it back by supporting and encouraging a colleague in their journey by helping them with their professional review submission or giving them some feedback or advice. If you really want to make a difference to the next generation become a STEM ambassador or volunteer with CIHT as a mentor or reviewer.

So, moving into September it seems as if there is an increasing return to normality; children are going back to school, students will be returning to university, and graduates are starting new jobs and opportunities. Many of us will be going back into the office, although possibly only one or two days a week. Face to face meetings seem to be starting again albeit tentatively at first, and for those who have been working from home, commuting to work again will become more normal.

We need to ensure that we don't lose any of the benefits that may have been part of lockdown whilst, at the same time ensuring that we are going back to a new normality. Face masks, hand sanitizers, social distancing, and online events will be with us for the foreseeable future. However, the daily walk, working from home when appropriate, reducing unnecessary travel, and using online platforms have all proved to be really valuable and we need to embrace these as part of our new work practices. Here's hoping that for young people in particular things will start to get back to normal and that the difficulties they have experienced regarding education, social activities and employment will not have long term impacts. Again, this is a space where we as highways and transportation professionals, can support our local schools, colleges, and universities in providing activities and support to young people.

Deborah Sims, CIHT President