Having stood unsuccessfully for election to the Executive Council last year I am grateful for the nomination once more and have decided to try again this year. As the Chair of the Bristol, Bath and West Group representing 1750 members I have been prompted to push for a review of CSPA organisation, processes, procedures and member engagement against a background of falling membership, the closure of local groups and declining membership revenues. This trend has to be reversed if CSPA is to continue as an effective campaigning organisation in representing the needs of members to Government to protect pensions and access to vital public services, including health and social care. As we now all know the CSPA as an unincorporated organisation with unlimited liability is currently considering the process of incorporating as a company limited by guarantee led by a board of directors and a chief executive officer. It is intended that very little will change in terms of how we operate at the outset – the functions and titles of Executive Council and General Secretary are likely to be retained with “Company Limited by Guarantee” consigned to a footnote to preserve the name and logo of the CSPA intact. So we could leave it at that, nothing has really changed, or we could explore as part of the journey towards incorporation whether this very different model of working will open up new opportunities to streamline our processes, perhaps recruiting one or two pro bono non-executive directors with commercial experience to reduce our running costs, explore income generation possibilities and increase membership recruitment, retention and participation - the latter building on renewed interest in the CSPA from new members who have suffered hardship delays in lump sum and monthly pension payments following the transfer of Civil Service pensions administration from MyCSP to Capita. Finally, on a personal note, I began my Civil Service career as a clerical assistant in 1965 before retiring in 2011 as a senior executive officer/acting principal leading on economic development for the Government Office for the South West in Bristol. I am married with two grown-up children.