As your new chair and vice chair of the RCN Eastern Board, we want to thank every member who used their vote to re-elect us, and also to the board for instilling its faith in our abilities to continue to lead the board to excellence. We also welcome other members new to our board - you can find out more about all of us on our profile page.

We want to extend our thanks to Theressa Porrett, our former RCN Eastern member of RCN Council and Vice Chair of Council, for her outstanding work in her term for RCN members in our region and beyond. We wish her every success in her next endeavours.

We welcome Natalie Brooks as our new Eastern member on RCN Council, who has also been newly elected as vice chair. As our board’s most recent outgoing chair, we are assured she will be an asset to the role and bring a passionate and strong voice for all of our members.

We are keen to ensure we represent all of the voices of our members - there are over 38,000 in the Eastern region, with the numbers still rising. There is a reward in sharing positive experiences and the huge resources available as part of RCN membership. We hope to see our member numbers continue to rise this year.

This year sees some great opportunities for our region. Firstly, we will be launching our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Network. This is a member-led initiative, and we are looking out for passionate members to take part and shape the vision of this network for our region. So please do consider joining. Come along to our catch-up on 25 February when we'll be talking about EDI.

We also enter the third year of our internationally educated nursing (IEN) professionals working group. This group is now open to new members within the region who want to support education and learning events for IENs, or raise awareness for all. We have some great events lined up specifically around career progression. If you're interested in finding out more, please email us.

We are looking to build on the successful event at Colchester Hospital last October where we focussed on finding your professional voice and nursing activism. Check our events page for all the latest sessions. We are passionate about member engagement and we will push throughout the year, both at the branch and regional levels, for events that will foster this engagement. Your voice really matters to shape this great college.

We are also preparing for the biggest event in our diaries - RCN Congress - which is back in Liverpool this year. Some of you may have applied for voting seats, however, the board is also offering the opportunity to attend with funding as a non-voting member. This opportunity is being offered to retired, student and nursing support worker members. Just fill in this form by 24 February to express your interest and your application will be considered. As a very active region, we hope to see more Eastern members on the podium and delivering sessions for learning and wellbeing this year. We look forward to welcoming new and familiar faces. We go above and beyond to ensure everyone feels included and supported at Congress, so please come and say hello – and join us for our regional coffee session.

The RCN is all about its membership - we need your voice to direct us. So please be active and engage with us. Join us at our monthly catch-ups to keep yourself updated with all the latest news and events. It’s a great way to meet new friends.