Here we are at the beginning of 2026, a new year and new beginnings in a very topsy-turvy world. I hope you managed to spend some quality time with friends and family over the festive season. As we start this year, some issues roll over such as pay and terms and conditions and other issues come to the forefront. A constant though is the contribution you make every day as a member of the world’s largest nursing union to the people who use your services, your colleagues and to society generally. I want to say a most sincere and genuine thank you to you.

Congress – is evolving

Some of you may or may not know there is an ongoing review about the future of RCN Congress to make it a more inclusive and representative of the membership. Some changes have already been made, including how voting members from the Branches are selected. If you are successful with your application, please make sure you look for subsequent email correspondence about confirmation of booking travel and accommodation. I would also strongly encourage you to contact your Branch leadership team to find out about support available to you.

New Year – new start for Branch leaders

The start of the year also sees the new term of office for your elected Branch leadership teams (also referred to as the executive). These are colleagues who undertake the role on a voluntary basis to support local activity for all the branch members. Some branches have had difficulties with people nominating themselves for these roles. A lot of work has been done between the full time RCN Officers, South East Board and local members to find ways of supporting these branches. A frequent criticism made, is ‘what does the RCN and branch do for me?’. Unless you engage or find ways of letting your local branch team know what you want, initiatives you are undertaking or ideas you want to take forward things will remain the same. Please reach out your local branch or contact your Board Link member who really do want to hear from you.

There are new rules about how long people can hold elected roles and these come into effect from 1st January. This means that some local branch leaders will be in their final year of supporting their branch. Although the autumn feels a long-time way, it’s when AGMs are held and elections take place.

As Chair of a local branch myself, I know how much work goes into organising events and I would like to thank local teams for their voluntary work in supporting you.

The RCN Activism Academy is leading a piece of work on the review of Branches, as more information becomes available, we will share this with you.

South East Board

Over the past few weeks, I have been having discussions with members of the Board and Branches about how we can demonstrate how we undertake our responsibilities following the updated Board Terms of Refence which were approved by RCN Council in October 2025. A comment from a Branch leader felt that the term ‘Board’ sounded quite scary and references to governance sounded bureaucratic. It is a fair challenge and a reminder of getting the right balance between professional and technical language and easily understandable and interesting. What you can expect during 2026 is a commitment to show how we share information about our priorities as a Board and how the Board and Branches work more closely together. We have all been elected by members from across the South East to represent you and your voices. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with any of the Board members if you have any suggestions or comments.

There are three Board meetings a year which includes an open meeting where any member can attend either in person or virtually. Please contact jackie.brooker@rcn.org.uk if you wish to attend a Board meeting. If you have thought about joining an open meeting but have been deterred, please do get in touch and let us know how we could entice you.

A focus on....

The RCN represents nursing across all sectors of the health and care sectors and will refocus its aims at times on recruitment of new members. A few areas have been identified such as mental health nursing and our student community. Watch this space for further information about the work of improving our student offer and how we can work more effectively with our educational providers. If you work in mental health, please share ideas with your local Branch leaders about how you can work together to improve recruitment of members. Members working in the independent sector represent quite a diverse range of organisations, we really do want to hear from you and if the Board can support your ideas we will do our best.

Let’s work together to show how the South East region is becoming more engaged between the Board and Branches.