We were delighted to be able to hold a reception for OR Society
volunteers at the House of Lords during volunteer’s week. Sponsored by
Lord Clement Jones, the reception took place in the Cholmondeley Room
and Terrace, with fantastic views over the Thames. After a welcome by
Lord Clement Jones, OR Society President Gilbert Owusu gave a speech
thanking volunteers and acknowledging their numerous contributions to
the society and wider OR community.
We also heard from Ruth Kaufman OBE, former President of The OR
Society, who shared her reflections volunteering, including its long and
impressive history at the ORS.
“There are many reasons people volunteer:
- passion for the cause
- belief that things need to be done
- desire to share expertise
- interest in the work
- opportunity to do something different, meet different people, being energised and stimulated by new ideas
- building up the CV
- desire to ‘give something back’
I myself have volunteered for all these reasons and
more, at different times in my life, for different organisations and
causes. And I’m sure that the motivations for everyone here today, and
OR Society volunteers more widely, include all of these and more.
It’s just as well that there are all these reasons for different
people at different life stages to volunteer, because the ORS has been
reliant on volunteers since day one. I’m told that the ORS was run by
volunteers for 10 years until we had our first paid staff member. We
still couldn’t run The OR Society without them- volunteers touch all
elements of the Society to this day.”
Ruth handed over to Professor Christine Currie, current chair of the
Research Committee. Christine spoke about the present and future of
volunteering with The OR Society.
“The UK is very lucky to combine OR academics and practitioners
in one society, enabling a transfer of ideas and knowledge in both
directions. The diversity of views is crucial to ensuring that we remain
current and can spot future trends.
Events and conferences really help with building a strong
network, and these can only happen after a huge amount of hard work from
volunteers who take on organising roles, something as a community we
are very grateful for.
It's also important that we ensure that everyone feels able to
contribute and participate to OR. The work of WORAN and the Early Career
Researcher Network help to encourage and nurture the OR pipeline.
Having a healthy flow of diverse talent into the profession and reducing
leaks along the way(!) is essential for maintaining the health of the
OR discipline and, I would argue, the UK economy.
Considerable work is also done by volunteers ensuring that we
input into new initiatives and maintain links with the wider scientific
community. This takes time, effort and expertise. We are very thankful
for all of the support that our members give us keeping up-to-date and
ensuring OR has a seat at the table.
OR solves real, practical problems and members of the OR Society
played a significant role during the COVID-19 pandemic, it was a real
thrill to see a Professor of Operational Research on the news. We also
have members working on Net Zero within the Government OR Service, and
projects in healthcare, working on reducing ED waiting times and
improving efficiencies in the NHS in Wales.
With the amazing set of volunteers that The OR Society has, I’m
confident that these successes will continue to happen, helping to raise
the profile of OR and ensure its continued success.”