Inside ICAS: Top talking points from June 2022
Your new Office Bearer team review their top talking points from June, including an evening at the Tower, an opportunity to help disadvantaged children and a 1000-mile charity bike ride.
ICAS President Indy Singh Hothi CA joins Deputy President Clive Bellingham CA and Vice President Alison Cornwell CA to highlight some of the key ICAS initiatives and activities they were talking about during June.
Indy’s top talking point
…the most valuable part of the evening was the opportunity to speak to so many colleagues in person.
Indy Singh Hothi CA, ICAS President
"One of my first tasks as ICAS President was to host a Members’ event at the Tower of London. It was a fantastic evening, with 150 CAs in attendance, canapés in Britain’s most famous castle, the White Tower, and a private tour of the Crown Jewels. However, the most valuable part of the evening was the opportunity to speak to so many colleagues in person.
I’ve talked before about how important a strong network has been to my career, and how it still is. Networking is a powerful part of professional life that the pandemic’s circumstances forced us all to neglect but one we need to ensure to nurture now that restrictions are lifted and life has returned to normal.
The role of Clive, Alison and I as Office Bearers is of course to represent ICAS at public events, but it’s also to serve and represent you, our Members and Students. Being able to speak to you in person not only makes that job much easier, it makes it far more enjoyable too. And what an enjoyable occasion our night at the Tower was, packed with conversation, old connections refreshed and new connections made, many of which will be of personal and professional value for years to come."
Keep your eye on the icas.com events page and your ICAS emails for news of upcoming networking events.
Clive’s top talking point
As a CA there are an array of ways to volunteer your time and services, to your benefit and to the benefit of your wider community.
Clive Bellingham CA, ICAS Deputy President
“ICAS is often promoting the benefits of volunteering, and as a CA there are an array of ways to volunteer your time and services, for your good and for the good of your wider community. You could ‘donate’ your finance and business skills to help steward a charity, volunteer as a mentor with an organisation like the ICAS Foundation (more on them from Alison, below) or give up a few hours a year to help an organisation like RedSTART.
In case you missed our feature during Volunteers Week, RedSTART is a financial-education charity that helps children in disadvantaged areas to achieve better futures. They do this by teaching them good financial habits, equipping them with basic monetary knowledge and the kind of life skills that will help them to better-manage money throughout their lives – skills that can benefit them and their families now and in the future. Since 2012 they have helped over 45,000 children in schools across the UK to achieve better financial futures and they are currently seeking volunteers to help support their expanding programme."
You can find out more here about what’s involved and how to volunteer.
Alison’s top talking point
…my plan is to cycle 1000 miles from Land’s End at the far south-west corner of Britain all the way to John O’Groats in the far north.
Alison Cornwell CA, ICAS Vice President
“As I noted when I was announced as new ICAS Vice President, I aim to spend my year in office focusing on three main themes of support, strategy and action. With an eye on the last of those three, you may have spotted recent news of my fundraiser for the ICAS Foundation.
I have always admired the work of the Foundation, which supports academically talented students from disadvantaged communities to study accountancy and finance at university. It increases access to the profession and is very much a force for good, and did you know that 97% of Foundation students achieved an upper 2nd or 1st class degree last year?
To help fund more of these achievements, my plan is to cycle 1000 miles from Land’s End at the far south-west corner of Britain all the way to John O’Groats in the far north. Over 9 days of pedal-powered action I hope to raise £25,000, enough to fund 10 new bursaries for ICAS Foundation students.
The training is going well, thanks to the recent warm weather, and at the time of writing I’m sitting at 25% of my fundraising target. If you’d like to make a donation you can do so here.
Thanks in advance for your support."
What else has got us talking
ICAS writes to HMRC on your behalf: ICAS and other professional bodies sent a joint letter to HMRC to raise our Members’ concerns about recent poor HMRC service levels and to request action on your behalf.
The CA Summit is back: registrations opened for ICAS’ award-winning three-day virtual conference, which returns for 2022, starting on 4 October. The Summit will once again be packed with bitesize talks, presentations and interviews, offering topical debate, leadership insight and expert advice on themes including finance, wellbeing and sustainability. Register here.
Sustainability Reporting: Clive chaired a joint ICAS/Emperor webinar on sustainability reporting. Both recent papers from the ICAS Sustainability Assurance Working Group were promoted to the attendees, who were a mixture of FTSE 350 and smaller listed entities.
Catch up on recent webinars: ICAS hosted two hugely informative webinars in June, including a special edition of the Ask ICAS series that was focused on everything a CA needs to know about Russia sanctions, and a Finance+ episode that featured entrepreneur Portia Hart, who shared her journey of setting up a business with a focus on the circular economy. If you missed them, you can watch the recordings here.
Accountancy Europe's Audit and Assurance Policy Group: ICAS participated in a joint meeting of its Corporate and Financial Reporting Policy Group and Sustainability Policy Group. Key topics discussed included the finalisation of the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive that will impact certain large UK entities which have operations in the EU.
That’s all for this month’s round-up. Join us again in a few weeks to find out what else has got us talking.
Let's keep talking
- You can connect with Indy Singh Hothi CA, ICAS President on LinkedIn.
- You can connect with Clive Bellingham CA, ICAS Deputy President on LinkedIn.
- You can connect with Alison Cornwell CA, ICAS Vice President on LinkedIn.