JCI UK is a membership organisation and therefore recognising the contribution, development and achievements of our members is especially important. Our winners of most outstanding new member and most outstanding member have really made a huge impact on JCI UK this year.

Most Outstanding New Member - Anne Homer from JCI Sheffield
(Award sponsored by the British Senate)

Anne joined JCI in January 2016 after finding out about the organisation through a colleague, who used to be a member. From the start of her membership she showed great commitment to developing her confidence, skills and experience in public speaking.

Anne has thrown herself into every opportunity JCI has presented, taking part in local and national public speaking training, then putting those skills into practice in JCI Sheffield's EU debate, at a JCI Barnsley event and stepping up to be one of the MCs at the chamber's annual dinner, which involved speaking in front of almost 100 people.

She has attended the full range of events, including a twinning weekend, sleeping rough for charity, business academy, networking events and JCI UK's leadership academy in the summer. As her confidence grew, Anne has taken on more responsibility, becoming the lead for the chamber's small grants programme and has been elected onto the 2017 council. She has become a true ambassador for JCI.

Special thanks go to the British Senate for sponsoring the award, which includes a bursary for Anne to attend the European Conference in 2017. Also thank you to Senate Chair, Peter Duffy, for helping present the award on the evening.

Most Outstanding Member - Sophie Delaporte from JCI Southampton
(Award sponsored by Charles Eder, Senator #69491)

Sophie was recognised by the awards judges as having pushed herself outside her comfort zone and shown enormous personal growth.

Throughout the year, she has supported her local chamber, taking on responsibilities outside of her designated area of international director. She produced the chamber's marketing materials and assisted with social media management. She was part of the team who organised the gala dinner and presented the chamber's successful bid to host national convention in 2017. She also took part in the chamber's community activities and helped build partnerships through active involvement in the Connect with the City programme.

Sophie has implemented projects for JCI Southampton, which will leave a legacy for the future. This included formalising the twinning relationship between JCI Southampton and JCI Kortrijk, as well as developing strong links with a new potential twin - JCI Rouen, with a long-term aim of establishing a multi-twinning agreement. Another project is the Peace Conference, which she organised pretty much single-handedly. She secured impressive speakers on a range of engaging topics.

She has actively engaged in all areas of JCI: locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. She has attended more than 50 events in 2016. She graduated from the JCI UK Public Speaking Academy and went on to compete in the European French debating competition and national public speaking competition. She also took part in the Training Academy, again quickly putting those skills into practice by becoming a trainer at LEAP.