Guest speaker Baroness Newlove – the Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales – called on the Luncheon’s 1700 members and guests to get involved in OnSide’s Youth Zones initiative.

The charity is setting up Youth Zones up and down the country to support young people from deprived areas by providing access to leisure facilities, mentoring and careers advice.

“OnSide has a vision to give every child a safe environment to be in,” she told the audience. “In this environment they not only learn to be themselves; they learn that they are respected, have a voice, have talent, and that they are intelligent.”

Baroness Newlove became a community reform campaigner after her husband was killed in Warrington by a gang of teenagers. She is passionate about supporting young people to have better lives, and has set up a number of foundations in pursuit of this.

She was given a peerage in 2010 and now chairs the highways industry's Collaborative Learning Circle, which aims to provide 5000 job opportunities to young people from the OnSide network in the next five years.

CIHT President Matthew Lugg commented: “OnSide is a brilliant initiative which supports much of what CIHT stands for in terms of promoting greater inclusivity, and in tackling the skills shortage.”

Matthew also spoke about his Presidential theme ‘Delivering services for people’, emphasising the importance of consultation, engagement and communication to help deliver better outcomes.

He outlined the key aims of the upcoming CIHT Review of local roads funding and governance, and on Brexit said: “It is vital that we continue to make the case for our sector to be recognised and acknowledged during these on going discussions.”

CIHT Chief Executive Sue Percy thanked the Institution’s members, corporate partners and other supporters and said: “We are confident that if we continue to work together to identify solutions to industry challenges we can continue our on going successes and have more influence.”

She also spoke about some of the CIHT’s plans for 2019 including launching a Professional Development Framework for members, an accreditation scheme for CPD providers and ramping up work to promote diversity and inclusion in the sector.

The Luncheon concluded with an energetic routine from Irish comedian Ed Byrne which prompted laughter and applause from guests. CIHT’s 70th Annual Luncheon is set to take place on Friday 13 December 2019.

(Photograph: Scott Ramsey Photography)