It was always going to be an epic week, with thousands of JCI members from around the world meeting in Quebec City for the week-long 2016 World Congress, but for JCI UK it was full of incredible highs as our achievements were recognised several times. On Tuesday morning I had the privilege to go up on stage during the Morning Show to collect a 100% Efficiency Award from World President, Paschal Dike. The award recognises national organisations which are providing the services necessary to local members to support their efforts to achieve the JCI Mission and create sustainable impact. It requires fulfilment of several KPIs throughout the year to show that the organisation is operating in accordance with international guidelines.

This was the first time that JCI UK had achieved 100% efficiency since 2007. We were one of only two national organisations in Europe to be recognised and one of less than ten out of over 100 countries around the world! 2016 has seen us put in place a solid plan of action with the resulting outputs leading to a bigger, stronger organisation that will be more sustainable in the years to come. The 100% efficiency award truly is a testament to the incredible hard work of all our local chambers and the national board team throughout the year. On Thursday night, the JCI UK delegation congregated at the awards ceremony to cheer on our entries into the World Awards. Whilst we are incredible proud of all of our chambers' and members' achievements, we knew the competition would be tough with entries from all corners of the JCI World. We were therefore jumping up and down with excitement when JCI Southampton President, Celestine Onomo, was named Most Outstanding New Member in the World!

Celestine had this to say about her win: "I am over the moon! I had been thinking about that moment without ever believing it and then it happened, making it all the way to Canada to witness me and my dear friends achieving our goals! Thanks to all the people who have been part of this journey and for the support in the room. I woke up as the Most Outstanding New Member in the world of an organisation of 100,000s of people". Look out for another blog charting our members' experiences of the congress soon!

From National to European to World...Celestine's Awards mark one extraordinary achievement after another