Our President Drew Cornies shares some exciting chamber news:  Hey everyone, Thank you for braving the heat and joining our last JCI London social! We had a blast and it was great to see so many new faces. For those who couldn't make it, we missed you! I’d like to draw your attention to a few different things going on in JCI: -First, JCI membership itself - it’s £10 / month (or £5 / month for students) and gets you a whole load of benefits. Click here for sign-up instructions. -Second, we’re piloting a mentoring programme this year, due to start next month in September. We’ve got a number of experienced business professionals from various backgrounds who are chomping at the bits to ‘pay it forward’ and help you learn from their experiences. You can express interest here.   Next on the list we have some upcoming events so be sure to keep these dates free and sign up: 1. 28^th August - Our next social! Yes, we had such a great time in July, we’ve organised another, this time at The Pergola in Paddington. I was at the Pergola last year for a birthday party and they’ve got loads of food and drink stalls and a great outdoor vibe. Hope to see you there! 2. 19^th September - Another social follows to ring in September after bidding farewell to the summer. Join us for a good ol’ pub get together at the Barley Mow in Westminster just a stone’s throw away from the Houses of Parliament. 3. 26^th September – Our first training event Maximising Personal Impact in Presenting brings a great opportunity for you to shape up your presentation skills. This is brought to you by drama based learning company Different Duck so get ready for a fun and interactive session! 4. 8^th October – Mental wellbeing has been quite a focus for JCI this year and in line with this our next event Overseeing Your Wellbeing will look at ways of handling this. Experienced mental health trainer Vas Hirani will be facilitating this so I’m sure we’ll be in capable hands!   And last but not least... 5. 12^th October –TOYP Awards Ceremony This formal event sees the culmination of the ‘Ten Outstanding Young Person’s Programme’(TOYP) that JCI London has been running for the past few months. The evening will honour our local award winners. TOYP is one of the longest running global JCI programmes, which honours young leaders that have made significant community impact or have achieved something magnificent in their chosen field. Past winners have included John F. Kennedy, Elvis Presley and Wayne Gretzky who were all honoured before the age of 40 and before they achieved national prominence. This is in fact a double celebration as we will also be celebrating the achievements of Bill Fraser, who served as Local President of JCI London 50 years ago and is still impressively active in the chamber – what a milestone! The Early Bird rate for this ends on Monday 26^th August so be sure to get your ticket fast.   That’s all for now but if you have any questions or would like to get further involved with JCI, email me at drew.cornies@jcilondon.org.uk and let’s have a chat! Enjoy your summer, Drew