Former CIPR President, Sarah Waddington, awarded CBE
Former CIPR President, Sarah Waddington Chart.PR, FCIPR, has been awarded a CBE for services to public relations and voluntary sectors. The honour was announced in the Queen’s Birthday Honours on Saturday, 12 June, together with the launch of her new Community Interest Company (CIC), Socially Mobile.
Sarah's contribution to the public relations industry includes more than 20-years volunteering for the CIPR, where she held roles at regional, national and board level. She was President of the Institute in its 70th anniversary year in 2018, driving an agenda of management practice.
She is the founder and managing director of Astute.Work, a management consultancy and public relations business based in Newcastle, and runs the #FuturePRoof community to share management expertise, skills, and case studies with practitioners in a bid to improve social mobility in the comms sector. She has also co-launched Socially Mobile, a new not-for-profit PR school focused on practitioners from lower socio-economic backgrounds and under-served groups.
Her other voluntary activities have included a role as Trustee of the Sunshine Fund (2014-2018). She is currently an IoD ambassador in the North East of England, and part of the advisory group which has overseen Max and Keira's Law – the Organ Donation (Deemed Consent) Act which came into effect in May 2020.
This honour is incredibly humbling and I’m grateful to all those who were involved in making it happen. The award shows that public relations is increasingly recognised as an important management function delivering huge value to organisations and helping make a real difference to people’s lives.
I’m surrounded by many fantastic leaders who are also doing their bit to create a fairer society and level the playing field. That’s a group I admire and am privileged to be part of. It’s inspired me to do more and I hope it inspires others to play their part too.
- The Queen's Birthday Honours 2021 lists have been published here.
- Find out more about Socially Mobile here.
About the Chartered Institute of Public Relations
Founded in 1948, the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) is the world's only Royal Chartered professional body for public relations practitioners in the UK and overseas with nearly 10,000 members.
The CIPR advances professionalism in public relations by making its members accountable to their employers and the public through a code of conduct and searchable public register, setting standards through training, qualifications, awards and the production of best practice and skills guidance, facilitating Continuing Professional Development (CPD), and awarding Chartered Public Relations Practitioner status (Chart.PR).