Appointment: Russell Lownsbrough elected as Chair of Institute of Professional Goldsmiths

Two new members were also admitted to the Executive Committee, Wayne Meeten FIPG and Danila Tarcinale FIPG. The members attending were informed of the IPG's activities and the efforts of the committee on their behalf. Most significant amongst these being the mentoring scheme recently set up with funding from the Goldsmith's Centre with the pilot currently in progress. This engineered by Jenny Bloy FIPG with invaluable assistance from Alison Branagan.

The Institute has also secured a broad range of discount deals with suppliers, significantly increasing member benefits, mainly thanks to the two new committee members. Further exhibitions are being planned following the success of the Hidden Treasures exhibition in May 2018.

Lownsbrough commented:

“It's a great honour to accept this role in an organisation as prestigious as the IPG, especially at a very exciting time for time for us. We have a great mix of energy and experience in the Executive at the moment. I look forward to helping steer the Institute into the future. We've had good membership growth over the last couple of years. We've vastly increased our engagement with social media and become much more outward looking. We're also looking at extending our range social events, which will provide great networking opportunities. Our website, www.ipgoldsmiths.com, now features an updated search function allowing searches by name, region or skill. Access to our highest levels of membership will continue to be by interview and assessment. Becoming a Fellow is a recognition and validation of an individual's achievement within the craft. As the only organisation in the jewellery and silversmithing arena that has such stringent entry requirements, you rest assured that any craftsperson listed on our website is of the finest quality, 'Excellence as Standard' is and will continue to be our motto.”