Institute 20th Anniversary Reception and Awards

The Institute of Tourist Guiding celebrated its 20 years with a glittering reception at Spencer House in central London on 28 November 2022. Despite train strikes and a last minute change of date, it was a wonderful evening, attended by around 120 members and guests including representatives of Visit Britain, Westminster Abbey, Tourism Alliance and St. Paul’s Cathedral. We were fortunate to have as our guest the Reverend Robin Griffith-Jones, Valiant Master of the Temple at the Temple Church, who gave a highly amusing speech and praised our community of guides for which he has enormous respect. He thanked us for the number of visitors we take to the Temple and for the entertainment, enthusiasm and information, especially the storytelling and context, that we bring when guiding our clients wherever in the country we work.

You were all invited to nominate members you felt had made an outstanding contribution to the profession. Promoting the guiding profession generally and the Institute in particular were so important to our founder, Katrine Prince.

The recipients of the Awards were: –

OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION DURING THE PANDEMIC

Winner: Nigel Rundstrom

OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO THE PROFESSION IN THE UK & OVERSEAS

Winner: Richard Skinner

OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO THE INSTITUTE

Winner: Ros Hutchinson MBE

More information on each winner can be found here.

In addition, there were Honourable Mentions in each category: –

Outstanding Contribution during the Pandemic - Petra Hermann; Mark King; Alex Lacey; Pepe Martinez

Outstanding Contribution to the Profession in the UK & Overseas - Sally Empson; Themis Halvantzi-Stringer; Tess Pike; Mairead Sweeney; Katie Wignall

Outstanding Contribution to the Institute - Jennifer Bassanavar; Marilyn Collis; Sally Empson; Dafydd Wyn