I was delighted to learn today that I have been shortlisted as the best PR freelancer in the 2012 CIPR PRide awards for East Anglia.

The result will be announced at a black tie dinner on 11 October at the stunning Ickworth House, near Bury St Edmunds.

My submission was entitled, From Journalism to PR, and highlighted some of my recent successes, including:

• Working as the Conservative Party Eastern Region Press Officer during the 2009 Euro Election.
• Promoting the national Adoption with Humanity campaign.
• Working with Abcodia, a biomarker validation company, for early diagnosis of common cancers.
• Achieving considerable media coverage for Sepsis UK who contacted me via Twitter.

My submission described how after leaving my job as a journalist at the Cambridge News because there were no flexible childcare working hours as I wanted to enjoy bringing up my two sons at the same time as working, I suddenly received a call from Cambridgeshire County Council’s press office asking me to promote their household waste and recycling public consultation initiative – and that was my introduction into public relations and campaigning.

A short while later I began working as press consultant to Conservative Euro MP, Robert Sturdy, a position I held for almost nine years. I was also appointed the Conservative Party’s Eastern Region’s press officer during the 2005 general election and 2009 Euro election, working closely with prospective parliamentary candidates and politicians at ministerial level.

During this time I further developed academic qualifications and studied for the CIPR Diploma in Public Relations which I funded myself, as well as a postgraduate certificate in Social Science Research Methods (distinction).

In the last two years I have become closely involved with Cambridge’s innovative hi-tech community and have worked with clients in the biotech and healthcare industry.

I also became an avid user of social media tools and am a contributory blogger for the Huffington Post, and my blog is archived by the British Library.

At a time when more journalists face job losses and turning to public relations, I know that they can bring many valuable skills to the profession, and I would like to wish them every success. However, I recognise that I learnt many valuable additional skills while studying for the CIPR Diploma in Public Relations and strongly recommend that they take this up too as there is much more to PR than one imagines when starting out.

And for those who would like to find out how it can benefit their business, why not trial it for three months and see for yourself!

*The CIPR PRide Awards is the only UK-wide awards scheme that recognises excellence in public relations and communications work across Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the English regions. Now in its ninth year, the CIPR PRide Awards grow year-on-year as consultancies and organisations increasingly recognise the benefits of industry awards.

The CIPR is the professional body for public relations practitioners in the UK. With 9,000 members involved in all aspects of public relations, it is the largest body of its type in Europe. The CIPR advances the public relations profession in the UK by making its members accountable through a code of conduct, developing policies, representing its members and raising standards through education and training.