Higher education Shared experience Michelle Boshoff-Turner, BPA membership and events officer, reports on the recent joint meeting of the Higher Education and Healthcare Interest Groups have recently taken over as the account manager for both the BPA Healthcare and Higher Education Interest Groups, so I was looking forward to the joint meeting, which is held once a year. Ian Goodwin, chair of the Higher Education Interest Group, and Keith Fowler, chair of the Healthcare Interest Group, have a wealth of knowledge and experience that is invaluable to help address key issues faced by members from both sectors. It made sense to bring these two groups together because many of the challenges faced are very similar, and best practice can be shared between them. As we head into the BPAs 50th birthday year, I was keen to I It became clear that our members need further support so another working group was proposed highlight the emphasis being put on increasing our membership and the success of introducing corporate individual membership, which has been hailed by members as brilliant and a no-brainer for an employer. We are hoping to drive a cultural change, focusing on professional development and improving the way we engage with our members. Sharing knowledge Kelvin Reynolds, BPA director of Corporate and Public Affairs, led a discussion alongside Goodwin and Fowler on the creation of tailored toolkits to help explain why charges are made and the benefits that accrue. These can include an infographic template designed to demonstrate parking income and expenditure, which should help reduce customer angst and pushback on parking charges, especially at hospitals. We agreed to launch this within the Healthcare group first, and then within the Higher Education group. Input from members is key to getting this right, so a member-led working group will be created to help advise on the creation of the infographic. The development of the BPAs resource library was discussed as part of the Technology, Innovation and Research Departments Knowledge Project, which aims to refresh and streamline the learning materials the BPA offers. Reynolds proposed that two task and finish groups (one for healthcare and one for higher education) are set up to help develop case studies, fact sheets and checklists. These would work with the groups benchmarking studies, which also assist with sharing knowledge and experience.* 38 britishparking.co.uk PN Sep19 pp38-39 HE Health Group.indd 38 22/08/2019 12:16