In early November I was delighted to attend the HA Branch Officers' Meeting in London. Many branches were present and I enjoyed talking to people from across the country. It also gave me the chance to hear more about the activities of our local members and I left with a lot of excellent ideas for promoting history! Since becoming President in May I have also been involved in a variety of events where I have represented the HA. These have included meetings with the Royal Historical Society, History UK (HE), the Higher Education Academy and the A-level examination boards.

The HA survey of history in secondary schools has been an important basis for these discussions. The survey has been widely quoted in the press and has been used by MPs and government advisers. Another topic has been the government's research monitoring exercise, the Research Excellence Framework (REF). For the first time the REF will measure the public impact of research in the universities. The HA will have a significant role in providing evidence of impact when the current exercise ends in 2014. The HA will also benefit from increasing contact with university history departments, who already provide lecturers, day schools and conferences for our branches...