For anyone under 27 it would have been hard to miss the work of our Young Member of the Year.
From the campaigning work on the ‘right to disconnect, to the conversational e-mails, infographics and TikToks, Marina Altoè has transformed the way we communicate with young members in the South West region.
The pioneering work on the ‘right to disconnect’ has worked its way from our regional young members forum, to the first ever young members national conference and is now tabled for debate at UNISON’s national delegate conference in Brighton next month.
The monthly e-mails that have landed over the past 12 months have invited participation from young members who have never been engaged in the union previously and the conversational, light-hearted tone made Marina incredibly approachable and removed one of the key barriers to union participation.
On accepting the award, Marina wanted to express how this was a joint effort from a core group of regional young members and dedicated the award to them all.
Marina has just ‘aged’ out of the the young member age bracket but is now actively working within her branch and has taken on the role of joint communications officer.
Congratulations to our Young Member of the Year, Marina Altoe!