The Corporate and Financial Group of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations has won a Group of the Year Award for 2010 from the CIPR.

The group, which won in the Professional Practice (Sectoral) category, was praised by the CIPR for its “high quality and well attended monthly speaker programme”, as well as its organisation of visits to The Guardian and 10 Downing Street.

The Corporate and Financial Group is the professional body for corporate and financial communications practitioners, and is currently chaired by Caroline Cecil, director of Caroline Cecil Associates.

With around 400 members, the group organises regular events and seminars that provide insight for corporate and financial communicators. In November 2010 it launched the new edition of “Through the Thicket: A Guide for Financial and Corporate Communications Practitioners”, a best practice guide for communicators dealing with listed companies.

The CIPR supports PR practitioners across the UK and has a number of regional and sectoral groups. Jay O’Connor, CIPR President 2010, said: “On behalf of the CIPR I’d like to pay tribute to the fantastic work undertaken by our chairs and their committees in engaging with members of the regional and sectoral groups. We appreciate their sterling efforts,  all on a voluntary basis, to create additional opportunities for professional development and networking, and we know just how much members value their group’s activity.”