Local groups

The Bedfordshire/Buckinghamshire local group is not active at present.

If you are interested in helping to reinvigorate the group, or would simply like to make contact with editorial professionals in the Bedfordshire/Buckinghamshire area, please contact the community director for more information.

The coordinator of the Berkshire local group is Louisa Ellins.

With a friendly and inclusive approach, our group meets every couple of months, usually with a theme to start a useful and informal discussion and exchange of ideas on a variety of topics that are likely to make our jobs easier or more efficient.

The coordinator of the Bristol/Bath local group is Anna Baildon.

Our local group, which originated in 1995, meets on a monthly basis in either Bath, Bristol or on Zoom. We meet on a weekday morning or afternoon, and in the summer months we sometimes meet in the evening instead, for an al fresco drink.

Meetings are usually informal and provide a great opportunity to chat with other editorial professionals in the area. Do get in touch if you’d like to attend.

The coordinator of the Cambridge local group is Janet MacMillan.

We are a friendly and informal group of both experienced professionals and people new to editing and proofreading. We meet bi-monthly via Zoom, and some of our meetings have a topic presented by a member, while others are more social, but always with a lot of exchange of experience and ideas.

The coordinator of the Cotswolds local group is Guy Winnan.

Our local group was launched in December 2009. We welcome colleagues from across the Cotswolds region, including CIEP colleagues who belong to the Oxford and Three Counties local groups. We also welcome CIEP members who currently reside outside the Cotswolds but who have an interest in this beautiful region.

We aim to provide opportunities for colleagues in the region to meet, talk and share, and organise around five social events every year. These range from attending talks to lunches to walks. We encourage friends and family to come along too.

The coordinators of the Cumbria/Borders local group are Ian Howe and Sandra Board.

Our local group was re-launched in the spring of 2016. Our meetings are informal and offer an opportunity for ‘old hands’ and those new to the business to chat about everything to do with editing and proofreading.

We aim to meet bi-monthly, on the first Thursday of the month. Our meetings are held in a variety of venues in order to even out the travelling required. Any CIEP members who are visiting the Lake District will also be very welcome to join us.

The coordinators of the Devon (Exeter) local group are Alison Shakspeare.

Our group usually meets every other month, usually in Exeter, and these informal get-togethers have included coffee and a chat, skills workshops and visits to local places of interest.

We welcome newcomers to the profession and those who are checking out the benefits of CIEP membership. Our local group is a good place in which to meet other editors and proofreaders, to learn from each other, to open up new avenues of work and to share tips and good practice.

The coordinators of the East Midlands local group are Sharon Rutland, Chris Martin and Kirsty Parkinson.

Our local group usually meets on the third Thursday of each month at a venue serving coffee and cake in Nottingham city centre.

We talk about various aspects of editing and proofreading. It has been known for us to arrange local training courses/workshops for members and also to occasionally stray entirely off topic.

CIEP members at every level are very welcome, as are those considering joining the CIEP.

The coordinator of the Ely/Fenland local group is Naomi Laredo.

Our local group was launched in spring 2018. We welcome CIEP members from the Ely and Fenland area, and also colleagues from further afield who are visiting our part of the world.

We aim to provide opportunities to meet, talk and develop professionally, and we hold informal meetings approximately every two months in the centre of Ely. The group includes employed, self-employed and retired members, so the timing of meetings varies between morning, lunchtime and early evening. Themed discussions or talks, workshops, visits and social events can also be arranged.

The coordinators of the Essex local group are Anna Nolan and Annie Deakins.

Our group is for the whole of Essex, a huge county. The meetings take place in the old market towns of Saffron Walden (Essex), Bishop’s Stortford (on the Hertfordshire border), and in the county town of Chelmsford.

Meetings are mostly held bi-monthly. There’s a wealth of experience among the group’s members with some starting only recently, and some with no publishing background. It’s a chance for a group of like-minded people to share views, observations and raise queries about the intricacies of work and challenges that freelancers face in their day-to-day lives.

The coordinator of the Kent local group is Rebecca Brattle.

Our local group holds meetings roughly every two months. These are mostly social gatherings, either at lunchtime or in the evening, although we cover a wide range of topics including training, ideas for finding work and software recommendations.

Occasionally we hold more formal sessions and these have included workshops on using macros and software to ensure consistency and increase efficiency, marking up PDFs, and building and marketing your business.

Because our members are spread far and wide across Kent, we try to vary our meeting locations appropriately.

The coordinator of the Liverpool local group is Graham Hughes.

Our local group meets quarterly at a bar/restaurant in Liverpool city centre on a weekday afternoon, for informal discussion of editing, freelancing, professional development, etc.

We choose one or two discussion topics in advance for each meeting, and there’s always time for any questions and other points that people would like to bring up. Beginners, experienced hands and those in between are all equally welcome.

The coordinator of the London local group is Dick Hill.

Our local group meets regularly each month during the evening. In order to be more inclusive, our evening meetings take place on different days each month and are followed by dinner for those who want to continue chatting.

Our meetings include informal chats about our work, problems, frustrations and successes, about matters related to the Institute and partly just for a chat! We also have occasional speakers.

If you’ve joined the CIEP (or are thinking of joining), you’re very welcome to come along – it’s a great opportunity to learn and share!

The coordinators of the Manchester local group are Lisa de Caux and Laura Burge.

Our local group consists of editors and proofreaders based in and around Manchester. We meet informally every three months for a drink and lively conversation, and discuss work-related issues and CIEP matters, and have a general catch-up.

If you’re new to CIEP, just starting out or thinking of a career change, we’d be delighted for you to join us and we’ll happily share our experiences and offer advice.

Our meetings are always on a Monday evening in a city centre pub, easily accessible by public transport but with nearby parking if you’re driving.

The coordinator of the Mid-Somerset local group is Liz Dalby.

The Mid-Somerset group was started in late 2014. Several of us felt there would be demand for a group in the area, as the surrounding groups were too far away for many Somerset residents.

We meet roughly every six weeks in Street, in a pleasant pub that serves good coffee, tea and cheesecake. Meetings are usually held in the mornings, though we would be prepared to try other times, depending on the preferences of the group.

The coordinator of the Norfolk (East) local group is Paul Beverley.

We are a friendly, helpful and sociable group and are always pleased to welcome people who are interested in joining the CIEP and finding out more about life as an editor or proofreader. Within our ranks we have a wealth of experience, and a good mix of oldies and newbies, from a variety of backgrounds, all of whom are happy to share their experience and support each other.

We hold bi-monthly meetings and these regularly include workshops on topics such as macros, accounting software, record keeping, and time management etc.

The coordinator of the Norfolk (West/Central) local group is Julia Sandford-Cooke.

Our local group first met in March 2020. It was set up as Norfolk is a big county with poor roads and public transport links, and our objective was to be as inclusive as possible, so that everyone has the chance to meet up with other local editors. We aim to meet at different times of day, and in different areas of West and Central Norfolk, such as King’s Lynn, Wells, Walsingham and Fakenham.

We welcome all CIEP members, and potential members, whatever their experience. We are friendly, supportive, approachable and happy to share our collective wisdom.

The coordinator of the Northamptonshire local group is Janet Firminger.

Our local group was set up in September 2017, and our aim is to provide help and support for all the members in our region, from newbies to those who have been slogging away at the coalface for years. We also welcome any CIEP members who live in or near the county.

The coordinators of the North East England local group are Kia Thomas and Luke Finley.

Our local group meets informally once every two or three months, usually for lunch in a pub near Newcastle or Durham. Our meetings are a mix of discussions about matters of professional interest plus networking to swap ideas, problems, solutions and contacts. Members have a wide range of specialist skills and technical competence, so there's much to learn from one another.

New members have commented that the group is very friendly and relaxed, and that talking to other members can be very helpful.

The coordinator of the North West England local group is Margaret Wilson.

Our local group was started in May 2009 and has developed by leaps and bounds. We usually meet four times a year at The Windmill Inn, Tabley, Knutsford – a central and convenient venue. Our meetings – which include a pub meal – are informal, and we’re always delighted to welcome new members and interested non-members.

We aim to be friendly and helpful, assisting each other however we can – for example, by swapping tips, giving moral support and reassurance, passing on potential work leads and offering opportunities to network and socialise with other members.

The coordinator of the Oxford local group TBC.

Our local group meets every two months.

We are a friendly group, with long-standing and new members mixing happily. Many focus on academic and educational publishing, although we have a wide range of experience and expertise to share. We welcome all members, including those from neighbouring groups such as Cotswolds or Berkshire.

If you are unable to join us in person, there is always the option of staying in touch through our local group online forum. We are trying to make sure there are current notes and news, so please take time to have a look!

The coordinator of the Sheffield local group is Bridget Coulter.

Our local group meets quarterly (March, June, September, December) at the Stag’s Head Inn, Sheffield. We are a friendly and welcoming group, and our meetings are very informal and spontaneous.

We enjoy having new people along, as they bring a new dimension and new topics to our meetings. Equally there is a wealth of differing experience among the regular members, and this offers a great opportunity for anyone interested in editing or proofreading to pick their brains and learn whatever they can from them.

If you are thinking about joining the CIEP, why not come along?

The coordinator of the Shropshire/Mid-Wales local group is TBC.

Our local group meets about every two months and all CIEP and SI members, as well as interested newcomers, are very welcome to join us.

Our meetings are typically informal and friendly affairs, lunchtime meet-ups for work-related chat over a sandwich and coffee in a café – usually in Shrewsbury town centre, as that is a major travel hub for the wide area we cover – but occasionally elsewhere.

The coordinators of the South Warwickshire/Coventry local group are Jenny Gibson and Beverley Sykes.

Our local group is made up of a friendly, very welcoming bunch and we meet every other month, always on a Monday, either during the day via a Zoom meeting or at 7pm at a restaurant in Leamington Spa. We enjoy the opportunity to spend time with our local colleagues discussing the type of work we have on and the intricacies of being proofreaders and copyeditors.

Our meetings are socials with work chat thrown in for good measure. We talk. We eat and drink. We advise and ask for advice. We support each other. We celebrate success. We share best practice – and frustrations. We discuss opportunities. And we’re a group for everyone – new or experienced.

The coordinator of the Sussex local group is Susanne Hillen.

The Sussex local group is friendly and informal, and our members have editorial expertise across a range of subjects, from medical science, law and international development to fiction and the visual arts. We’re a mix of beginners, who can provide great insights into training, to knowledgeable editors with years of experience.

Our meetings, held in the first week of each month, are relaxed and kid-friendly, and take place in a coffee shop in central Brighton. We sometimes have a specific topic, but it’s mostly just about catching up with like-minded individuals and having a good chat.

The coordinator of the Three Counties local group is Sue Browning. 

The Three Counties group was set up in November 2013 for the members of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire, but we also include members from the nearer reaches of Shropshire, Wales and the West Midlands.

We typically meet once a month on Zoom, in the early afternoon. Please see the Calendar of events for dates and times, and upcoming meetings are also listed on the Three Counties forum. Sometimes we have a themed discussion on a topic decided on our forums beforehand, and sometimes we have a free-ranging chat, and sometimes we have a bit of both. As we come from a wide variety of backgrounds and work in different areas of the editing and proofreading world, there's never a shortage of things to talk about, both work-related and not!

We do occasionally meet in person too – in July 2023 a few of us had lunch and a walk on the lovely Malvern Hills, for instance. In previous years we have organised a training day on PDF mark-up, a one-day workshop on macros (with Paul Beverley), as well as a visit to the library and archives of Gloucester Cathedral together with the Society of Bookbinders. And we were also guinea pigs for the CIEP's Efficient Copy-Editing webinars. With the group covering such a wide geographic area, with woeful public transport, it can be tricky to arrange something that suits everyone, so we're always open to ideas of places to meet and things to do.

The coordinators of the Wessex (Dorset and South Hampshire) local group are Mary Hobbins and Katherine Demopoulos.

Our small, friendly local group meets at The Cricketers Arms, Eastleigh, near Southampton. We have lunch every two months, with a supportive chat about our work, questions, successes and frustrations. It’s a great opportunity to learn and share, whether we’re editing and proofreading newbies, or have plenty of years of expertise. We also share questions and thoughts in the CIEP Wessex forum.

If you’ve joined the CIEP and you can get to us, we’ll welcome you warmly!

The coordinator of the West Anglia local group is Guy Manners.

The coordinator of the West Midlands/Birmingham local group is Claire Handy.

Our friendly local group meets for lunch – or a coffee and cake, or a glass of wine – once every two months in the Edwardian Tearooms at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. All members and interested newcomers are very welcome to come along for informal chats about our work, problems, new ventures, frustrations and successes, and mostly to catch up with friends old and new!

We also hold our How Editors Edit meetings before the main meeting for proofreaders and editors who have some experience. Join us for coffee and a focus on specific topics such as Word add-ins and macros, time management, working practices, and marketing, etc.

The coordinator of the West/North Yorkshire local group is Colin Cooper.

Our local group began life in June 2009. We meet regularly in Saltaire, West Yorkshire, for a cuppa and an informal chat on all things editorial, usually with a good mix of old hands and new faces.

Our friendly, welcoming meetings are a great chance for those involved in editing and proofreading to meet and share experiences with others in the area. We usually have a theme, such as getting started in the profession, finding clients or developing editorial skills, and we welcome suggestions for future topics.

The coordinator of the West Surrey/North Hants local group is Ellen Rebello.

Our local group is friendly and enthusiastic, and has a mixture of newer copyeditors and proofreaders and a very experienced contingent, who generously share their expertise. With a variety of experience and interests, there are plenty of opportunities to learn something from others in the group.

We meet every other month for lunch in the Farnham/Fleet area. These are informal meetings where we discuss anything and everything, some of it work-related, but we often start the meetings with a specific topic e.g. marketing tips and resource recommendations.

The coordinator of the York local group is Nikki Shanahan.

Our local group has members from all over Yorkshire, and they have a wide range of experience and interests. We generally meet at lunchtime at a café or pub and have an agreed topic, but there is time beforehand for a chat over lunch or a drink to share experiences about training and work etc.

The local group also occasionally organises other events – in the past we’ve had a summer picnic in the Museum Gardens, a visit to the Minster Library and a visit to Leeds Library, the oldest subscription library in the UK.

The coordinators of the Cumbria/Borders local group are Ian Howe and Sandra Board.

Our local group was re-launched in the spring of 2016. Our meetings are informal and offer an opportunity for ‘old hands’ and those new to the business to chat about everything to do with editing and proofreading.

We aim to meet bi-monthly, on the first Thursday of the month. Our meetings are held in a variety of venues in order to even out the travelling required. Any CIEP members who are visiting the Lake District will also be very welcome to join us.

The coordinator of the Edinburgh local group is Margaret Milton.

Our local group meets monthly on a Thursday evening or a Tuesday afternoon, with a break during the summer. All members, as well as non-members thinking about joining, are welcome to come along.

Meetings are usually held in a bar in central Edinburgh. Each meeting has a topic such as managing finances, editing theses and dissertations, and using macros, with time at the end for everyone to mingle and chat over a drink. We are a sociable and welcoming bunch and we also enjoy getting together for our annual Christmas lunch and New Year dinner.

The coordinator of the Fife local group is Margaret Hunter.

Our local group's inaugural meeting was held in March 2021.

Our monthly meetings are friendly and informal, and experienced editors and proofreaders, newbies to the profession and people interested in considering an editorial career are all welcome.

The acting coordinator of the Glasgow local group is Lucy Metzger.

Our local group was originally formed in a Glasgow coffee bar in September 2003, and is now a coalition of diverse professionals who share a belief in editorial excellence and the importance of being in touch with like-minded people.

Our monthly meetings are friendly and informal, and experienced editors and proofreaders, newbies to the profession and people interested in considering an editorial career are all welcome.

The East Scotland group replaces the former groups for Fife and North/East Scotland. We aim to bring together CIEP members not directly served by the Edinburgh and Glasgow groups. We’ll be meeting online and in person with a mix of editing-related discussions and social events.

Join our local group forum (see box on right) for meeting dates, to ask and give advice and for general group chat and support.

Coordinators: Margaret Hunter, Gale Winskill and Yvonne Dagan. 

The coordinator of the Shropshire/Mid-Wales local group TBC.

Our local group meets about every two months and all CIEP and SI members, as well as interested newcomers, are very welcome to join us.

Our meetings are typically informal and friendly affairs, lunchtime meet-ups for work-related chat over a sandwich and coffee in a café – usually in Shrewsbury town centre, as that is a major travel hub for the wide area we cover – but occasionally elsewhere.

The coordinator of the South Wales/Cardiff local group is Karen Cox.

Our local group meets several times a year, usually to enjoy coffee and Welsh cakes at the Brewhouse Tearooms at Tredegar House, Newport. Our meetings are informal and offer an opportunity for ‘old hands’ and those new to the business to chat about everything to do with editing and proofreading.

The coordinator of the West Wales local group is Kathy Williams.

Our local group was formed in 2008. Originally called the Pembrokeshire group, it was renamed in 2015 after members decided that ‘West Wales’ would more accurately reflect the membership. The group is quite small and is a mix of experienced and novice proofreaders/copyeditors.

We meet around once a quarter for an informal lunch in Haverfordwest, where conversation topics range from what training to take and how to get work as a newbie, to producing a fruit crumble with no added sugar.

The coordinators of CIEP's Cloud Club (East) are Joanne Taylor – all enquiries and emails – and Sara Kitaoji – managing meetings and topics.

Cloud Clubs cater for CIEP members who are located outside of the UK, members who are in remote parts of the UK and members who otherwise find it difficult to get to local group meetings. Zoom software is used by members to enable meetings via videoconferencing i.e. video and/or voice calls using computers, tablets and mobile devices, via the internet.

Cloud Club (East) is co-hosted from Australia and Sri Lanka and caters for those members in time zones within the eastern hemisphere – additionally suiting those near the Pacific coasts of the Americas. This group uses Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

The coordinator of CIEP's Cloud Club (West) is Janet MacMillan.

We are vibrant group, friendly, supportive and sociable, who currently meet every week via Zoom for an hour, at a time convenient to members in Europe, much of North and South America, and those in remoter parts of the UK or who can’t get to in-person meetings.

Our experience is wide-ranging, from the very experienced to newbies, from a variety of backgrounds, all of whom are happy to share their experience. Our meetings include discussion topics, demonstrations/instruction and social chat. We occasionally undertake CPD together, for example developing an editorial checklist.

Cloud Club (West) is hosted from Canada and caters for those members in time zones within the western hemisphere, as above. This group uses GMT/BST.

The coordinators of the Toronto local group are Janet MacMillan and Kelly Lamb.

We are a friendly group who meet fortnightly for supportive and engaging discussions of all things editing and proofreading related. We alternate between in-person and Zoom meetings to ensure that all Canadian members, whether in the Greater Toronto Area or not, can access the benefits and sociability of the group.

Among us, we have a variety of backgrounds and a wealth of experience (newbies to APMs) that add to the vibrancy of our chosen discussion topics. We also learn from occasional guest speakers, as well as always learning from each other.