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The 7th National Conference and 1st Pituitary Retreat, held the 27 - 29 of April at The Ramada Hotel and Resort in Birmingham was a great success. Below is a comment we received from one of our delegate which gives an indication of how useful this weekend was! "Hi, Just to say that David, my son (who had a Craniopharyngioma tumour at the age of two and is now 16 with panhypopituitarism), had a fantastic time in Birmingham on the weekend of 28/29 April. I, as his carer, and David learned so much from the weekend, and I have never felt so overwhelmed with humbleness at how so many people cope with their problems, but were able to share their experiences with courage. The weekend was organised brilliantly, thank you to the organisers. David has had loads of problems with bullying and not fully understanding his condition, as he does not know any different, but he certainly came away so much stronger and wiser AND with a few e-mail addresses (!) from the support and kindness of everyone at the conference. May The Foundation grow from strength to strenth, it is hard work, sometimes frustrating, but to let you know it is not unappreciated and is truly valued. See you in Liverpool, you will certainly get lots of support from us in the future. THANK YOU!!!!!" -------------------------------------------------- The Conference and Retreat weekend started with an informal quiz on Friday night, designed by two of our Trustees, Mike Griffin and Mike James. Mike James was our Quizmaster and presented an excellent night to over forty delegates. As folks wandered in, teams enlarged, people met and chatted and it proved to be a great way to break the ice. The winners were The Strangers, a band of delegates who (except, of course, for the husband and wife on the team) had met only that night! The rest of the weekend was chock full of talks, workshops and other activities presented in a casual and relaxed setting. Workshops are receiving high marks from delegate feedback, our new, enhanced sessions proved very popular and helpful. There were delegates who chatted away their breaks and lunch in the bar or out on the patio in the beautiful sunshine. Many took the opportunity to use the pool, Jacuzzi or gym or simply took nice walks around the lovely grounds. The evening's dinner and disco was lovely, with excellent food and wine and most importantly, good company. Competition was fierce (and quite fun to watch) at the auction after dinner. We thank all of those who so generously bid and bought auction items, as well as the outpouring of support for our raffle. Both raffle and auction raised over £1,200! Sunday's panel session was warm and supportive (thanks to the participation of audience members who shared their thoughts and experiences during the discussions). We have received excellent feedback and will be sharing feedback reports with you once they are compiled. Thank you to all the Trustees and staff who helped bring this day about and most especially, thank you to the delegates who attended and made it such a special weekend! And a special thank you to ProStrakan and The Society for Endocrinology/Clinical Endocrinology Trust for their generous sponsorship. |
Conferences 
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