They came, they saw, and heard all about living…

They came they saw, and heard all about living with a j-Pouch….and ate some cake as well!

Twenty-five years young and who better to celebrate such an epoch-making event than the first chairman Dr Martin Peters who flew back to the UK from Spain and even postponed his own wedding anniversary to launch this year’s Silver Red Lion Group Information Day.

Epoch-making, age-defying – all descriptions apply – this turned out to be the largest and best-attended Day in the group’s history with more than 80 Red Lion members, relatives and healthcare professionals meeting and mingling at St Mark’s Hospital’s Himsworth Hall on 27 April this year.

At least five RLG founder-members joined the celebrations and both Dr Peters and founder-member Tim Rogers, the first editor of Roar!, gave rallying speeches and assured us that the new days are just as good as the old – if not better! And the stats bear this out, with a growing membership, a greater reach in the UK and overseas and a flourishing new website.

Every Information Day celebrates progress and change in recovery, achievement and technology – as reflected in the talks which featured such topics as biofeedback (Ellie Bradshaw, St Mark’s lead biofeedback nurse), Pharmaceutical research (Uchu Meade, St Mark’s pharmacy manager), Diet (Gabriela Poufou, St Mark’s dietitian) and the workings of the ileoanal pouch (Lisa Allison, St Mark’s clinical pouch nurse specialist).

But perhaps there is no better sense of fulfilment than discussing your personal problems and challenges at a workshop, as members found at three animated events for male and female members – and families and friends – which enabled them to speak openly and frankly about their concerns with fellow members.

It was a day to remember –  aptly summed up by one Red Lion member who said: “Even though I have had my pouch for 21 years, I picked up some very useful tips and I loved the opportunity to meet other pouch owners.”

See you at the next one in 2020!

You can download the presentations below.

Don’t forget, you can find presentations and/or video recordings from this year’s and previous year’s Information Days on our resources page from the menu bar or by tapping here.