J Pouch Support Facebook Group hits 2000 member milestone

J Pouch Support Facebook Group hits 2000 member milestone!

Jenny Hogan recently became the 2000th member of the J-pouch support (UK specific) facebook group, an online community which continues to grow and which provides an outstanding platform for pouchees to share pouch-related issues and comments and to receive tips, advice and support from fellow pouchees.  

About the J Pouch Support (UK Specific) Facebook Group

The J-pouch support (UK specific) group was founded some 12 years ago by two pouchees – Sam Wainwright and Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford.  The group moderators for the last 8 years have been Gary Bronziet and David Davies, who are respectively the Membership Secretary and Chairman of The Red Lion Group.  RLG is a pouch support charity which is very closely affiliated to St Mark’s Hospital in London, where the operation was first conceived by Sir Alan Parks and Professor John Nicholls.  With over 2,000 members, the facebook group continues to grow at a pace and is now the largest pouch support Facebook group outside of the United States.

The name of the group  “J Pouch Support (UK Specific)” may be a little misleading, as we have members with all pouch configurations (e.g., W-, S- and J-) and although the name might imply membership is limited to UK-based pouchees, in practice the group has a truly global membership – as can be see in the demographics below.

Demographics and activity

There are twice as many women than men in the membership and the demographics show that two thirds of members are aged between 35 and 54 The group has a phenomenal activity level of over 70%, reflecting the very high engagement amongst this close-knit group.  The most popular days for posts are Tuesdays and Thursdays and the most popular times are 8am on Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Sunday and 7.30pm on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.   

As would be expected, the most heavily repesented country is the UK, but you can get an idea of the world wide reach of the group (which is also reflected in the Red Lion Group membership)

The female members outnumber the men by about 2:1 which is an interesting statistic. Does that represent the number of pouches out there, or maybe an indication that women are more inclined to use social media, or join support groups?

The J Pouch

Pouch surgery involves the surgical re-plumbing of our bowels following life-saving surgery and which avoids the need for a permanent stoma and allows us to pooh via the bottom in the normal way.  The outcomes of surgery are variable and hence the appeal of advice, guidance and support for pouchees and potential pouchees, particularly for members who live in the more remote areas where they might never have met another pouchee and where the medical professionals might not know much about pouches, let alone have the detailed experience and knowledge required to resolve common pouch issues. 
The group is hugely supportive and kind and very well informed from their own personal experiences.  Every new member receives a personal welcome message which is tailored to their personal pouch circumstance. 

Joining the Facebook Group

Because of the personal nature of the discussion, the group is a private facebook group, which means that to view the content and to post or comment it is necessary to submit a join request to the groups administrators. If you are not already a member, you can submit a join request by clicking the button below and then submitting a join request. Your request will normally be accepted within 24 hours.

It is not necessary to be a member of the Red Lion Group to join the Facebook Group (and vice versa!)

We look forward to many more years of growth and to many more years of pouchee support and advice via this very special group.

Welcome to Jenny and here’s to the next 2,000 members! 

You can read Jenny’s inspirational story here.