News and Events
NEA Annual Conference
13 -15 September 2010
Liverpool
New speaker confirmed for ‘Unbelievable Technical Truth’ session at NEA Annual Conference 2010. Charlie Luxton, architectural designer and presenter of Channel Five’s Build a New Life in the Country.
For more information including session descriptions and booking forms please visit NEA’s website:
http://www.nea.org.uk/nea-annual-conference-201/
Welcome to the Festival of International Conferences on Caregiving, Disability, Aging and Technology -
FICCDAT 2011
Please follow link
Annual General Meeting
11th September 2010
Newcastle
AGM Programme and Timetable
Reply Form Registration
The British Polio Week 3-11 July 2010
A Big Thank you to our members, friends and families for making Polio week a great success!!! We are still collecting monies in and once we have a total amount raised we will let you know.
Remember to let us know what you did to raise money for the The Fellowship during Polio week and send those photographs in, so we can share your fundraising stories. Ann Attwater had a Barbecue and managed to raise a staggering £750. Please see photographs of some of our runners from London 10K who run for The Fellowship and successfully raised £650.
Well Done Everyone!
Mike Pringle the Edinburgh South Lib Dem MSP interview about being a victim to polio and PPS.
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/features/Interview-Mike-Pringle--One.6384238.jp
European Conference
Copenhagen, Denmark
August 31 – September 2, 2011
Post Polio Syndrome – a challenge of today Polio Conference
http://www.polioconference.com/
Please follow this link and read this interesting news article, which highlights the lack of awareness of PPS among the medical professional and the general public but pushes for more work to be done in this area.
Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll – The Charity Premiere
The charity film premiere of Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll was hosted in partnership by The British Polio Fellowship and Macmillian Cancer Support on the 7th January at the Apollo Cinema, Piccadilly, London. Kindly nominated by the Dury family, both charities benefited from the funds raised by the hugely successful and star-studded charity premiere.
On behalf of the trustees, members and staff of the British Polio Fellowship, I would like to offer my grateful thanks to the makers of the film Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll.
In particular our thanks go to the producer, Damian Jones, who had the foresight to realise the time was right for this important film to be made and then was thoughtful enough to seek input from the British Polio Fellowship. Damian created a part in the film for one of our youngest members, Hamish Thompson, and I know it is an experience he will never forget. Damian has kindly kept the Fellowship involved throughout the course of the film long after he needed to and, along with the Dury family, has helped us to raise much needed funds and create awareness of polio in a way we never could.
Special thanks also go to the writer Paul Viragh and director Mat Whitecross who have shown exceptional understanding of the experiences of someone catching polio and living with the consequences. Andy Serkis and the rest of the cast are magnificent and you all should be so proud of the work you have produced.
Lionel Blair shows his support for the Fellowship
The British Polio Fellowship went Strictly Come Dancing on 13-15 October 2009. It was a glittering occasion on all three nights, with no lack of sequins adorning all the ballroom dancers - including some of the men!
The competition is split across two locations - Brentwood and the Royal Albert Hall, which is the finale night for all the dancers.
This annual Dance International Championships are sponsored by Dance International and have always proved to be a great fundraising success, with this year being its most successful ever raising £11,500. This figure includes a £4,000 donation from the event organiser, Dance News Special Projects Ltd, and money from collection boxes, but the biggest amount of money was raised through the sales of programmes which is down to the wonderful contribution made by our volunteers who sell the programmes for us.
Another first for this year was the special guest appearances of Lionel Blair and Graham Taylor at the Albert Hall. Lionel and Graham met many of our volunteers and were highly impressed by the dedication of the volunteers who were selling the programmes. As you can see from the photographs, Lionel and Graham were happy to pose for a photograph or two with our volunteers.
On behalf of the Fellowship I would like to personally say thank you to all the volunteers, especially Peter Knight, Pauline Smith and Blanche Ingle-Bateman for again co-ordinating the sales of programmes, and to the event organisers for their generous support of the Fellowship.
Lionel Blair with our volunteers
Lionel with Chris and Janet Drinkwater
Margaret Williams
Heather Jones and Graham Taylor
Prize draw
Drawn at the AGM held at the Hilton Hotel, Reading on Saturday, 19 September 2009
Last year’s raffle raised over £32,000, a record for the Fellowship. Dr Luff made the draw at the Reading AGM and the lucky winner of the magnificent £5,000 first prize was member Ken Ward. Mr Ward writes: "Thank you so much for sending the cheque for £5,000 which has been safely banked, I can assure you! I have always considered myself to be fortunate person. I contracted polio at the age of seven back in 1953 and was one of the lucky ones. A tendon transplant at 14 and another minor op later in life has enabled me to enjoy a full and rewarding life despite the weakness in my left leg. It was my dear mother who carried the burden. Now I am a very fortunate person and I would like to extend my thanks for all of the help you provide."
The full list of winners is printed below.
| Prize |
Ticket No |
Name |
County |
Member |
| 1st |
57961 |
Mr K A Ward |
Essex |
Y |
| 2nd |
66396 |
Mr P Hirst |
Avon |
Y |
| 3rd |
164453 |
Mr B H O’Brien |
Kent |
Y |
| 4th |
35353 |
Mr P F Kaveney |
W Sussex |
Y |
| 5th |
230800 |
Mrs J Gregory |
Dorset |
N |
| 6th |
129222 |
Mrs B Hampson |
Derbyshire |
Y |
| 7th |
124565 |
Mrs M Morrison |
Yorkshire |
Y |
| 8th |
281366 |
Mrs P A Scott |
Essex |
Y |
| 9th |
123286 |
Mr E P Bartlett |
Herts |
Y |
| 10th |
23802 |
Mrs I C Perry |
E Sussex |
Y |
| 11th |
156903 |
W. Shaftoe |
Tyne & Wear |
Y |
| 12th |
215056 |
Mrs B J Eveson |
Staffs |
Y |
| 13th |
137704 |
Mrs A Phillips |
Lincs |
N |
| 14th |
36245 |
Mr J Alexander |
E Sussex |
Y |
| 15th |
27661 |
Miss J E Luckham |
Somerset |
Y |
| 16th |
241998 |
Miss E Sutherland |
Renfrewshire |
Y |
| 17th |
218744 |
Dr I Rees |
Leics |
N |
| 18th |
359382 |
Abdo Gass |
Yorkshire |
N |
| 19th |
177828 |
Jenny Allerton |
Cheshire |
N |
| 20th |
35529 |
Dr J Barnes |
W Sussex |
Y |
Gautam Lewis - Passport from Polio – Documentary Film
23 years ago British music manager, photographer, pilot and polio survivor Gautam Lewis was adopted by a young dual national (British / Irish) volunteer worker from Mother Teresa’s orphanage in Kolkata and brought back to an affluent life in London.
‘Passport From Polio’ tells his extraordinary story and follows his emotional journey back to Kolkata to take part in India’s epic polio immunisation campaign and find out what his life would’ve been like had he stayed.
“Part of me thinks it’s brilliant that I had polio because the rest of my life wouldn’t have happened.”
Still dependent on crutches from his own battle with polio, Gautam Lewis is now an ambassador on behalf of Rotary International for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. The battle to wipe polio from the face of the earth is the largest public health initiative the world has ever seen. If it fails, more than 10 million children will be paralysed in the next 40 years.
Passport from Polio has been scheduled to transmit on Al Jazeera English on February 3rd 2009. With the global repeat pattern, actual times in GMT are:
TUE 03 Feb 10:00, 19:00; WED 04 Feb 06:00, 14:00; THU 05 Feb 03:00
You can also view the film via the following link:
http://www.freedomintheair.org/?p=1545
Gautam’s Biography
Gautam Lewis is lively, articulate, inspiring and passionate.
Born in Kolkata in1977, he was abandoned at 3 after contracting polio and taken to Mother Teresa’s orphanage. At 7 he was adopted by a young British woman – Dr Patricia Lewis, a nuclear physicist - and whisked back to London to a life of privilege. Privately educated which began at Hill House, followed by Bedales - a stark contrast for the boy who had once boarded with, and was one of, India’s poorest children.
Gautam has had a successful and colourful career in the music industry, managing ‘The Libertines’ among others. Disillusioned, he turned his back on the music industry and got involved with the polio campaign:
“If I can give something back, it’s more valuable than selling 100,000 records.”
As well as his work with Rotary International, Gautam fulfilled a childhood dream and qualified as a pilot in 2007. He now runs a charity ‘Freedom in the Air’ which teaches people with disabilities to fly.
Gautam was recently presented with the prestigious “Asian Leadership in Charity” award at the annual Asian Who’s Who dinner at London’s Dorchester Hotel.
Passport from Polio – Film Synopsis
In Kolkata, Gautam revisits his own past – Mother Theresa’s orphanage, the hospital where he had corrective surgery and his birthplace, meeting children and young people whose life he’d have shared.
When Gautam meets the mother of a little boy recently diagnosed with polio, he arranges for her to get free treatment at the same hospital where he was treated.
An epic 20 year global health campaign has almost wiped polio from the planet. In the final push, India poses the biggest challenge. The polio virus still thrives. The only way to eradicate it is to immunise every single child – at least 3 times.
On Immunisation Day, 70 million children are vaccinated in polio-prone areas across India. Gautam helps give the vaccine to children at one of over 1400 immunisation booths in Kolkata.
Gautam then joins a mobile vaccination team who go house to house to ensure no child is missed and discovers the cultural issues facing vaccinators: in Muslim communities suspicion of the authorities has fuelled mistrust of the vaccine – many believe it causes infertility. Health workers hope that Gautam can persuade some of the resistant families.
At one home, a mother claims her husband will beat her up if she gets her son vaccinated. At another house, the man who answers the door claims the children inside are not his. Finally, Gautam persuades a father to let his children be vaccinated.
At the end of the film, Gautam sums up his trip to Kolkata. He reflects on what he’s accomplished, his pride in having come from Kolkata and his luck at having been given the best chances in life by both his mothers.
Polio Awards 2009
We are pleased to announce the following winners of the British Polio Awards 2009. They have all been invited to attend the AGM dinner to receive their awards.
| Health Care Professional of the year: |
Professor Carolyn Young |
| Polio Person of the Last 70 years: |
Sir Bert Massie |
| Outstanding contribution to the Fellowship over the years: |
Bob & Barbara Stephens |
| Helper of the last 70 years: |
Helen Gray |
All the runners up are being sent certificates of appreciation.
Forthcoming Forums
- 18th October: East Anglia Forum in Norwich
- 1st November: East Midlands Forum in Leicester
- 15th November: Welsh Forum and Annual General Meeting
The British Polio Fellowship: 70th Anniversary
2009 was an important year for the Fellowship. For the past 70 years people living with polio have contributed significantly to the development of processes and legislation that have been, and still do, provide benefit to those living with disabilities, such as Paralympic Sports, Employment, Health and Welfare. We celebrated these important achievements by hosting a number of events throughout 2009.