International Angioma Alliance (UK) Forum 2008

01 February 2008

Dear Members, Associate Members, Honorary Members, Carers, Friends of Angioma Alliance (UK), Neurologists, Neurosurgeons and Geneticists associated with Angioma Alliance (UK)

We invite you to attend the International Angioma Alliance (UK) Forum on Saturday 7th June, 2008, to be held in the Orion Suite, Grange Holborn Hotel, 50-60 Southampton Row, London WC1B 4AR from 0900 to 1700.

As with last year's Forum, the entire event is free (including a buffet-style lunch), to all registered participants thanks to our sponsor, The Batty Charitable Trust. The trust is a grant making Trust. Its income is derived from gifts made by the Estate of the late Christina Batty (otherwise known as Christina Foyle).

The Angioma Alliance (UK) Forum will take place beginning with registration at 0830. The first speaker will begin at 0900 (prompt.) Confirmed speakers are Dr. Connie Lee, President, Angioma Alliance, (from the USA); Dr Issam Awad (from the USA), a neurosurgeon, educator and scholar (worth checking out his website www.issamawad.com;) our own medical adviser, Mr. Neil Kitchen, consultant neurosurgeon at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London; and Mr. Ian Sabin, consultant neurosurgeon at the Royal London Hospital & St Bartholomews Hospital, London. Members' suggestions were listened to by the board. Lunch (no charge) will be followed by afternoon sessions where members will meet for structured but informal workshops.

Travel
Jon Anderson, our treasurer, who is also Chief Financial Officer, at Commercial Bank, of Barclays, will be on hand at registration to refund some of your travel costs.

Accommodation
Reduced-rate accommodation is available at the five-star Grange Holborn Hotel (address above - same location as the conference). Their normal rate in June is £250 per night. But for those attending the Angioma Alliance (UK) Forum the figure has been reduced to "only" £84.25 plus VAT (17.5%) per night. You may want to look at the hotel on their website (Based on last year's stay, I cannot recommend the Grange Holborn highly enough.) The hotel, situated in Bloomsbury, is two minutes walk from Holborn tube station. Holborn is on the central line. Talk with the hotel about parking.

You will need to make your own reservation by e-mailing Angioma Alliance (UK's) contact, Neepa N. Gandhi, on . Your email should include the following: a credit card number to hold the room (no charge is made against the card until the member leaves. At that point the cardholder can choose whether to use her/his credit card or pay by cash if they prefer); the group reservation number which is 060608N and whether you need the room just for Friday 6th June 2008 or Friday 6th June and Saturday 7th June. Neepa takes her annual leave from Thursday 7th February and will not be available until Monday 3rd March 2008. Hotel bookings need to be made by 15 April 2008 to get the special rate. At the time of the email, please indicate whether a double or twin bedded room is required. (NB. The price is for the room NOT the person so you can save money by sharing. Maybe the [under-used] Angioma Alliance (UK) chat room might be a good posting site for members of the same gender wishing to share a room?)

Ros St. Clayre, charity secretary, suggested that I find alternative accommodation for members who are financially challenged. My trouble has been finding anywhere that is in a suitable location. Three suggestions: (a) As most of you know, London is a very expensive city and the standard of many budget London B&Bs or hotels, may not be up to the standards you expect. (A quick look at Google will give you an idea of the price of accommodation.) (b) Another idea for accommodation and travel is to look at a package deal through www.thetrainline.com (c) Look into the London suburbs for less expensive accommodation. (Remember, though, registration commences at 08.30. Please allow plenty of time to get to us.) If you are a member and simply do not have the funds, please contact us as soon as possible.

For members who have joined since the last Forum, something we alerted participants to in the first forum was the disabled persons railcard. (One member stated that their GP had no knowledge of this entitlement.) If you have difficulty with mobility issues, especially if you are in receipt of disability living allowance, you should be able to get one of these cards. The advantage of having this travel card is that you AND the person travelling with you get a third-off fares anywhere in the country for one or three years. These cards are renewable. Application forms should be available at your local railway station.

Please RSVP to Ian Stuart at for the event as soon as possible but no later than 30 April 2008. Please make the hotel reservations by 15th April 2008.

See you all in June.

Warmest,

Ian.

Member and Co-ordinator
Telephone: 01305 213876 or 0781 798 1409