Lottery grant

11 November 2005

All of us at the Scoliosis Association (UK) were shocked to hear of the death of our Patron, Lord Lichfield. It is with great sorrow that we send our condolences to his family. He will be sadly missed, and we are indebted to him for his support of the association over many years. You can see the wonderful photographs he took for our Getting it Straight campaign here. 

You can acquire one of these lovely photographs. Eight of the photographs from the exhibition are being offered for sale. All photographs are 2'8" by 3'6", framed, and personally signed by Lord Lichfield. The minimum price for each photo is  £300, but all donations above this amount will be welcomed. Please contact our head office, or send an e-mail, to enquire whether the photo you wish to buy is still available.

20 October 2005 - Halloween Party  on 29th October 2005

Beautiful Events, on behalf of Daytrippers Charity organised an exclusive Halloween Party on Saturday 29^th October 2005 at 1pm – 5pm, at The Clapham Grand, 21-25 St. John’s Hill, London, SW11 1TT.   Dress code was Cool and Casual, (fancy dress optional). The party was for children aged between 10 – 18yrs with disabilities, life limiting and terminal illnesses, and in addition was also open to siblings and parents. 

29 June 2005 -Tate Modern Workshop for Teenagers on 28 July 2005

A day at the Tate Modern for teenagers - come and learn about the remarkable Frida Kahlo. 

This summer Tate Modern, London,  hosted an exhibition of work by the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. Frida has particular resonance for people with scoliosis and those who have had spinal fusion. Much of her life was spent undergoing experimental surgery, which in those days also meant that much of her life was spent flat on her back recovering in body casts. But these restrictions did not stop her success and talent as an artist. She often painted and drew lying flat, and her body and its journeys are at the core of everything she painted.

On Thursday 28th July Lara Varga led a group of young SAUK members (aged 13 to 18 years) at Tate Modern to discover Frida Kahlo. The days’ activities included a talk and slide show about Frida’s work, group discussion, and sketchbook work.

27 March 2005 - Office opening hours

The office is now open four days a week. Click here for more information on the opening times.

14 March 2005  - SAUK 500 Club 2005

The SAUK 500 Club is now open for 2005. Take a look at our fundraising page for details. You'll also find the list of winners for 2004.

6 January 2005 - Auction of Lichfield photos

If you didn't get a chance to visit our photographic exhibition for our Getting it Straight campaign last year, you now have a chance to acquire one of these lovely photographs taken by our patron Lord Lichfield. Eight of the photographs from the exhibition are being offered to SAUK members in a special auction being held now. All photographs are 2'8" by 3'6", framed, and personally signed by Lord Lichfield. Bids are invited for any or all the photos, starting at £300 each. The auction will end on 28th January 2005. Send your bid to our head office, or e-mail it to sauk@sauk.org.uk, including the name of the person whose photo you are bidding for, the amount of your bid, and your full name, address and telephone number. Winners will be notified by telephone by the middle of February.

Don't miss this opportunity! Not only will you have the chance to acquire a lovely work of art, but you will also be helping the Scoliosis Association (UK). Don't forget, you can see all the photos here.

20 November 2004 - Capital Chances - disabled students in investment banking

Capital Chances - disabled students in investment banking was held on the 8th & 9th December 2004. The event was a 24-hour experience that focuses on disabled students in their first or penultimate year of study and aims to give them a taste of what a career in investment banking can offer them.

3 October 2004 - Information Needs of People with Scoliosis and their Families research project

This site has details of the new project including a link for downloading the new questionnaire. The site has links to the summary of results for the coping project  and a bibliography of research articles looking at the psychological aspects of scoliosis.

22 February 2004 - Naidex, the UK's leading homecare, disability and rehabilitation event, NEC, Birmingham on 11-13 May 2004.

Every year Naidex & KideQuip features over 275 exhibitors of homecare products and services all under one roof, with many exciting new product launches in the disability and rehabilitation markets across the UK, Europe and Far East. And, Naidex & KideQuip 2004 promises to be even bigger and better with FREE seminars hosted by a range of well-known speakers, all the very latest products on the market and special feature areas to help make your visit both informative and enjoyable. Entry is FREE and all activities are FREE. For further information and free tickets visit www.naidex.co.uk or call the hotline on 0870 429 4428.

22 February 2004  - SAUK 500 Club 2004

The SAUK 500 Club is now open for 2004. Take a look at our fundraising page for details. You'll also find the list of winners for 2003.

17 August 2003 Office hours

We regret that for the foreseeable future the office will only be open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

13 July 2003 - Coping with Scoliosis: The UK Experience

Would you like to take part in a project that is looking into how people with scoliosis cope with stress, how they rate their quality of life and body image, and their feelings about living with scoliosis? Check out the Coping with Scoliosis Project Web site for more details.

13 July 2003 - SAUK Ereisma Garden a great success at Hampton Court

The SAUK Ereisma Garden gained a bronze medal at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show. Many congratulations to all who were involved in the design and building of the garden! Photos here.

8 June 2003 Newcastle on Tyne meeting

The programme for the meeting at Newcastle on Tyne on 21 June 2003 is now available on our Meetings page.

24 May 2003 SAUK garden at Hampton Court

A garden is being created for SAUK at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 2003. Click here for more details of the garden and when the show is on.

18 May 2003 Shugborough exhibition

Photos of the opening of the exhibition of photos by our patron Lord Lichfield at Shugborough. The exhibition runs from 29 March to 28 September 2003. 

30 March 2003 - Fundraising

SAUK relies on voluntary contributions and the fund-raising efforts of members, and is always short of the cash required to keep such an enterprise going. We need cash to keep the office running, to pay for the Helpline, to send out information packs, to print leaflets and booklets, and all the things you need to keep a busy office running. Can you help? Please visit our fundraising page to get some ideas about ways to raise funds for SAUK. We are currently running our annual raffle. If you would like to sell raffle tickets for us, please contact the office and give them your details.

9 March 2003 - Shugborough

If you didn't get a chance to visit our photographic exhibition for our Getting it Straight campaign last year, you now have another chance to see the wonderful photos taken by our patron the Earl of Lichfield. The exhibition will be at Shugborough, the ancestral home of the Earl of Lichfield, from 29 March to 28 September 2003. The Shugborough Estate is owned by the National Trust, and run and administered by Staffordshire County Council. It is set on the edge of Cannock Chase on the A513 near Stafford.

30 January 2003  - SAUK 500 Club 2003

The SAUK 500 Club is now open for 2003. Take a look at our fundraising page for details. You'll also find the list of winners for 2002.

24 November 2002 - Conference on Non-invasive Ventilation in Hospital and at Home

The Royal College of Physicians and British Thoracic Society are organising a conference next year on Non-invasive Ventilation in Hospital and at Home. The conference is being held on Monday 17th March 2003. Contact Melissa Denerley for more details. Click here for the conference programme (requires Acrobat Reader).

9 November 2002 - You've seen the photos - now buy the postcards!

The wonderful collection of photographs from the Lichfield Collection of the Getting it Straight Exhibition is now reproduced on postcards, and compiled in a pack.  The pack contains 16 black and white photographs of backs of SAUK members and celebrities such as Ewan McGregor, Linford Christie, Barbara Windsor and Graham Gooch.  The postcards are beautifully printed and make a superb gift or can be bought as a memento of the scoliosis awareness campaign.   The Getting it Straight postcards are available at a cost of £7.50 per pack plus 50p for postage and packing. Send your cheque, together with your name and delivery address to Head Office. (If you order more than one pack, the P&P is 50p for 1-3 packs, and £1 for 4-6 packs.)

9 November 2002 - Strongbones Children's Charitable Trust

The Strongbones Children's Charitable Trust provides grants for medical equipment, holidays, financial bills and sensory equipment for families with children under 18 who have scoliosis, arthritis or brittle bone disease. Visit their Web site for more details.

10 June 2002 - Getting it Straight photographic exhibition launch

Our exhibition of photographs by our Patron, the Earl of Lichfield, is launched today at the Tom Blau gallery in London, the first stop on its UK tour. The exhibition is open to the public from 11th June 2002. For a taste of the photographs, click here. 

2 June 2002 - Getting it Straight photographic exhibition reminder

Our wonderful photographic exhibition is being launched in London on 10th June.

2 June 2002 - Getting it Straight school teaching resource pack

Has your school used our teaching resource pack yet? The feedback from teachers who have used the pack has been excellent. It's not too late to receive the pack, and we would welcome enquiries from teachers. You can read more about it here.

20 April 2002 - Institute of Child Health and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust courses

The Institute of Child Health and Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Trust are running two courses that may be of interest:

Autism: Balancing Art & Science (8 May 2002)

Diagnosis and Management of Children with Angelman Syndrome (1 July 2002)

26 March 2002 - Change of dates for London

The launch of the exhibition is now in June. Check the dates here.

17 March 2002 - Exhibition dates

We now have the dates for the Getting it Straight campaign photographic exhibition. The exhibition will have photos (taken by our patron Lord Patrick Lichfield) of celebrity backs, as well as some of our members who have scoliosis. Click here for details.

10 March 2002 - CHI Seminars

Do you want to help improve the NHS? The Commission for Health Improvement is holding consultation seminars across the country during March. Visit their Web site for more details.

20 January 2002  - SAUK 500 Club 2002

The SAUK 500 Club is now open for 2002. Take a look at our fundraising page for details. You'll also find the list of winners for 2001.

20 January 2002 - Contact a Family survey

Would you like to complete a survey on leisure facilities in your local community? Visit the Contact a Family Web site for more details.

13 January 2002 - Searching for the genes that cause Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis

If you have three or more living family members with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, and wish to help us with a study into the genes that cause scoliosis, click here to see how you can help with this research.

9 December 2001 - Pregnancy and scoliosis questionnaire - thanks for your help

The St George’s Hospital Medical School, London has now completed its survey of the pregnancy and childbirth experiences of women with scoliosis. They received an excellent response from SAUK members who filled in a questionnaire and commented on their experiences. Well over 400 women replied and although questionnaires are still coming in, the survey has now been completed. The St George’s Hospital Medical School would like to thank all those women who have helped as well as everyone in the SAUK office, and the SAUK Trustees who helped with the survey design. The findings will now be presented to medical journals for publication, so they might inform the healthcare community regarding the needs of women with scoliosis. Once the paper is published, full details of the findings will be fed back to SAUK members via the Backbone magazine.

November 2001 - Royal College of Midwives' 11th Annual Conference

At the beginning of November, SAUK had a stand at The Royal College of Midwives' (RCM) 11th Annual Conference of Student Midwives, which was held at the Royal College of Physicians in Regents Park, London.  More than 250 student midwives from all over the UK attended and most were able to visit the SAUK stand.  SAUK’s Libby Biberian (Assistant Information Officer and volunteer), and Wendy Wel contributed information and expertise to promote scoliosis awareness.  We were able to take our new leaflets... hot off the press!  On sale were our Pregnancy and Scoliosis booklet by Dr Anita Simonds, Scoliosis in Infants booklet and video by Min Mehta, and other publications together with our Christmas cards which were so popular that phone orders had to be placed.

The RCM hospitality was excellent, and the staff looked after exhibitors and visitors very well.  This facilitated our hard-working day, which proved interesting and very enjoyable for all.

18 November 2001 - Getting it Straight campaign

Work on the lottery-funded Getting it Straight campaign moves on apace. Click here to read about the events planned for the next three years. 

4 August 2001 - SAUK raffle 2001

The SAUK raffle was drawn on 26th July. Click here for a list of winners.

23 April 2001 - New Development Officer

Lesley-Ann O'Shea has started work at the SAUK office. She will be responsible for the 'Getting it Straight' awareness campaign funded by the National Lottery. 

10 February 2001 - SAUK 500 Club 2001

The SAUK 500 Club is now open for 2001. Take a look at our fundraising page for details.

25 January 2001 - Pregnancy and Scoliosis

A new booklet, written by SAUK Trustee Dr Anita Simonds, is now available. Details on our book list.

17 December 2000 - Pregnancy and childbirth experiences of women with scoliosis

St George’s Hospital Medical School, London is currently carrying out vital research into finding the genes that cause scoliosis. They are also interested in finding out the experiences of pregnancy and childbirth for women with scoliosis and how scoliosis may have affected these experiences. (Page now removed, as survey complete.)

14 December 2000 - Office refurbishment (pictures)

The SAUK head office has recently been refurbished, and we held an open afternoon/evening to celebrate. Lloyds TSB kindly donated £2000 towards the refurbishment, and this was topped up with members' generous donations. Many thanks to Trustee Carol Richards who masterminded the whole refurbishment and did most of the work!

8 June 2000 - SAUK's lottery application successful!

Over the last few years SAUK has made several applications for a lottery grant, and we are now thrilled to announce that our latest application has been successful. We have been awarded £188,000 payable over three years. This money will allow us to go ahead with a big awareness campaign under the banner 'Getting it Straight'. We plan to appoint a new Development Officer who will co-ordinate the campaign which will include an exhibition of photographs by Lord Patrick Lichfield - one of our patrons.

Click here to read the Press Release.

25-27 February 2000 - Regional Secretaries' Conference

A conference for Regional Secretaries was held at the Stakis Hotel, Northampton. These meetings are an excellent way of getting the Regional Secretaries together to discuss their work, and are an opportunity to provide them with up-to-date information on treatments, and issues such as pain management. The meeting was sponsored by Marks and Spencer; we are most grateful to them for their generous grant.

18 January 2000 - Scoliosis in Babies Press Release

A press release was sent out as part of the Scoliosis in Babies campaign.

9 January 2000 - SAUK goes online

Welcome to SAUK's Web site. After many months of hard work and fund-raising, we are finally online. The Web site gives you some basic information about SAUK and about scoliosis. We plan to add to this information over the coming months. You can now contact the office via e-mail. The address is sauk@sauk.org.uk.