Verity: PCOS Awareness Week 2010

PCOS Awareness Week

PCOS Awareness Week – how did it go?

10 In Touch Spring/Summer 2011

SPEAKERS’ CORNER NEW MEMBERSHIP PACKS CALENDARS CUPCAKES

20–27 November 2010 marked the very first PCOS Awareness Week There was lots going on throughout the week all over the UK. Here are the highlights:

Above: Rachel and Alison at Speakers CornerTop right: The growing stack of new membership packsRight: Left to right: Alison, Nic, Premila and Jackie busy putting together the packs ready to post out to you

DATE FOR YOUR DIARYPCOS Awareness Week 2011: 05 – 12 November 2011

We are putting together a schedule of activities that will take place during the second PCOS Awareness Week in November. We’d love to hear your ideas on everything from raising money, to raising awareness, so email them to [email protected] with ‘PCOS Awareness week’ in the subject line.

Verity Trustees Alison, Caroline and Rachel braved the freezing cold and an anti-war protest to kick-off the very first PCOS Awareness Week by going along to the infamous Speakers Corner in Hyde Park, London. They put up a big banner, waved posters and handed out leaflets whilst chatting to passers by. When the Police vans turned up en-force, they had to make an early exit to avoid getting caught up in the growing protest!

We had been working on putting together new membership packs for quite some time, which involved having all of the booklets updated and re-designed. As part of the new packs, we have also launched Thank You gifts for renewing your membership for three and five years. All our members were sent a new membership pack at the start of PCOS Awareness Week and we hope you enjoyed receiving them as much as we enjoyed sending them to you.

The very talented Laura at Broken Logic Photography wanted to use her skills to help support Verity and women with PCOS, and thus the idea of a PCOS Calendar was born! Laura recruited a bunch of women from the discussion board and arranged a photoshoot in Nottingham where everyone got together, had their hair and make-up done, and said ‘cheese’! Laura did an amazing job and captured the beauty and bravery of all the lovely Verity models. You can look at the pictures at www.verity-pcos.org.uk/calendar. Use the link there to buy a Calendar, with 25% of the proceeds donated to Verity.

To support Verity and PCOS Awareness Week, Chloe from The Sugar Sanctuary launched Verity cupcakes. They are delicious vanilla and lemon cupcakes with a purple buttercream icing and, although clearly not PCOS-friendly, they make a decadent treat or even a way of raising money for Verity at a coffee morning. The cupcakes come in a set of six and a percentage of the sale is donated to Verity. You can have a look at the pictures at www.verity-pcos.org.uk/cupcakes, where there’s also a link to The Sugar Sanctuary website where you can buy them.

PCOS Awareness Week

In Touch Spring/Summer 2011 11

PCOS RESOURCE PACK IPHONE SOCKS PCOS AWARENESS TWIBBON PCOS UK CONFERENCE

VERITY CONFERENCE

20–27 November 2010 marked the very first PCOS Awareness Week There was lots going on throughout the week all over the UK. Here are the highlights:

Verity launched a PCOS Resource Pack where you, our members, can order a pack which contains posters and leaflets to take to your local GP, hospital or other clinic to help raise awareness of PCOS. During the first few days of the Resource Packs being launched, 75 were ordered! We are making a note of the postcodes of the addresses where the packs are being delivered, so you can see exactly the difference you’re making by marking each one on a map with a pin. You can order a Resource Pack and even see just how far we’ve reached so far at www.verity-pcos.org.uk/resource_pack

Nic, Verity’s book-keeper extraordinaire put her crafty skills to use during Awareness Week and knitted up a storm. Nic’s Verity-inspired hand-knitted iPhone socks, went down a treat at the Verity Conference in London and sold out during the lunch break. You can check out the iPhone Socks at www.verity-pcos.org.uk/iphone_socks

Pssst Nic, if you’re reading this, maybe you can get an early start for this year?

We launched a Twibbon, which is a little display of support that lives on your profile picture on either Facebook or Twitter. The purple Twibbon, which featured the classic PCOS ‘string of pearls’ and PCOS Awareness was added to more than 372 profiles on Facebook and Twitter, which reached thousands of people! Our Twibbon also became the most successful Twibbon for PCOS Causes.

PCOS UK is Verity’s medical education arm, where we run conferences and workshops around the country to educate GPs, specialists and other healthcare professionals on PCOS. We held a PCOS UK conference to coincide with Awareness Week, and had a great turn out of over 60 GPs from around London attending.

PCOS Awareness Week was wrapped up by the Verity conference, our largest ever! 200 of you came along to hear from some amazing speakers at the Connaught Rooms in London on Saturday 27th November.

Alison Wilcox, Verity Trustee, kicked the morning off with an overview of PCOS and why it’s so important not to feel isolated, but to get the help you need. Colette Harris, the author of several books about PCOS, and Verity patron, gave a truly inspirational talk about PCOS and your emotions, exploring how the hormonal fluctuations and having to cope with them can affect how you feel.

After the AGM we had Dr Lisa Webber giving a really clear insight into periods, ovulation and how PCOS affects cycles; and Charlotte Footman talking about hair removal.

Then after lunch came Professor Stephen Franks speaking on how lean women with PCOS can boost their health; and Dr David Haslam giving the latest advice on losing weight, and how it can help control your PCOS symptoms and boost fertility. The day ended with an extended session on Fertility with Professor Stephen Franks. We are eternally grateful for the support of the inspirational experts who share their time and knowledge with us.

Over lunch, and during breaks, there was a real buzz as members chatted to each other, and to the exhibitors – including SK!N, Renew

Medica and CTC/Duofertility.

The conference ran very smoothly and all the trustees of Verity truly enjoyed the day, even though it was hard work! We look forward to seeing even more of you at the next event at the Cardiff Hilton on 12th November 2011 – find out more on page 7.

PCOS UK is the medical education arm of Verity: www.pcos-uk.org.ukVerity is the UK’s charity (No.1097599) for women with polycystic ovary

syndrome (PCOS) and is a company limited by guarantee (No. 04404798)

blog.verity-pcos.org.uk twitter.com/veritypcos facebook.com/veritypcos youtube.com/veritypcos verity-pcos.org.uk/forum

Verity is the UK charity for women with PCOS, for more information and supportwww.verity-pcos.org.uk

1 in 10 women in the UK live with PCOS

Do you have any of the following?infrequent periods | weight problems | excess hair

acne and oily skin | hair loss | mood swingsIf you do, then you could have Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS).If you, or someone you know, think you might have PCOS, make

an appointment to talk to your GP.

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is often called the ‘thief of womanhood’ because of the devastating effect the symptoms can have on a woman’s appearance and self-esteem. PCOS is one of the leading causes of fertility problems in women.

The term ‘polycystic ovaries’ describes ovaries that contain many small ‘cysts’ (about twice as many as in normal ovaries) and are usually no bigger than 8 millimetres each and are egg-containing follicles that have not developed properly. These are not cysts as you may im agine them to be; they don’t cause pain and aren’t harmful to you (so no surgical removal is needed) and they don’t lead to ovarian cancer.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS):

— affects millions of women in the UK and worldwide

— runs in families

— is one of the leading causes of fertility problems

— has long term health risks

— can affect quality of life and self esteem

What is Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)?

Who is Verity? 1 in 10 women in the UK live with PCOS

Do you have any of the following?

infrequent periods | weight problemsexcess hair | acne and oily skinhair loss | mood swings

If you do, then you could have Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)

www.verity-pcos.org.uk www.verity-pcos.org.uk

Veirty: The PCOS Self Help Group

Verity is the UK’s only charity for women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and provides information and support for women with PCOS and their loved ones. It was founded in 1997 and is run entirely by a team of volunteers.

Iin addition to publishing a range of information booklets covering all aspects of the condition Verity runs twice yearly conferences where delegates get the chance to hear from some of the UK’s foremost PCOS experts. Verity publishes In Touch, a bi-annual member newsletter full of the latest information and research on PCOS.

Verity also provides advocacy, awareness and education to the healthcare profession through PCOS UK, Verity’s medical education arm that was established in January 2005.

Further information about Verity and PCOS can be found on our website www.verity-pcos.org.uk or through our blogs and forums, listed below.

Veirty: The PCOS Self Help Group

blog.verity-pcos.org.uk

twitter.com/veritypcos

facebook.com/veritypcos

youtube.com/veritypcos

verity-pcos.org.uk/forum

VerityThe PCOS Self Help GroupNew Bond House124 New Bond StreetLondon W1S 1DX

www.verity-pcos.org.uk

Verity is a Registered Charity No. 1097599 and a company limited by guarantee No. 4404798

Above right: Illustration of ovariesNormal ovary left, Polycystic ovary right

There was a real buzz at theconferenceas members andexhibitors all chatted to oneanother

200THIS YEAR’S VERITY

CONFERENCE WAS OUR

LARGEST EVER WITH 200

DELEGATES ATTENDING

Verity publishes…

• In Touch, our PCOS newsletter

• a range of information booklets

• an informative website

Verity runs…

• conferences with expert speakers

• an active discussion board

• locally run support groups

Verity also…

• educates the medical profession

• recruits research participants

• raises public awarenesss

Supporting women with PCOS

PCOSUKisthemedicaleducationarmofVerity:www.pcos-uk.org.uk

VerityistheUK’scharity(No.1097599)forwomenwithpolycysticovarysyndrome(PCOS)andisacompanylimitedbyguarantee(No.04404798)

www.verity-pcos.org.uk

blog.verity-pcos.org.uk twitter.com/veritypcos facebook.com/veritypcos youtube.com/veritypcos verity-pcos.org.uk/forum

Left: A snapshot of all the wonderful people who put a PCOS Awareness Twibbon on their profile