Midlands Health and Wellbeing Day

Ovacome, the ovarian cancer support charity, will be hosting a free Health and Wellbeing Day in Birmingham for anyone who has been affected by ovarian cancer. Family and friends are also welcome to attend. The day will provide an opportunity to meet others in person and learn from experts about looking after your health and wellbeing, both during and after treatment.

Join us on Saturday 29 June. This will be a full day event with a programme of talks and workshops. You are welcome to join us for as much of the day as you like. Lunch and refreshments will be provided.

Meet our speakers:

• Catherine Spencer, Lead Macmillan CNS in Gynae Oncology at The Pan Birmingham Gynae Cancer Centre, will give a talk on 'Holistic Needs Assessments'. A holistic needs assessment is a questionnaire, a discussion and a care plan that sets out to meet those needs at different points in your cancer diagnosis, treatment and follow up. We'll talk about this in more detail and highlight the support offered depending on the needs you identify.

• Professor Sudha Sundar, gynaecological cancer surgeon and clinical academic, will present on 'How can we improve earlier ovarian cancer diagnosis?' The majority of people in the UK and internationally who are diagnosed with ovarian cancer are unfortunately diagnosed at later stages when the disease is more challenging to treat. How do we improve early cancer diagnosis? Professor Sudha Sundar’s talk will discuss the symptoms, challenges and her research and efforts for people to be diagnosed earlier. She will also discuss the ongoing Birmingham and Walsall SONATA study which investigates this in the community and primary care.

• Kris Chase-Byrne, director of local community interest company Black Train Music, will be leading us in a 'live music for relaxation' session. Kris is an experienced musician who will guide us through a variety of piano pieces, exploring the power that music can have in facilitating inner peace and calm.

• Angela Vigus is a local wellbeing practitioner and palliative care therapist, with a wealth of experience in delivering complementary therapy sessions within hospice care and in the community. Angela's session will provide practical advice and tips on how you can best prioritise your self-care both during and after treatment.

We are really looking forward to welcoming you. Please register below and you will receive further information by email closer to the date.

If you will need help with the cost of travel and/or accommodation, please get in touch as we offer financial assistance as part of our services. Call Freephone 0800 008 7054 or email [email protected] . We can also help to arrange your travel for you.

Please do not attend the health and wellbeing day if you have any symptoms of COVID or any other contagious illness, as some of our members are immunocompromised.

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"I came out of [the event] feeling like a superwoman. All of a sudden you just think: there's all these things I can do. It's one of the most powerful things I've ever done."

- Gill who attended one of our London Health and Wellbeing Days

"Thank you for a lovely interesting day which has improved my confidence a lot."

- Caroline, who came to our Liverpool Health and Wellbeing Day