The day offers a wonderful opportunity for the whole team to meet up, reflect on the past year and to plan the direction and future of the organisation over the coming year. The day forms an essential part or our volunteer training. It is also an opportunity for new volunteers to receive induction and to learn more about volunteering with the Trust.

If you are a volunteer and haven’t received your invitation then please get in touch or if you have always considered volunteering but not yet got around to completing a volunteer interest form, take a look at our page on volunteering and download our Volunteer Interest form which we call the VIF1, send it back to us and we’ll be in touch

Each pack contains 10 notecards and envelopes, beautifully presented in a wallet which details the design of the cards within. They make a thoughtful gift, as well as being perfect for all your thank you notes or whenever you want to drop someone a quick line. Each card also bears the legend that its sale has helped to support the work of the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust.

These exquisite cards are exclusive to the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust. The suggested donation for the notecards is £4.95 for one pack or you can order two packs for £9.00. If you are getting ready for Christmas and want to order stocking fillers for your girlfriends or would just like a small supply of notecard packs to give as gifts, throughout the year, just make a donation of £21 and we’ll send you five packs. Order by making a donation for the suggested amount and then contact us telling us the donation you have made and the quantity of packs you’d like to order.

We are delighted to have two new trustees on board.  We welcome Prof. Tom Bourne who has worked with us for many years as a medical adviser and Kevin Walker, the founder and owner of a successful national business.

The edition also interviews Ruth Kirkpatrick, a member of our staff team who is heading up our new youth project targeting the 16 to 24 year age group.  This is a really exciting project which aims to raise awareness of ectopic pregnancy within this often marginalised group.

There are lots of other really interesting articles including news about a meeting at the department of health, review of a discussion about Chlamydia on Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, news about our fundraisers and much much more.

To ensure that you get your copy of TOPIC – why not become a friend of The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust? You will receive all the latest news and with as little as £3 a month you really will be making a difference to the work the charity is able to do.

We are extremely fortunate to have Tom’s support, as we drive through on our commitment to delivering quality education, which is both affordable and accessible, to the disciplines of staff who assess, diagnose and support those who are being treated for ectopic pregnancy.

Kevin Walker is founder and owner/director of Camille Lingerie and we are delighted to have his business expertise to help The Trust to continue to operate in an ever more business-like charity world. Camille Lingerie has 19 stores, throughout the UK and Republic of Ireland, together with around 75 concession outlets and a strong  internet presence.

Kevin’s talents will bring a new era of business acumen and strategic thinking to the Trust and we are very pleased to have him on board.

The Trust welcomes them both warmly and looks forward to working together for a long time to come.

The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust was keen to have the views of those who use our services represented and we were given the opportunity to speak directly to the Department of Health representatives about a number of issues, which included  better communication and information systems, shorter waiting times, improved access to scanning facilities, and better training for professionals in the psychological effects of early pregnancy loss.

The conclusion of the meeting was that guidelines need to be more robust and better implemented and, as a result, the DOH has given a firm commitment to change. The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust sees this as a very positive step. The meeting was brought about as a result of women using their voice through social networking and just goes to show what a huge difference speaking out can make to improving services. As we learn more of the DOH intentions, we will share that with you through our own networking facilities here at The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust.

Well done and to:

Catherine Hudson, Amanda Jayne Barsby, Elizabeth Dabborn, Lucy Day, Penelope Graveney, Alan Hulme, Tom Wilkinson, Leon Jones, Rebecca Hunter, Ben Arnold Lane, Gillian Law, Sally Ann Silver, Jonathan Zeffert (AKA Tinky Winky attempting a Guinness Book Record) Julia Jane Bennett, Mark Johnson and Bill Hennessy

We send you our thanks. Please join with us in congratulating them all on finishing the Marathon and in thanking them for their efforts on our behalf. Hopefully they are recovering from Sunday’s exertions and have some great memories of their participation in the world’s greatest running – and charitable fundraising – event.

VLM 2011: if you or someone you know, is interested in Taking part in the VLM 2011 on behalf of the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust, we advise you apply for a ballot place first. Unfortunately the ballot is normally closed by May. However, it’s always worth logging in to the official London Marathon Website as soon as you decide you’d like a place, just to check what their current availability might be.

The London Marathon places which the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust can offer as a guaranteed place are called gold bond places and are few but always worth applying for. They are managed by our clearing house and you can register your interest in the 2011 race by visiting the CRunCH website http://www.crunch.org.uk/index.php and completing an online application there from June 1st 2010.

Following the national Audit Office claims of failings within the chlamydia screening programme, Peter Greenhouse, one of the Trusts’ medical advisors and consultant in sexual health medicine at Bristol Royal Infirmary, was invited to participate in BBC Radio 4′s Woman’s Hour, in November 2009, to discuss the issues raised.

The broadcast was part of the wider debate on the NAO’s allegation of duplication and inefficiency in the NHS chlamydia screening programme. Peter was joined by Dr Nicola Low, Senior Lecturer in Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Berne in Switzerland, who called for more cost effective randomised clinical trials. Peter agreed that more robust data is needed, in particular the rate of chlamydia, per year, per age group, to determine its link to infertility and ectopic pregnancy.

The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust was delighted to welcome another 60 professional guests on 18th June, 2010. Building on the foundations of two highly successful conferences in 2009, new speakers presented material and introduced a number of new topics.

Following a light breakfast of Danish pastry and coffee and a warm welcome from the Trust Director, Helen Wilkinson, introducing the business of the day, the conference opened.

Dr. Elaine Kasket, M.A., Psy.D., MBACP (Accred.) UKCP Reg, Chartered Psychologist. is a clinical psychologist, Chartered Counselling Psychologist, and psychotherapist. Her colleague, Dr Maria Jalmbrant (BSc, D.Clin.Psy, C.Psychol.) is also a Chartered Clinical Psychologist and together they opened the educational part of the conference with a lecture on the psychological impacts of early pregnancy loss.

The delegates then joined their individual groups and participated in 5 round table presentations on:

• Ultrasound and the diagnosis of non-tubal ectopic pregnancy
• The treatment of ectopic pregnancy
• Managing pregnancies of unknown location (PUL)
• The diagnosis and management of miscarriage
• Recognition and management of STIs with emphasis on chlamydia.

Every delegate had the opportunity to attend each workshop.

A delicious lunch was provided, and then after the workshops were completed, the educational part of the day closed with a lecture from Prof. Jan Brosens, of Imperial College, entitled “Why do miscarriages happen?”

Guests were then invited to join us for canapés and refreshments and to network with colleagues.

We were especially delighted to welcome four of our 2010 Virgin London Marathon Runners. These fundraisers are an essential element to our educational programme because the sponsorship that they raise enables the Trust to provide the standing conferences and other training opportunities, at a heavily subsidised rate to delegates, in an effort to ensure they are accessible to all. It was an absolute pleasure for the Trust treasurer, Christopher Woodward to present them with certificates in recognition of their amazing efforts and achievements on our behalf.

We are already working on the the fourth standing conference on The Management of Early Pregnancy Complications 2011 and if you would like to pencil the date in your next year’s diary to keep it free, it will be held on 23rd June 2011. Members who are registered with The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust hospital Friends’ scheme will, as always, be offered the opportunity to register before the conference is opened to the wider professional field and will also be offered preferential delegate rates, so don’t miss out. Make sure your hospital is a friend of the Trust or drop us a line with your email address and we’ll notify you when the conference registration process opens sometime next March.

Emma Lewis pictured with her son

Back in May 2010 Emma Lewis contacted us at The EPT to tell us that she was thinking of organising a small fundraising walk with her family and friends in the Yorkshire Dales

On July 4th Emma and members of her family and friends met and waked at Bolton Abbey, in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales on the banks of the River Wharfe. Emma said “We had a lovely day and despite the disastrous weather forecast, we only had a few showers so didn’t get too wet. We managed to have a picnic and some much needed goodies on a little pebbly beach by the river, everyone really enjoyed themselves.”

Emma has already raised over £200 in sponsorship, which makes a huge difference to us here at the EPT, as we rely entirely on income from third party fundraisers like Emma, and sponsorship, to be able to continue to deliver and develop our services.

If you’d like to support us by fundraising, check out our events calendar or contact our fundraising coordinator for ideas and once you have chosen your event she’ll send you fundraising pack to kick start your fundraising and get off to a really good start.

Do you live in the UK? Have you got access to a computer with internet access? Could you offer us a couple of hours a week of your time?

Project 16-24 is now actively recruiting new volunteers.

We aim to extend the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust’s support, education and information services to young men and women in the UK aged between 16 and 24. This group tends to be marginalised in terms of access to information and support, and yet is the most vulnerable to sexually transmitted infection which is one of the preventable causes of ectopic pregnancy.

We plan to research, explore and where possible, design and engage in appropriate information and support services tailored to the needs of the 16 to 24 year age group. We plan to identify activities which will raise awareness and understanding of the causative risks and link factors of the condition and in so doing, to empower young people to prevent the infections which can cause ectopic pregnancy and infertility for themselves in the future.

Project 16-24 is very new project, and we’re in the early stages of development. We have recruited several volunteers with relevant experience in fields including youth work, social work, paediatric nursing, education, Connexions and the music industry, and we could do with some more help and fresh ideas.

If you are interested in finding out more about the project and how you might be able to help us, please email us