UCLAN Equality And Diversity Conference 2016 Reflection

Nov, 30 2016

~On behalf of all at the CCG we want to thank those who attended last Friday’s ( November 25th 2016) Equality and Diversity Conference held at UCLAN in Preston.

Based on the theme that celebrates people who have overcome adversity to excel in many areas in life. It was adapted from the travelling workshop, CCG  founder and chair Russell Hogarth takes across the UK.  ‘Towards a better tomorrow’ sees individuals presenting bold advances in their lives despite internal or external difficulties in front of a receptive young audience.

Many of the speakers last week have experienced a series of issues ranging from a physical disability, a mental health problem, gender in the workplace, race and  low economic background.
Here is a list, in full of the people that gave up their time in order to highlight their difficulty and the amazing feats they have gone on to do :-

Liz Bromley, Deputy Vice Chancellor, will be opened  the Conference along with Sana Iqbal the Students’ Union President.
 
Roger Cruickshank had the  keynote and workshop to explain how he became an Olympic Skier and RAF pilot despite suffering terrible injuries in an accident, but none of that compared to his mother’s suicide.  
 
Liz Atkin discussed how compulsive skin picking dominated her life for more than 20 years before she channelled her compulsion into productive artwork. 
 
Juliette Burton is a successful actress and Edinburgh Fringe comedian who openly discussed her battles with bi-polar and eating disorders.
 
Paul Walmsley was once Britain’s most wanted man before turning his life around.

We cannot thank the above enough and their bravery and courage they have had to endure to come out smiling and remain positive.

In addition there was a number of workshops from UCLAN staff and students along with community members such as Alice Evans who openly discussed how her schizophrenia changed the whole course of her life before she became a successful lecturer at the Royal College of Art.
We also want to give much accolade and appreciation  to Molly Case who achieved national recognition after performing her poem ‘Nursing the Nation’ at the Royal College of Nursing Conference, gaining over 350,000 views on YouTube in just a few months.

Finally, UCLAN Senior Lecturer Matt Dickinson PhD gave a powerful and poignant story of psychosis. Matt also went on to recount how last year’s conference has led to many opportunities including a Channel 4 Documentary.  

Overall it was an extremely well received conference and having spoken to people who attended they have commented on  how profound and poignant  the nature of the conference was and how it stood out from it’s predecessors.

Thank you everybody for attending.

Here is a list of the people we would like to thank :-

*staff and lecturers
*the catering department
* the speakers and workshop leaders
* UCLAN for allowing us to use the space provided to facilitate the conference.

Thank you finally to Russell Hogarth and Nigel Farnworth who helped to instigate the day.

^Alex Ashworth.