Ireland Conference 23rd October 2022
On Saturday 23rd October I was lucky enough to be invited to give a talk to the guests present at the Ireland Family Conference which was hosted by 22qIreland.
Despite the day involving two very early flights it was thoroughly enjoyable and a pleasure to be amongst other 22q11 families.
The conference key note speakers were the medical staff responsible for creating the Ireland 22q clinic, in particular I was very keen to hear about how they handle transition from child to adult services, I will keep a close eye on their new model to see what lessons can be applied here in the UK.
Some of the other topics covered were based around anxiety, mental, health, education and their wonderful YEEP group.
Finally it was my turn to address the families and I was able to share with them our experiences in the UK of running our Youth Weekends and also our online gaming sessions for Adults, I was able to give a particular emphasis on the volunteering as a dad and the benefits of doing so, I was able to highlight the positives and sadly the occasional negatives, I’m really pleased to say that 22q Ireland have committed to following our example and will be running their first ever youth camp in 2023, we have also agreed to mutually support each other as organisations to making next years camps the best yet.
After the conference I was able to spend some valuable time with other dads (and mums) in a social setting where we continued our discussions further, I learnt along from this experience and I hope I was able to also pass on my experiences
In 2023 22Q11 Europe will be hosting their conference in Dublin and I would highly recommend this event to Max Appeal families, please keep an eye out on our website and social media pages for further details as I know you will all receive a warm welcome.
If anyone requires any further information regarding our gaming sessions then please contact me at Mark@maxappeal.org.uk , please bear in mind these sessions are currently organised for males aged 18 plus, there are some circumstances where we can accept 16 and 17 year olds but this will need to be discussed and agreed by all parties.
All in all, it was wonderful to travel again post Covid and I am grateful to 22q Ireland for allowing me the opportunity to share my experiences and promote the name of Max Appeal.
Mark Tripp
Max Appeal Trustee
