LPUK has once again been lucky enough to be one of the four chosen charities of Peterborough Biscuit, along with Deaf Blind UK, No Pain No Gain and Family Voice. Delegates had a lovely time attending the Peterborough Biscuit Networking morning, where we had the opportunity to speak to many of the businesses who will be exhibiting during the event itself, letting them know how we can work together.

In December members of LPUK visited the Winter Wonderland event in Hyde Park London, it was lovely to meet up with some new faces, as well as several people we already know, getting into the festive spirit and celebrating LPUK in 2019.

LPUK has once again been lucky enough to be one of the four chosen charities of Peterborough Biscuit, along with Deaf Blind UK, No Pain No Gain and Family Voice. Delegates had a lovely time attending the Peterborough Biscuit Networking morning, where we had the opportunity to speak to many of the businesses who will be exhibiting during the event itself, letting them know how we can work together. 

Delegates also attended the first merged Peterborough and Cambridgeshire Physical Disabilities Partnership Board, where we made a great contact who can assist in supplying suitable equipment to hospitals in the region, along with another contact who can help in our mission to tackle hate crime towards people with dwarfism. We look forward to developing these relationships in the future and making an impact around the UK.

If you have any information to put into the next monthly newsletter, please get in touch via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Fundraising 

A huge thank you to Nick Dean of Woodbine Farm, who has been collecting money for LPUK with the help of his wonderful Reindeer. 

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year period. We are looking forward to what 2020 brings to LPUK and how we can develop further.

DON'T FORGET

Booking for the LPUK 8th Birthday Celebration is now open, the event will take place on Saturday 22nd February 2020 at Holiday Inn Milton Keynes Central . The cost is £15 per adult and £10 per child. All information on how to book can be found on our website. If you have any questions, please contact us via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Naidex 46: Aspiring for a Better Future of Independent Living

With 20% of the UK’s population being disabled, it’s time for disability to be in the spotlight - Welcome to Naidex 46! Europe's most established event dedicated to the disability and independent living industries is back for its 46th anniversary, on the 17th & 18th March 2020at Birmingham’s NEC. 

Always looking to bring you the latest solutions that allow disabled people to live more independently, this year’s show will put its focus on the key topics taking the industry by storm - from inclusion and accessibility to mobility and employability, Naidex 46 has you covered.

You’ll be able to shop from 400 world-class suppliers and try before you buy, but Naidex has always been much more than a marketplace where visitors can find the latest innovations - it is a place where people come together and learn about the industry’s future. 

As the epicentre of the disability and healthcare world, Naidex 46 will also boast an unparalleled speaker line-up, providing you with 300 inspirational seminars. Throughout both days, seminar theatres will be brimming with information and advice, leaving audiences uplifted and empowered.

What’s more, you’ll be able to immerse yourself in countless interactive features, test the very latest mobility products on the Mobility Test Track and get involved in the Live Sports Arena to discover your next passion. 

2019 has been a busy year for LPUK where we have increased our profile within the UK. Throughout the last 12 months we have visited more schools, attended more networking events, attended more fundraisers and joined in with more fantastic social events than ever before. Here we display some of the highlights of 2019.

School visits

LPUK representatives attended 12 schools this year, holding assemblies and awareness sessions, to raise awareness of dwarfism and LPUK. We also attended a school diversity day holding a drama workshop for all the children. There were lots of great questions throughout all of these visits and it was fantastic to help educate the children, parents and staff about dwarfism. 

If your school would like a visit from LPUK in 2020, please ask them to get in touch via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we can arrange for this to occur.

Networking

LPUK delegates have attended Peterborough Biscuit Event (February), Naidex (March), Primary Care Exhibition (May) Recruiters 4 U (May), Rare Disease Conference (September) and Hate Crime Awareness Event (October), networking and raising the profile of LPUK and dwarfism. We have spoken to doctors, nurses, midwives, geneticists, businesses, police and many other professionals who can support LPUK and it's members with medical issues, funding and raising awareness. 

In 2019 delegates attended a number of meetings with Peterborough Council, joining the Peterborough Physical Disability Partnership Board, where many issues are discussed such as building access, local services, support etc. helping ensure people with disabilities maintain independence. LPUK are the first representatives of dwarfism on this group and we have had great feedback about our unique perspective. We hope to help improve services and support for all.

Throughout 2020 we are looking to attend many more networking events gathering information and raising the profile of LPUK. We are already booked in for Naidex 46 and we will ensure to attend many other events throughout the year.

Fundraising and Awareness Raising 

We have been honoured to receive a great amount of support from our fundraisers in 2019, with people holding cake sales, family fun days, school non-uniform days, workplace raffles, Toughmudders, charity runs, charity cycles and many more, to help raise funds for LPUK. 

Our representatives were also invited to a number of planned events which allowed us to raise funds and awareness such as: 

• Truckfest
• Star Wars weekend
• Yaxley Festival
• WizCon
• Feel The Force Day
• Leek Carnival
• Christmas Lights Switch On

We had a wonderful time at all of the events and we met many people, explaining to them about dwarfism whilst also showing them the work that LPUK do to support its members.

LPUK relies on this fundraising to ensure we can continue our work, to ensure all members within LPUK are supported and we promote positivity throughout. 

If you have any fundraising activities coming up in 2020, please let us know via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we can support and promote.

In August we were delighted to support our riders in the 2019 Ride London. If you would like one of our spaces for the 2020 event, please get in touch.

We had a great time supporting our runners for the 10,000km run in May of 2019. We are hugely grateful for anyone who can support us through fundraising.

Events 

Throughout 2019 we have held our two annual events, the LPUK 7th Birthday Celebration and the LPUK 8th Annual Convention; these were extremely well attended and everyone once again had the opportunity to socialise and make many new friends. There was also the opportunity to learn about medical issues regarding dwarfism, from our fantastic medical specialists and also learn key strategies to help with confidence and anxiety from The Speakmans. 2019 also saw our very first camping trip at West Lodge Rural Farm, thankfully the weather was lovely and everyone had a great time learning about the farm, admiring the wonderful view and socialising around the camp fire. Finally, at the end of 2019 a few members visited the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland event, although chilly, everyone had a great time, getting in to the festive spirit. We have had a great time during 2019, having at least one meeting or event every month, we look forward to continuing this throughout 2020 and beyond. If you have any information to add to our newsletters, any upcoming fundraisers, any local awareness events or want advice in joining your local representatives board, please get in touch with us via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

You can keep up to date with all LPUK's news, activities and events on our website.