Little People UK recently held their 7th Annual Convention, at Leicester Marriott Hotel, and what a great weekend it was. 

We had almost 300 attendees, including 16 new families, many people attending for their second or third time and some people who have been right there from the beginning. 

We were delighted to see everyone, young and old, new and not, we hope everyone had a great time socialising in a safe environment, making new friends, new memories and finding answers to some questions they may have had for a long time. 

There were lots of activities, workshops and great entertainment, such as LEGO, Laser Tag, Xbox FIFA tournament, cooking workshop and the pinnacle of it all; the 5th Little People UK Medical Panel.

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Little People UK attended the Primary Care and Public Health Exhibition in Birmingham, we were delighted to meet many people from the healthcare profession, including midwives, support workers, occupational and physio therapists, we look forward to making contact with everyone to raise awareness of Little People UK, dwarfism and further support our members in the best way we can via the care profession.

At this years convention Little People UK are holding the second LPUK Positively Unique Awards, where we will celebrate the achievements of members of Little People UK! 

This has been kindly sponsored by Jay Moyes. 

We asked for nominees in three age categories - 

• 0 -11 years
• 12-18 years 
• 19+ years

We asked that each application must show why the person nominated is Positively Unique; applications were open to people with dwarfism AND average height members of LPUK.

The nominations were sent, anonymously, to the LPUK committee for voting and a winner from each category decided.

The winners are - 

0-11 Category 

Winner: Ellie-Mai James

Application: I would like to nominate my daughter for the award, she is an amazing young lady who faces so much in everyday life. In her 6 short years she has gone through and seen more than most people see in a lifetime, not only through herself but also through witnessing her dad have a massive life-changing stroke. She lives each day to the full and doesn't let anything get on top of her, she has had to take on board that her dad can no longer be the amazing man that he was and has to accept the way he is now. She has recently won an award for young citizen of the year and I feel that this award reflects on the amazing person that she is, she gives 100% effort everyday and is amazingly proud to be a little person. Please accept this as my nomination for an amazing little girl.

12-18 Category

Winner: Jemma Hart

Application: I would like to nominate my daughter for this award because of her incredible fund raising efforts this year. Even though she was studying hard for A levels she desperately wanted to raise money and awareness for dwarfism. She approached the head of her school to hold a 12 hour fundraiser, which all 325 pupils were to be involved in. With full support she organised the whole event, securing a visit from the one and only Warwick Davis and the lovely Sammy. She arranged for TV and newspaper coverage and for a school assembly to be held by Thomas Mills from DSA and a pre recorded video from Ellie Simmonds was shown. In addition, one of the pupils has a brother with achondroplasia. It was his birthday and a cake was presented to him and he had his first chance to meet with other little people. This has proven so valuable to his family. The event was a huge success and raised not only awareness but over £3000!

19+ Category

Winner: The Mattock Family

Application: I would like to nominate a family for a the #PositivelyUnique award.  The family this year began their fundraising journey with bags of enthusiasm, great energy and a few nerves but have planned, arranged and taken part in a variety of fund raising activities (baking, making chocolate and sweet bouquets,  running a number of cake sales and completing a sponsored fun run in Leicester for LPUK).  So far 2018 has been packed with fundraising activities (one a month, so far) and there is more to come! (£1,580.30 raised to date.) They are well on the way to becoming seasoned fundraising professionals and hopefully having bags of fun in the process.  Realising that fundraising is great for all involved, the charity, the people it supports, the people you talk with at events, the engagement on social media and they themselves are enjoying the events together and the sense of achievement after. Further events planned are additional school cake sales, further sponsored run and charity meal. Each event is raising a fantastic sum to benefit all supported by LPUK and raising the profile around dwarfism conditions and LPUK.