Reason #2 for going to the SPUC youth conference

#2 The Venue

Hayes Centre

 1) In recent years the International Youth Conference has migrated south, having been held in Scotland for a number of years. Last year it moved to Rotherham, and now to Swanwick, Derbyshire, for 2013. We want as many as possible to come, and holding it in a more central location will hopefully mean less time and money on trains, cars, and coaches, for more people. Please remember to use your student card to get discounted travel rates when booking your transport.

All bedrooms are en-suite

 2) Every attendee will have a modern and comfortable twin or single en-suite bedroom. Rooms have views of the grounds and gardens. All en-suite rooms have bathroom suite, towels and soap, tea and coffee making facilities and a hairdryer. All have exceptionally high standards of décor and furnishings. Some bedrooms are designed for delegates with disabilities, including adapted doors and space for wheelchair users, the provision of alarm pull-cords and specially designed showers and bathroom suites.

You can have this every morning! Om nom!

 3) The Hayes offers a fully catered package comprising of continental and cooked breakfast, mid morning coffee (served with biscuits), a prearranged choice of hot or cold lunch dishes, afternoon tea with fresh homemade cakes and a three course evening meal. Refreshment breaks are served in areas where delegates can relax between sessions, whether this is outside in the beautiful gardens or in one of the many lounge areas.

Not the actual bar, but you get the idea ;-)

  5)  A staffed Bar is available, offering a large range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic refreshments at reasonable prices, including many draught beers and spirits. The bar will be a nice area to relax and chat after dinner on Friday and Saturday, and we'll have the bar open for drinks before dinner on Saturday evening.

Photo of the some of the garden and pond

 6) The Hayes has beautiful grounds for a morning stroll, a post-lunch wake-up walk, or for a relaxing drink and chat with friends in the evening. There is outdoor seating, a large pond with wildlife, and several small gardens dotted about.

Reason #1 why you should come to this year's SPUC youth conference

#1 The Speakers

Every year SPUC makes sure that the speakers we have are first rate and the topics are varied and engaging. This year's set of speakers is no exception. Below is this year's list of speakers with a short biography. 

Professor Patrick Pullicino. Topic: Liverpool Care Pathway

Patrick Pullicino is Professor of Clinical Neuroscience and Consultant Neurologist in the East Kent Hospitals Trust. His research expertise is centred on cerebrovascular disease including MRI and ultrasound imaging. He was recently a Principal Investigator in a US National Institutes of Health research programme and continues this work in the UK In December 2012 Professor Pullicino made headlines following a lecture on the Liverpool Care Pathway, given at the Royal Society of Medicine in London

                                         Dr Lisa Nolland. Topic: Sex Education

Dr Lisa Nolland has worked with children, adolescents and families for 30 years in the UK. She obtained her PhD at the University of Bristol, with a thesis on history, sexuality, culture, and religion. Lisa convenes the Working Party on the Sexualisation of Children, Lords and Commons Family and Child Protection Group. She wrote A Victorian Feminist Christian: Josephine Butler, the Prostitutes and God (2004) and wrote and edited God, Gays and the Church: Human Sexuality and Experience in Christian Thinking (2008). She serves as web consultant for Anglican-Mainstream.

John Smeaton. Topic: Pro-life Campaigns

John Smeaton became involved in SPUC after graduating, when he established a branch in south London in 1974. He has worked full-time for SPUC for 33 years. John became director of SPUC in the UK in 1996, having been general secretary since 1978. He was elected vice-president of International Right to Life Federation in 2005. At UN conferences in Cairo, Copenhagen, Beijing, Istanbul and Rome, he helped coordinate more than 150 pro-life/pro-family groups resulting in pro-life victories in Cairo, Istanbul and Rome.

                                         Ira Winter. Topic: Natural Family Planning

Ira Winter (RN BSc MSc CFCP) is fully trained as a Creighton Model FertilityCare practitioner and has been managing the Life FertilityCare service since 2007.

Fiorella Nash. Topic: Maternal Mortality

Fiorella Nash is a researcher and writer, specialising in pro-life issues from a feminist perspective. She holds a BA and M.Phil in English from Cambridge University and worked as a public affairs assistant to Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor before joining SPUC. Fiorella is also a published novelist and biographer, writing as Fiorella De Maria. Her most recent published novel, Poor Banished Children was published by Ignatius Press in 2011. Fiorella's forthcoming novel, Do Not Harm, will be published in March 2013 by Ignatius.

                                   Anthony Ozimic. Topic: Political Campaigning

Anthony Ozimic has been SPUC’s communications manager since summer 2009. Prior to that he was SPUC’s political secretary from 2000 onwards. He is often called upon to comment on behalf of SPUC on television and radio, in print and online. He is also SPUC’s webmaster, Facebook group administrator and Tweeter. He holds a Masters degree in bioethics from St Mary’s University College, Twickenham. 

                                   Dr. Helen Watt

Dr Helen Watt BA, PhD (Edin) is Senior Research Fellow at the Anscombe Bioethics Centre. From 2001-2010 she was Director of the Linacre Centre (as the Anscombe Centre was formerly known). From 1992-2001 she held the post of Research Fellow at the Centre; from 1993-1996 she was also Senior Research Associate at Peterhouse, Cambridge. Her research interests include reproductive ethics and action theory, particularly issues of cooperation and complicity. Current projects include a book on the pregnancy relationship, tentatively titled Childbearing: the Ethics of Pregnancy, Abortion, and Childbirth.

James Bogle. Topic: Euthanasia

James Bogle is an experienced barrister who was called the Bar in 1991. He has acted on SPUC's behalf in the high pro-life court case of Diane Pretty. James is an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a Lecturer in Medical Law at St George's Hospital Medical School. He is an author; and former chairman and current vice-chairman of the Catholic Union of Great Britain.

                                                      Katherine Hampton: SPUC pro-life School’s Talk

Katherine has worked for SPUC for 18 years, originally heading up its Youth and Student Division. She worked for many years in SPUC’s education department, and is currently SPUC’s political assistant. Katherine speaks in dozens of schools and colleges every year.