This Saturday, 8th September, is one of the highlights of the Trust's year for me - our Open Day and Annual Members' meeting and I hope you will come and join us. As the title suggests, it is a combination of fun for families and a meeting where we report on our progress to our members and the public and they give us their invaluable feedback.
One theme of this year's meeting, which starts in our Blair Bell Education Centre at 11am, is around Infertility and the help which our Hewitt Centre for Reproductive Medicine is able to offer. The centre has made dreams come true for thousands of couples. They include Jeanette and Arthur Fardelin who made headlines this summer with their family of "quins" all born from the same batch of frozen embryos. Jeanette and Arthur and their lovely family will be attending the Open Day.
Jeanette will speak at the members' meeting about her journey from thinking she might never have a family at all to the fact that she now has five lively and healthy children, thanks she says, to the wonderful work of our Hewitt Centre, the largest NHS fertility centre in the country. Speaking on the same theme will be Consultant Gynaecologist, Charles Kingsland, one of Liverpool's pioneers in the field of fertility treatment.
Elsewhere in the hospital, the fun-packed Open Day will run from 11am to 3pm and is free to all. It includes a Teddy Bears' Picnic, with a free lunch for all children and their bears, and our popular Teddy Goes to Theatre experience to familiarise children with the surroundings of an operating theatre. There will also be face painting, holistic therapies, raffles, live music and much more.
The day will also see a "technical milestone" as we the launch our official Twitter feed.This means that those of you wanting to keep up to date with what's happening at the Trust or who would like to interact with us will be able to do so by following us @LiverpoolWomens.
We know from past experience that the Open Day is always a great day out for our visitors as well as giving them an insight into some of the services we provide to the one million women who come through our doors every year. For me, it is a great opportunity to meet and listen to the families who use our services. I hope you can make it on Saturday. If you have any questions about any aspect of the day, please contact Mark Roberts on 0151 702 4372 or via email at mark.roberts@lwh.nhs.uk