Last week the UK Thalassaemia Society hosted a ‘Nostalgia Games and Pizza Night’ supported by a Young Londoners grant provided by Public Health England, NHS London and the Mayor of London.
The Southgate office was filled with 16 young Londoners, who all spoke positively about the event, one describing their night as ‘such a lovely evening’ and another stating ‘I loved it so much, I could have stayed all night’.
Despite the Wii competitions, Jenga chaos and table football, each person took the time to speak about their own COVID-19 experience and share their opinions about the vaccine. Alongside these conversations arose the discussion of wellbeing and the challenges faced for the younger demographic. Thankfully, Dr. Katherine MacDonald from Public Health England in Enfield, representing the Community Engagement Team from Greater London Authority was also on hand to provide support and answer general questions.
Additionally, the UKTS team took the opportunity to provide pertinent information to the 18 – 25 year olds on the importance of getting screened for thalassaemia. This was done using an interactive thalassaemia quiz, the video ‘Your life, Your choice, Your test’ providing goodie bags with educational leaflets and merchandise.
Overall, the games night resulted in new UKTS members, an increase in the social media following and most importantly, a new demographic being educated on thalassaemia.
The UKTS would like to thank everyone for attending and making the evening a great success. They look forward to hosting many more games nights.
Many thanks to Public Health England, NHS London and the Mayor of London for funding this event.
#teamUKTS