Medact

Medact Research Network Quarterly Meeting
2023-05-30 19:00 - 20:30 (Europe/London) | Zoom
The Medact Rights Research Network Quarterly is an online space for us to come together, share our work, discuss new projects, or delve into deep discussion about research that has caught your interest.

We’ll be welcoming two guest speakers from US-based health justice body Human Impact Partners (HIP), Elana Muldavin and Christine Mitchell who will be in conversation with our Economic Justice & Health campaigner Jordi.

They’ll be speaking about HIP’s new Research Code of Ethics, which has been designed with guidance from community organisers in order to foster research that’s accountable, responsible, equitable, and just to the communities it seeks to serve. Join us to talk about how Medact can do the same.

Christine Mitchell is a research project director with the Health Instead of Punishment program at Human Impact Partners, a national public health nonprofit based in Oakland, CA. She is an organizer with the Boston-based DeeperThanWater Coalition and a co-author of the American Public Health Association policy statements on law enforcement violence and carceral systems. She has a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School and a Doctor of Science in Social and Behavioral Sciences from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Elana Muldavin is a senior research associate at Human Impact Partners, where her work focuses on advancing economic security through collaborative, community-centered research. She believes that policy advocacy, community organizing, and participatory research are powerful tools in service of health and racial equity. Elana holds a Master of Public Health from University of California, Berkeley and an undergraduate degree in sociology from Occidental College.

Questions? Get in touch with our Research & Policy Manager, Hil Aked

[Registration has now closed]

Medact Groups Check-in
2023-05-31 18:30 - 20:00 | Zoom
This is a space for people active in Medact local or issue groups to connect, to share collective learning from our organising—the challenges and successes and how we can support each other moving forward.

Ideally one or more people from each group can come along and represent their group, and the group representative(s) don’t need to be a coordinator: anyone who is involved is welcome!

As part of the check in, we would love for each group to spend two minutes sharing a few highlights from the last few months, any challenges you’ve had, and any plans you have coming up.

If you have any questions or would like to chat through anything, do get in touch with Ben Eder: beneder@medact.org

[Registration has now closed]

Economic Justice & Health group meeting
2023-06-05 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom
The Economic Justice & Health group meet regularly to discuss current and future campaigns, plan events, work on strategy and share knowledge. The group is open to all and welcomes new members. Questions? Email our EJ&H campaign lead Jordi.

Patients Not Passports New Joiners meeting: June
2023-06-19 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom
Want to get involved in the Patients Not Passports campaign?

The best way to get up to speed with the campaign and connected with work going on across the country is to come to our next New Joiners meeting.

In this meeting we’ll explore how NHS charging works and how we can fight back, hear from some of the groups working on the Patients Not Passports campaign, and explore the different ways you can take part. To win, we need everyone working together to oppose NHS charging – you don’t need to work in healthcare to be involved!

If you can’t make the next New Joiners meeting, don’t worry! We can also make time for a quick phone call with you or connect you directly with your local group – get in touch by emailing jamesskinner@medact.org.

[Registration has now closed]

Economic Justice Group Meeting
2023-06-19 19:00 - 21:00, 2023-07-03 19:00 - 20:30, 2023-07-17 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom
The Economic Justice & Health group meet regularly to discuss current and future campaigns, plan events, work on strategy and share knowledge. The group is open to all and welcomes new members. Questions? Email our EJ&H campaign lead Jordi.

[Registration has now closed]

Housing & Health: London meeting
2023-06-28 18:30 - 20:30 | Medact Office, The Brick Yard, 28 Charles Square, London, N1 6HT, United Kingdom
Medact’s EJ Housing & Health Group is organising to improve policies for better access to secure and sustainable housing. This includes working alongside local groups to support local campaigns, as well as demanding policy change on a national level for better support for social housing, community-owned housing stock and protections for renters.

Over the past few months, our members have been actively involved in national advocacy work through the Homes for us Campaign, local organising work in Birmingham and have recently started a new project organising with tenants and community organisers in Harrow.

You will be hearing from the members involved in our Housing and Health campaign, get updates on our local organising work in Harrow and help us develop our next steps and identify other potential campaigns in London.

After the meeting we’re having a bit of a social gathering to provide an opportunity to meet other Medact members in London.

You don’t have to be a regular member of the EJ&H group or a health worker to get involved, everyone is welcome!If you’re unable to attend any of the meetings but keen to get involved or develop a local campaign you can contact Jordi: jordilopezbotey@medact.org

[Registration has now closed]

Background

The housing system in the UK is broken. Currently, 1.6 million households are on social housing waiting lists and millions more are struggling to meet unaffordable rents in the private sector. One in five dwellings in England fail to meet decent standards for living, with disregard for basic health and safety measures all too common. Housing is not equitably distributed in the UK: poorer households, ethnic minority groups, the elderly and adults with disabilities are all more likely to live in low-quality, unsafe, insecure housing. Despite all of this, social and private rents are growing faster than the cost of living. Social housing stock is dwindling, yet there are around five times more empty homes in the country than households in need of housing.

As part of the health community, we see and care for the symptoms of an unjust economic system. We are united in struggle with friends and colleagues within and beyond the NHS in organising to end housing-related health inequalities

You can read more in our booklet The Public Health Case for Secure Housing

Housing and Health London Meeting
2023-07-26 18:30 - 20:30 | Medact Office, The Brick Yard, 28 Charles Square, London, N1 6HT, United Kingdom
Medact’s EJ Housing & Health Group is organising to improve policies for better access to secure and sustainable housing. This includes working alongside local groups to support local campaigns, as well as demanding policy change on a national level for better support for social housing, community-owned housing stock and protections for renters.

Over the past few months, our members have been actively involved in national advocacy work through the Homes for us Campaign, local organising work in Birmingham and have recently started a new project organising with tenants and community organisers in Harrow.

You will be hearing from the members involved in our Housing and Health campaign, get updates on our local organising work in Harrow and help us develop our next steps and identify other potential campaigns in London.

After the meeting we’re having a bit of a social gathering to provide an opportunity to meet other Medact members in London.

You don’t have to be a regular member of the EJ&H group or a health worker to get involved, everyone is welcome!If you’re unable to attend any of the meetings but keen to get involved or develop a local campaign you can contact Jordi: jordilopezbotey@medact.org

Meetings are usually in-person, but this month we’re meeting online due to tube strikes.

[Registration has now closed]

Background

The housing system in the UK is broken. Currently, 1.6 million households are on social housing waiting lists and millions more are struggling to meet unaffordable rents in the private sector. One in five dwellings in England fail to meet decent standards for living, with disregard for basic health and safety measures all too common. Housing is not equitably distributed in the UK: poorer households, ethnic minority groups, the elderly and adults with disabilities are all more likely to live in low-quality, unsafe, insecure housing. Despite all of this, social and private rents are growing faster than the cost of living. Social housing stock is dwindling, yet there are around five times more empty homes in the country than households in need of housing.

As part of the health community, we see and care for the symptoms of an unjust economic system. We are united in struggle with friends and colleagues within and beyond the NHS in organising to end housing-related health inequalitiesYou can read more in our booklet The Public Health Case for Secure Housing

Economic Justice & Health group meeting
2023-07-31 19:00 - 20:30, 2023-10-16 19:00 - 20:30

Economic Justice & Health Group
2023-08-07 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom

Economic Justice & Health group meeting
2023-08-21 19:00 - 20:30 | zoom

Housing and Health London Meeting
2023-08-30 18:30 - 20:30 | Zoom
Medact’s EJ Housing & Health Group is organising to improve policies for better access to secure and sustainable housing. This includes working alongside local groups to support local campaigns, as well as demanding policy change on a national level for better support for social housing, community-owned housing stock and protections for renters.

Over the past few months, our members have been actively involved in national advocacy work through the Homes for us Campaign, local organising work in Birmingham and have recently started a new project organising with tenants and community organisers in Harrow.

You will be hearing from the members involved in our Housing and Health campaign, get updates on our local organising work in Harrow and help us develop our next steps and identify other potential campaigns in London.

You don’t have to be a regular member of the EJ&H group or a health worker to get involved, everyone is welcome!If you’re unable to attend any of the meetings but keen to get involved or develop a local campaign you can contact Jordi: jordilopezbotey@medact.org

[Registration has now closed]

Background

The housing system in the UK is broken. Currently, 1.6 million households are on social housing waiting lists and millions more are struggling to meet unaffordable rents in the private sector. One in five dwellings in England fail to meet decent standards for living, with disregard for basic health and safety measures all too common. Housing is not equitably distributed in the UK: poorer households, ethnic minority groups, the elderly and adults with disabilities are all more likely to live in low-quality, unsafe, insecure housing. Despite all of this, social and private rents are growing faster than the cost of living. Social housing stock is dwindling, yet there are around five times more empty homes in the country than households in need of housing.

As part of the health community, we see and care for the symptoms of an unjust economic system. We are united in struggle with friends and colleagues within and beyond the NHS in organising to end housing-related health inequalities. You can read more in our booklet The Public Health Case for Secure Housing

Economic Justice Group Meeting
2023-09-04 19:00 - 20:30

Medact Groups Check-in
2023-09-12 18:30 - 20:00

Nuclear Weapons Group meeting
2023-09-20 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom
Medact’s Nuclear Weapons Group represents the longest standing aspect of Medact’s work towards nuclear abolition, and to address war, armed violence and conflict as global threats to health.

We will meet to provide an update on our ongoing work, and discuss the current global political landscape as related to nuclear weapons and disarmament. Register below to receive the meeting link!

For more info or with questions, email Sarah: sarahlasoye@medact.org

[Registration has now closed]

Patients not Passports New Joiners Meeting: September
2023-09-21 19:00 - 20:30
Want to get involved in the Patients Not Passports campaign?

The best way to get up to speed with the campaign and connected with work going on across the country is to come to our next New Joiners meeting.

In this meeting we’ll explore how NHS charging works and how we can fight back, hear from some of the groups working on the Patients Not Passports campaign, and explore the different ways you can take part. To win, we need everyone working together to oppose NHS charging – you don’t need to work in healthcare to be involved!

If you can’t make the next New Joiners meeting, don’t worry! We can also make time for a quick phone call with you or connect you directly with your local group – get in touch by emailing jamesskinner@medact.org

York: Can a windmill a day keep the doctor away?
2023-09-23 16:00 - 17:00 | SPARK:York CIC, 17-21 Piccadilly, York, YO1 9PB, United Kingdom
Join us for a deep dive into the many connections between health and climate change and learn why a healthy planet makes for healthy humans

Join Medact for a captivating event at SPARK as part of Yorkshire Environment Week 2023!

Sign up on Eventbrite!

What do windmills have to do with heart attacks? What is the link between coal mines and rates of mental health issues? How might preserving forests help us prevent another pandemic?

Buckle up for a deep dive into the links between climate change, the environment and health. Medact invite you to join us for an interactive workshop held by health professionals working in and around Yorkshire. We will help you join these dots and many more, as well as giving you the opportunity to take positive action both on the day and into the future.

Open to absolutely everybody!! – no knowledge or experience needed 🙂 sign up for FREE here.

We welcome any walk ins on the day but signing up ahead of time with help us plan and tailor our workshop to make sure you get the most out of your time with us.

To find out more about Medact or the other wonderful events of York Environment Week see the link below:

YEW 2022 events

Please contact leeds@medact.org with any questions

*POSTPONED* Securitisation of Health group meeting
2023-09-27 18:00 - 19:30
This meeting has been postponed. All registrants have been notified, and will receive a rescheduled date shortly.

What is the securitisation of health?

A number of policing and counter-extremism measures are embedded by the government into UK health services, which at times require health workers to work closely with the police and other security agencies.

These measures risk undermining therapeutic relationships, confidentiality and trust in practitioners – as well as drawing health services and workers into becoming an arm of policing and counter-terror agencies.

Through research and campaigns, Medact aims to shift understandings of ‘security’, from typically “hard” measures (border enforcement, a punitive criminal justice system, counter-terror measures) and advocate for collective and human security, health and wellbeing. Read more about our work on Securitisation here.

About the group

The Securitisation of Health group is for health workers interested in working on these issues through campaigning, lobbying and research. New members are welcome!

If you have any questions or concerns about attending, please email our Campaign Lead Sarah Lasoye at sarahlasoye@medact.org

AGM 2023
2023-09-30 11:00 - 16:00 | Medact Office, The Brick Yard, 28 Charles Square, London, N1 6HT, United Kingdom
The AGM is our annual opportunity to come together and explore the overall running of Medact. As always, we’re excited to bring together members old and new from the UK and beyond. In addition to completing essential governance matters, this year we will be exploring elements of our new Organisational Strategy.

Everyone is welcome to join the meeting, but you must be a member to propose and vote on motions or in elections. If you would like to get involved in running Medact, why not join today?

Submitting motions

The AGM is a space for members to put forward proposals for changes you would like to see to the running of Medact. If you would like to submit a motion, please read “Decision Making in Medact: Governance and AGM” and contact office@medact.org for a template form. If you would like support in drafting a motion, contact Ben on beneder@medact.org. The deadline for submitting motions is 9am, Monday September 18th. You must be a member to submit a motion, and it needs to be seconded by another member.

Election of Trustees

The AGM is where members can elect Trustees, who are responsible for the overall governance of Medact. The deadline for Trustee applications for this year’s AGM has passed.

Logistics

We are hosting the AGM as a hybrid event with the option to attend in-person in London at our offices or online via Zoom. Register to let us know you are coming below. If you plan to attend in-person, please take a Covid-19 Lateral Flow Test before leaving home. If you test positive, you can still attend online if you feel able. Masks are not mandatory but welcomed and we will have some available on-site.

We support the train drivers’ union (ASLEF) strikes! One is planned for Saturday 30th September, which may affect your travel if you are planning on joining in person. Please join online instead if you are affected!

If you need support getting to the AGM, let us know when you register. If you need support to join the meeting online please let us know, and one of the team will be happy to help.

[Registration has now closed]

Agenda

Morning: Governance (11am – 12:50pm)

Director and Treasurer’s reports

Motions

Election of Trustees

Lunch (12:50 – 1:50pm)

Afternoon: Organisational Strategy (1:50 – 4pm)

Guest speaker: China Mills

Organisational strategy workshop

Social (after 4pm) – details TBD

About China Mills

China Mills leads the Deaths by Welfare project at Healing Justice Ldn – researching welfare state violence alongside those most impacted. She is committed to research practice that cultivates and restores dignity, belonging, safety, and that is abolitionist – in community with those harmed by state violence. She has published widely on state, and corporate, violence, structural oppression, suicide and mental health, and is the author of Decolonising Global Mental Health (published by Routledge). She is also a member of the Poverty, Power, and Stigma design team at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, working alongside people with lived experience of poverty.

London Housing and Health Meeting (online)
2023-10-04 19:00 - 21:00 | Medact Office, The Brick Yard, 28 Charles Square, London, N1 6HT, United Kingdom
*Due to planned TfL strikes on the London Underground, this meeting will now take place online via Zoom*

Medact’s EJ Housing & Health Group is organising to improve policies for better access to secure and sustainable housing. This includes working alongside local groups to support local campaigns, as well as demanding policy change on a national level for better support for social housing, community-owned housing stock and protections for renters.

Since our last meeting the group has continued with its local work in Harrow, with outreach and flyering sessions with local organisers and tenants as well as media work, and has supported the London Renters Union with delivery of events in Brent and other locations. Over the summer, a Housing and Health Research Group was also formed.

In this meeting, you will be hearing from the members involved in our work, get updates on our local organising work in North West London, and help us develop the next steps and identify potential campaigns in other boroughs.

We will also be joined by representatives from the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA), who will be speaking about their Healthy Homes Campaign pushing for introduction of a Healthy Homes Bill.

You don’t have to be a regular member of the EJ&H group or a health worker to get involved, everyone is welcome!If you’re unable to attend any of the meetings but keen to get involved or develop a local campaign you can contact Jordi: jordilopezbotey@medact.org

[Registration has now closed]

Background

The housing system in the UK is broken. Currently, 1.6 million households are on social housing waiting lists and millions more are struggling to meet unaffordable rents in the private sector. One in five dwellings in England fail to meet decent standards for living, with disregard for basic health and safety measures all too common. Housing is not equitably distributed in the UK: poorer households, ethnic minority groups, the elderly and adults with disabilities are all more likely to live in low-quality, unsafe, insecure housing. Despite all of this, social and private rents are growing faster than the cost of living. Social housing stock is dwindling, yet there are around five times more empty homes in the country than households in need of housing.

As part of the health community, we see and care for the symptoms of an unjust economic system. We are united in struggle with friends and colleagues within and beyond the NHS in organising to end housing-related health inequalities. You can read more in our booklet The Public Health Case for Secure Housing

The Oil Machine – FREE film screening with Medact Leeds
2023-10-05 19:00 - 21:00 | Beeston Village Community Centre, Beeston Park Place, Beeston, LS11 8DQ, United Kingdom
Explore our economic, historical and emotional entanglement with fossil fuels – can we break the bind in time?

How can we break our addition to oil? Join Medact Leeds for a screening of the new film The Oil Machine at 7pm on Thursday 5th October in Beeston Village Community Centre as part of the South Leeds Green Film Festival for an inspiring screening and conversation on our energy future.

Sign up on Eventbrite!

The Oil Machine explores our economic, historical and emotional entanglement with fossil fuels by looking at the conflicting imperatives around North Sea oil & gas. This invisible machine at the core of our economy and society now faces an uncertain future as activists and investors demand change. Is this the end of oil?

The film brings together a wide range of voices from oil company executives, economists, young activists, oil workers, pension fund managers, and considers how this machine can be tamed, dismantled or repurposed.

https://www.theoilmachine.org/

October Action Planning Meeting – Health for a Green New Deal
2023-10-11 18:30 - 19:30
Want to join a movement of health workers fighting for climate justice?

Join the next Health for a Green New Deal campaign Action Planning Meeting! You’ll meet our new campaigner, Maria Carvalho, to explore a renewed strategy and focus for climate justice campaigning.

The Health for a Green New Deal Action Planning group organises national activity and supports our Health for a Green New Deal network. We have started meeting fortnightly to discuss the current climate & health justice landscape and strategise how we can contribute to the wider movement.

You don’t have to have been involved before to get involved, everyone is welcome! If you’re unable to attend any of the meetings but are keen to get involved or develop a local campaign, get in touch.

Register below to receive the meeting link!

For more info or any questions, email Maria: mariacarvalho@medact.org.

[Registration has now closed]

Nuclear Weapons Group meeting
2023-10-23 19:00 - 20:30

Health for a Green New Deal: Action Planning Meeting
2023-10-25 18:30 - 19:30, 2023-11-08 18:30 - 19:30
Want to join a movement of health workers fighting for climate justice? Join the next Health for a Green New Deal campaign Action Planning Meeting!

The Health for a Green New Deal Action Planning group organises national activity and supports our Health for a Green New Deal network. We meet every 2 weeks, on the second and fourth Wednesday of the month, to discuss the current climate & health justice landscape and strategise how we can contribute to the wider movement.

You don’t have to have been involved before to get involved now—everyone is welcome! If you’re unable to attend any of the meetings but are keen to get involved or develop a local campaign, get in touch. For more info or any questions, email Maria: mariacarvalho@medact.org.

Register below to receive the meeting link.

[Registration has now closed]

Medact North East Group Meeting
2023-10-25 20:00 - 21:00, 2023-11-08 20:00 - 21:00
Medact North East is an active local group based around Newcastle, Sunderland, Tynemouth and across the North East.
The group meets every two weeks. Each meeting is facilitated by a different person and they welcome new members! The time is used to discuss current campaigns and anything else relevant. Some past campaigns and activities include:

Working with Newcastle City Council to endorse the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
Writing to the Foreign Secretary requesting that British children in Syrian refugee camps be returned to Britain.
Giving talks on planetary health at the Royal Victoria infirmary.
Contacting Newcastle City Council to find out which energy supplier they use.

For more information or to join a meeting in-person, get in touch at northeast@medact.org. Register to receive the Zoom link.

[Registration has now closed]

Securitisation of Health group: October Meeting
2023-10-26 18:00 - 19:30 | Medact Office, The Brick Yard, 28 Charles Square, London, N1 6HT, United Kingdom
Hybrid meeting: Online and at Medact’s office in Hoxton, London

What is the securitisation of health?

A number of policing and counter-extremism measures are embedded by the government into UK health services, which at times require health workers to work closely with the police and other security agencies.

These measures risk undermining therapeutic relationships, confidentiality and trust in practitioners – as well as drawing health services and workers into becoming an arm of policing and counter-terror agencies.

Through research and campaigns, Medact aims to shift understandings of ‘security’, from typically “hard” measures (border enforcement, a punitive criminal justice system, counter-terror measures) and advocate for collective and human security, health and wellbeing. Read more about our work on Securitisation here.

About the group

The Securitisation of Health group is for health workers interested in working on these issues through campaigning, lobbying and research. New members are welcome!

If you have any questions or concerns about attending, please email our Campaign Lead Sarah Lasoye at sarahlasoye@medact.org

[Registration has now closed]
