Medact North East Meeting
2022-07-06 20:00 - 21:00 (Europe/London) | Zoom
Medact North East is an active local group based around Newcastle, Sunderland, Tynemouth and across the North East.

The group meets at the same time 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, get in touch via northeast@medact.org. Sign up to the North East group’s mailing list –

Migrant Solidarity Group meeting
2022-07-07 18:30 - 20:00, 2022-09-08 18:30 - 20:00
Medact’s Migrant Solidarity Group meets monthly. The group develops projects to defend access to healthcare rights for refugees and migrants, and informs civil society about existing rights and barriers to accessing healthcare. They are a friendly and welcoming group of healthcare professionals and students who invite people to join and commit as little or as much time as they feel able. They attend events which raise awareness of forced migration, from theatre, poetry evenings, debates and lectures.

Sign up to the MSG mailing list to receive meeting details:

Medact Brighton: An Introduction to Patients Not Passports
2022-07-11 19:00 - 20:30
Are you a health worker or student in Brighton wanting to take action for migrant and health justice?

Medact Brighton are currently focusing on the Patients Not Passports and Health for a Green New Deal Campaigns!

Join the Brighton group for an hybrid (in-person and online) workshop for an introduction to the hostile environment in the NHS, and how the health community is seeking to tackle it through the Patients Not Passports campaign.

The workshop will be facilitated by James Skinner, Medact’s Health & Human Rights Campaign and Programme Lead.

If you are joining in person, please take a Covid-19 lateral flow test on the day, and we welcome people to wear masks.

To attend, subscribe to the Brighton mailing list or email brighton@medact.org

Securitisation of Health group meeting
2022-07-12 19:00 - 20:00 | Zoom
**Postponed: new date TBA**
A number of policing and counter-extremism measures are embedded by the government into UK health services, at times requiring 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.
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, please email Reem Abu-Hayyeh.

Patients Not Passports National Network Meeting
2022-07-12 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom
Patients Not Passports National Network Meetings are for local and national campaigners.
Are you interested in PNP and keen to get involved at a local or national level? Register for our next New Joiners meeting.
If you’ve already attended a New Joiners meeting and would like to join one of our national working groups, you can do that here.
Any questions about PNP? Get in touch with our Campaigns Officer Sarah Lasoye.

Economic Justice & Health group meeting
2022-07-18 19:00 - 20:30, 2022-08-01 19:00 - 20:30
The Economic Justice & Health group meet regularly on Zoom 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 EJ&H campaigner Jordi.
[Registration has now closed]

Medact Sheffield Meeting
2022-07-19 19:00 - 20:00, 2022-08-09 19:00 - 20:00
Medact Sheffield are currently focusing their campaigns on Patients Not Passports and Health for a Green New Deal.

The group meets fortnightly on Tuesdays from 7pm – 8pm in a hybrid format — in person at the Medical School (room to be confirmed each time) and online on Zoom.

Sign up to the Medact Sheffield email list below to get involved — or email sheffield@medact.org.

Economic Justice & Health: Welfare & Health Workshop
2022-07-21 19:00 - 21:00 | Zoom
Healthcare workers are in a unique position to witness how contact with the welfare system can be harmful to people’s physical and mental health.

Healing Justice London’s Deaths by Welfare Project investigates deaths linked to welfare reform and the violence of state austerity. Deaths by Welfare is led by China Mills and co-created with John Pring (Disability News Service). The knowledge and leadership of disabled people fighting fatal reforms is central to this work.

The Deaths by Welfare Project and Medact are working together to better understand how healthcare workers bear witness to the harms of the welfare system; navigate complicity in a system that is often disempowering and enraging; and how they practice, or dream of practising, allyship with those with lived experience.

Register

This workshop is for you if you…

are a healthcare worker who witnesses the impact of the welfare state on people’s health

are navigating feelings of complicity with a system that doesn’t leave you many other options

want to think more about, or share existing practices of, allyship

This will be an exploratory space for sharing, discussion and collective learning, which aims to:

identify and understand the kinds of resources that healthcare workers know about and/or need to support people in their contact with the welfare system

think collectively about what allyship might, and does, look like

Please read before registering…

Everything about the project is distressing, so we’ve spent a lot of time creating processes for supporting people to engage – co-designed and informed by the expertise of people with lived experience.

However, the session will likely be triggering for different people in different ways, especially depending on how folks are positioned in relation to the welfare system, their experiences of cumulative harm, trauma, and distress.

We want to honour the legitimacy of your self-knowledge (that you know yourself best) while also understanding how the violence of the system shows up in so many ways (in our bodies, and our emotions) both every day and sometimes unexpectedly. We would like you to participate in a way that honours how you’re feeling and that prioritises care. There will be other opportunities to connect with us if now isn’t right for you. Please do what’s right for you at this time.

Please find some resources available here:

HJL aftercare menu

The GEN Grief toolkit

HJL’s events including monthly grief circle, weekly breath circle and restorative yoga

Registrations are limited to 30 people. Please only register if you are able to attend. Once capacity has been reached, you will be waitlisted and contacted if a space becomes available.

[Registration has now closed]

Medact Brighton: an introduction to Health for a Green New Deal
2022-07-25 19:00 - 20:30
Are you a health worker or student in Brighton wanting to take action for climate and health justice?

Medact Brighton are currently focusing on the Patients Not Passports and Health for a Green New Deal Campaigns.

Join Medact Brighton for this hybrid (in-person and online) workshop for an introduction to the Health for a Green New Deal campaign with Medact’s Climate & Health Campaign and Programme Lead, Rob Abrams.

If you are joining in person, please take a Covid-19 lateral flow test on the day and we welcome people to wear masks!

To attend, subscribe to the Brighton mailing list or email brighton@medact.org

Migrant Solidarity Group meeting
2022-08-02 18:30 - 20:00
Medact’s Migrant Solidarity Group meets monthly. The group develops projects to defend access to healthcare rights for refugees and migrants, and informs civil society about existing rights and barriers to accessing healthcare. They are a friendly and welcoming group of healthcare professionals and students who invite people to join and commit as little or as much time as they feel able. They attend events which raise awareness of forced migration, from theatre, poetry evenings, debates and lectures.

Simply sign up to the MSG mailing list to receive meeting details and other updates:

Hiroshima Day 2022
2022-08-06 - 2022-08-07
Hiroshima Day is observed annually on the 6th of August on the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. The anniversary is commemorated across the world.
Donate to our Hiroshima Appeal Join our Nuclear Weapons Group
London CND Commemoration National CND commemorations

Economic Justice & Health group meeting
2022-08-15 19:00 - 20:30, 2022-09-12 19:00 - 20:30, 2022-09-26 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom

Medact Oxford relaunch event
2022-08-19 19:00 - 20:30 | Common Ground Cafe, 37-38 Little Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX1 2HF
Please join Medact Oxford for a relaunch event on Friday 19th August at the Jericho Community Centre (map).
Our intentions for the event:

Get to know each other—anyone is welcome, whether you have been following Medact and/or our group virtually or you’re totally new.
Introduce the campaigns Medact is currently involved in—including Access to Healthcare/Patients Not Passports, Securitisation of Health, Economic Justice, Health for a Green New Deal—for those that may not be familiar.

Ultimately, we would like to create a strong, local campaigning group that reflects people’s interests and passions!
We’ll open with a short refresher presentation about Medact’s work and campaigns and an open conversation about what we would like to work on as a group.
Afterwards, we’ll head to the local pub or beer garden (weather dependent) to give everyone the opportunity to socialise and network.
Please take a Covid-19 lateral flow test on the day, and we welcome people to wear masks.
Please register below and we look forward to seeing you there!
[Registration has now closed]

Medact Sheffield Meeting
2022-08-25 19:00 - 20:00
Medact Sheffield are currently focusing their campaigns on Patients Not Passports and Health for a Green New Deal.

The group meets fortnightly in a hybrid format — in person at the Medical School (room to be confirmed each time) and online on Zoom.

Sign up to the Medact Sheffield email list below to get involved — or email sheffield@medact.org.

Medact Brighton meeting
2022-08-31 19:00 - 20:30
Building on our Health for a Green New Deal introduction session, we want to hear your thoughts on what the local issues are relating to climate health in our area, and start planning how we could campaign for positive change for people and planet.

New to Medact/H4GND? Don’t worry if you missed the last session, we’ll have a quick recap beforehand! Likewise, if this is your first meeting, please arrive by 6:45 for an introduction to Medact.

COVID safety: The venue is indoors, so we ask attendees to please take a lateral flow test before coming if you have access to them, and not to attend if you have symptoms or a positive test. If you would prefer, there is the option to join online via Zoom.

Venue: St George’s Community Centre, Kemptown, BN2 1ED. The entrance to the community centre is through a blue door in a glass extension to the left of the church itself. We’ve booked Community Room 1, first on the left at the bottom of the stairs.

Join the WhatsApp group and sign up to the Brighton mailing list for more info and future meetings:

Medact Sheffield Meeting
2022-09-06 19:00 - 20:00, 2022-09-27 19:00 - 20:00
Medact Sheffield are currently focusing their campaigns on Patients Not Passports and Health for a Green New Deal.

The group meets fortnightly from 7pm – 8pm in a hybrid format — in person at the Medical School (room to be confirmed each time) and online on Zoom.

Sign up to the Medact Sheffield email list below to get involved — or email sheffield@medact.org.

Medact Research Network Quarterly Meeting
2022-09-07 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom
The Medact Research Network Quarterly is a 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 aim to collectively develop our thought and research practices.
Our network meets ONLINE every three months, and is a great way to connect with others interested in activism-oriented research. If you’re looking for a way to get involved in new projects, the quarterly meeting is a good place to start.
At the 7 September meeting, we will:

hear from Dr Jo Dobbin, a member of the Migrant Solidarity Group, about research into contingency accommodation and charging in primary care
hear from Dr Hil Aked, Medact’s Research and Policy Manager, about the research network’s upcoming project ‘Criminalising Distress’ and how you can get involved

Interested? Register below! Feel free to get in touch with Hil if you have any questions.
[Registration has now closed]

Bristol Group Meeting: September Social
2022-09-12 18:30 - 20:00
Calling all healthcare workers in Bristol concerned about climate change!

For this meeting we’re holding a picnic on Clifton Downs from 6.30 to 8pm. We’re aiming for the specific location to be ///makes.frock.sample on what3words (map).

Everyone is welcome, whether this is your first meeting or you’ve been involved for a whole.

The social is a chance to catch up, find out about the group and help shape Medact Bristol’s campaigns for the upcoming year.

This is the Facebook page for the event: the group will post a contingency plan here if the weather is bad!

To keep in touch with the Bristol group, you can join their WhatsApp group and/or subscribe to the mailing list for more information.

Medact North East Meeting
2022-09-14 20:00 - 21:00, 2022-09-28 20:00 - 21:00

Spokesperson & media training
2022-09-18 11:00 - 15:00 | Medact Office, The Brick Yard, 28 Charles Square, London, N1 6HT, United Kingdom
Interested in becoming a Medact spokesperson on the relationship between public health and economic justice and/or climate issues? We want to to broaden our network of members who have the skills and confidence to speak to the media on various platforms (digital, print, broadcast) and in different contexts.

We’re planning an in-person training on Sunday 18th September (exact times tbc) at the Medact offices in Hoxton, London, led by our Communications Manager TJ!

For an idea of what our current spokespeople can do, here’s a recent recording of EJ&H member Dr Amaran Uthayakumar-Cumarasamy on Times Radio speaking on the relationship between rising living costs and worsening health.

This training will only run if enough people want to attend, so if this is something that you’d be interested in please register below.

[Registration has now closed]

Medact Birmingham: Druids Heath Community Meeting & Social
2022-09-21 18:00 - 19:30 | Manningford Hall, Bells Lane, Birmingham, B14 5RY, United Kingdom
This meeting is open to all of the community and stakeholders alike, including Medact and our members in Birmingham. Residents have invited the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) Mayor Andy Street and Labour MP Steve McCabe to attend.
This is an excellent opportunity for Medact members to meet the community campaigners and organisers, and discuss how we can effectively support their campaigning efforts.
Have a look at our project proposal ‘A People’s Health Plan for Druids Heath’, which will be discussed during the meeting.
The agenda is as follows: build first, clearance, right to return, community planning, public health campaigning angle (which Medact will be facilitating), levelling up and the formal complaint feedback from Birmingham City Council.
The meeting will be followed by a social (more details to follow) and we really encourage you to attend! Questions? Email EJ&H campaign lead Jordi at jordilopezbotey@medact.org. You can also join the Medact Birmingham WhatsApp group to connect with other members in the locality.

Bristol Group Meeting
2022-09-26 19:00 - 20:30
Medact Bristol is one of our more recently established local groups. They are interested and engaged in local, national and international issues that affect public health. Medact Bristol is focusing its efforts on campaigns on climate, environment and sustainability, divestment, and migrant access to health care.

The Bristol group meet every two weeks on Mondays. You can join their WhatsApp group and subscribe to the mailing list for more information.

Medact Groups Check-in
2022-10-03 19:00 - 20:30 | 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.
We would love one or more people from each group to come if possible, and the group representative doesn’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]
