forwarded on behalf of Aldo Mussi
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: cost of 'Choosing Inclusion' conference 14 Sep,
Birmingham
Date: Wed, 27 Jul 2005 16:26:53 +0100
From: Aldo Mussi <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>, "Jonathan Mathers"
<[log in to unmask]>
CC: <[log in to unmask]>, "Glenn
Macdonald" <[log in to unmask]>, "Mike Filby"
<[log in to unmask]>
As the organiser, my thanks to Alex / Jonathan for the
opportunity to reply about the valid concerns on conference
fees.
Here at Health Development in UCE we are not-for-profit, but
must cover our costs (including staffing) for any external
events such as this. This is explained in the Charging
Policy on the conference page of our website below.
As you can see, the standard fee is £155 (earlybirds were
able to book for £125), with a reduced fee of £105 for
voluntary sector. This is actually a reduction in price from
last year, due to the increasing popularity of the event -
and we hope to be able to reduce it further in future as
numbers increase. Given that our only (albeit gratefully
received) grant funding is a modest contribution from the
Dept of Health, that's about as much as we can do at present
(NB. We use UCE premises to keep costs down - were we to
have a commercial venue such as a hotel, our costs would be
considerably higher).
If anyone has suggestions for attracting more funding, I
would be very grateful to hear about it.
For now, even in a less than ideal situation, we feel it is
important to keep the 'health inclusion' debate and support
alive for health promotion workers in particular, given the
demise of the Health Dev Agency and their own previous
annual event.
Past delegates have responded very positively to this
conference, so we hope to be able to continue running it
each September, while continually seeking to keep the cost down.
I am sorry if anyone feels they are unreasonably excluded,
and would welcome any further feedback / comments / queries.
In the meantime, I hope colleagues will find a way to join
us on the day for what should be another valuable conference.
Best wishes
Aldo
Aldo Mussi (Snr Lecturer in Health Development)
University of Central England
tel. 0121 331 5326 email : [log in to unmask]
UCE's 3rd national Health Development conference
is on Wed 14 Sep 2005, Birmingham.
www.hcc.uce.ac.uk/Schools/healthdev/index.htm
-----Original Message-----
From: Alex Scott-Samuel [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 27 July 2005 15:19
To: Jonathan Mathers
Cc: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Birminghman UK Event: 'Choosing Inclusion'
Thank you very much for drawing my attention to this
Jonathan: I am speaking at this conference and as one who is
committed to equity, I am very sensitive to the issues you
raise. I have on a number of occasions publicly protested at
the way that certain specialist conference organisers rip
off the public sector by charging outrageous conference
fees: appended below is a letter to just such an
organisation in Cheshire
('Bearhunt') which invited me to run a workshop at a one-day
conference for which they were charging public sector
workers £381 inc. VAT, and voluntary sector workers £233
inc. VAT!
In my view, the cost of the Birmingham conference is just
about within the bounds of acceptability - but I will copy
this letter to the organiser so that he can respond
Best wishes, Alex
(extract from letter to Bearhunt)
Dear *****
Thanks for your letter. As I informed ********* yesterday
morning - having seen the conference flyer in Public Health
News - I and my team will not be participating in this
conference. The reason for this is that we find the
conference fees prohibitive and we believe that they will
create inequalities in access of the very sort that the
conference is supposed to be challenging. The existence of
bursaries for community groups is of course irrelevant to
the situation of most health and local government public
sector workers - who could not possibly obtain study leave
expenses on this scale for a one day event. Even if they
could, the sum involved would represent an enormous drain
on scarce public sector resources
Jonathan Mathers wrote:
> Does anybody else find the fact that a one day conference entitled
> 'Choosing Inclusion' is charging £155 for the privilege of attending
> rather ironic?
>
> Jonathan Mathers.
>
> -----Original Message----- From: The Health Equity Network (HEN)
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Mcdaid,D
> Sent: 27 July 2005 12:54 To:
> [log in to unmask] Subject: Birminghman UK Event:
> 'Choosing Inclusion'
> Dear colleagues:
>
> This is the final announcement of places for the 3rd national Health
> Development conference, entitled 'ChoosingInclusion'which will be held
> on Wednesday 14 September 2005 at the Birmingham Conservatoire.
>
> As you may have seen in Public Health News, we have another
> stimulatingday in store, with contributors including :
>
> David Hunter - Chair of UKPHA, & Professor of
> Health Policy & Management at the University of Durham Alex
> Scott-Samuel - Politics of Health Group, & Snr Lecturer in Public
> Health at the University of Liverpool
> Mike Kelly - Director of the Centre for Public
> Health Excellence at NICE Jeff French - Director of
> the National Social Marketing Team Jenny Griffiths - Independent
> Consultant, & 'Shaping the Future of Health
> Promotion' project Glenn Laverack - University
> of Auckland, NZ (to be confirmed)
>
> Late contributions may still be accepted, but at this stage only for
> parallel papers or displays/posters. Last year's contributors ranged
> from interationally-published workers to people innovating at a very
> grassroots level, and all were appreciated by delegates - so do tell
> us about any interesting work you have been hiding away !
>
> To access the delegate booking form, please see our website below, or
> else contact us at [log in to unmask] or on 0121 331 5550.
>
> Best wishes, and I hope to see you there on the day. Aldo Mussi (Snr
> Lecturer in Health Development) University of Central England,
> Birmingham.
> http://www.hcc.uce.ac.uk/Schools/healthdev/index.htm
>
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