British Lourdes Medical Association | Lourdes Doctors | Lourdes Nurses | Pilgrimage Medicine

INVITATION TO BRITISH LOURDES MEDICAL ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE 2024
Application Form

The Braid Hills Hotel Edinburgh
Friday 1st November – Sunday 3rd November 2024

All Pilgrimage Doctors, Nurses and Allied Health Professionals welcome.

Conference
The conference will be face to face and in person. If due to extenuating circumstances you would like attend some of the sessions online please email the BLMA chair chair@LourdesDoctors.org.

We will start our weekend with All Saint Day Mass at 7.00pm on Friday evening at St Columba’s Church followed by a meal and fellowship at 8.15pm at Charwood restaurant. If you would like to join us for dinner on Friday evening, please let us know when you apply, we will email you the menu options and pre-order link.

The conference commences at 10.00am on Saturday preceded by the AGM for members at 09.00am.

Saturday lunch - Two course conference lunch provided and included in Conference cost.
Coffee/Tea will be provided during both days of the conference.

Saturday Vigil Mass at 6.00pm will be celebrated at St Cuthbert’s Church, Slateford Road and supported by Edinburgh Pilgrimage music group.

A buffet and ceilidh, at The Braid Hills Hotel, 7.30pm at a cost of £20 per person. There will be a cash bar. Helpers and Assisted Pilgrims from local Pilgrimages are invited to join us for an evening of celebration and fun -please contact enquiries@LourdesDoctors.org if you would like additional tickets.

Sunday morning workshops will be held in the hotel from 9.30am, preceded by Morning Prayers at 09.15am. The conference will close at 12.30pm

Costs per person:
Full Conference £100
Saturday only £70
Sunday only £35*
Conference buffet & ceilidh £20 in addition to the above please

*Payment for the Conference includes 12 months membership of the BLMA.

Accommodation:
Delegates must book their own accommodation with The Braid Hills Hotel or elsewhere if they would prefer.

Friday Saturday Total per person
Twin per Person £69.50 £79.50 £149
Single per Person £119 £139 £258

We have reserved 30 rooms at a reduced Conference rate – which will be allocated at a first come first served basis. Please book early and ensure you inform the booking team you are part of the BLMA conference to get the reduced rate. Please ring the Hotel on 0131 447 8888 and ask for Cheryl Poole, the conference co-ordinator. If she is not available our event reference is BHH124258/1.

Outline / Draft Conference Programme

Saturday 2nd November, The Braid Hills Hotel

08.30 – 09.00 Coffee & Registration

09.00 – 09.50 Annual General Meeting of BLMA (all members welcome)

10.00– 10.10 Prayers, Welcome, introductions

10.10 – 11.10 Feedback from 2024 Pilgrimage and themes from the Pilgrimage Questionnaires
Jude Raper & David Knight

11.10 – 11.30 Tea / Coffee

11.30– 12.30 Supporting Pilgrims with Memory needs and Dementia on Pilgrimage
Professor Emma Reynish

12.30 -13.30 Lunch.

13.30 – 14.00 Travel Update
Nicolas Tangney and Bernard Lavery

14.00 – 15.00 Recruitment and Assessment of Assisted Pilgrims
Monica Doyle & Paula Mitchell

15.00 – 15.20 Tea/Coffee

15.20 - 16.20 Workshop and discussion: Getting Assisted Pilgrims Safely to and from Lourdes
Kim O’Connor, Claire Banks and Jenny Micklem

16.20 – 17:00 Working better together : How Great British and Irish Pilgrimages can work together Jerry O’Flynn

18.00 VIGIL MASS – St Cuthbert’s Church with Edinburgh Pilgrimage music group.

19.30 Ceiildh & Buffet

Sunday 3rd November, The Braid Hills Hotel

08.45 – 9.15 BLMA Council Meeting

09.30 Morning Prayers

09.40 – 11.00 Wellness Session - TBC

11.00 – 11.20 Tea/Coffee

11.20 – 12.30 Open discussion and messages to bring to the Director’s Conference
Kim O’Connor, Paula Mitchell & Hamilton Grantham

1215 – 1230 Discussion & Closing Prayer (Conference Close 12:30)