Away Day 2024

In early August, all of the IMPROVE staff from both London and Leeds got together for a day of meetings, lunch and a fun activity in the afternoon.

After an early start for Ben and Gill travelling down to London from Yorkshire, the day started with a team meeting at our office on the Guy’s campus of Kings’ College London. We discussed what we have learnt about the use of PR-buddies in trial sites so far as we have been carrying out our research. We spent some time looking forward to how we will spread the word about what we have discovered and who we think will be interested in hearing about how we have got on.

We have already started planning for writing articles and making presentations about our findings. As well as the usual presentations at scientific conferences and to professional groups that are expected after a research trial like IMPROVE, we also thought about less conventional approaches and ensuring we involve patient groups, the PR-buddies themselves, and charities like Asthma + Lung UK (the new name for the charity that combines the British Long Foundation and Asthma UK). Finally, we considered what adaptations or adjustments we would recommend if more PR-buddy services were going to be set up after the trial.

After a walk along the South Bank, stopping off for a pizza lunch on the way, we visited the London Dungeon in the afternoon. Our visit was bizarrely interrupted by a fire alarm and evacuation of the building which broke the atmosphere they were trying to create of a dark and dangerous London populated by unsavoury characters such as Sweeney Todd and Jack the Ripper. I think the team all enjoyed seeing me singled out by the assistant in the plague room who threatened to use leeches while an unfortunate victim was disembowelled!

Thanks to Toby and Alison for your help in making all the arrangements for the day.