At the April Reunion event, we posted 5 questions around the walls which were designed to help us with future planning.\u00a0\u00a0 Not everybody answered every question, but there were enough responses to help us plan future events.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Just to remind you, we aim to hold two \u201cofficial\u201d UKHKAN meet-ups per year: one is not enough, but more than two would be too much for an informal social network without resources to organise.<\/p>\n
Q1:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Location of meetings\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>The vast majority of people attending the meet-up were from London\/South of England, with a high proportion from West Sussex.\u00a0 This was reflected in people\u2019s preferences for location of meetings: 17 people want to meet in London\/South; 2 in the Midlands; 4 in the North; others wanted to meet in San Francisco, Hong Kong [naturally!] and Tin Bit Tomb \u2013 don\u2019t even ask ??!!??<\/p>\n Q2:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Times of meetings\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a021 people want to meet on Saturday mornings; 2 on Sunday mornings; 4 on weekday mornings.\u00a0 Three want to meet on Saturday afternoons, and two on weekday afternoons.<\/p>\n Q3:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Costs\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Venue: <\/strong>Our first few meetings took place in restaurants and pubs.\u00a0 This was fine when there were 8 of us, but 60 definitely calls for a private meeting space.\u00a0\u00a0 If we need to hire a room, we will need to split the costs of this between the people attending.\u00a0 We asked how much people could comfortably afford to pay towards room hire: 17 said they could pay \u00a310, two said they could pay \u00a320.\u00a0 Nobody marked the \u00a30, \u00a35, \u00a315 or \u00a325 options.<\/p>\n Food & drink: <\/strong>We also asked how much people were able to pay towards food and drink at the meet-ups: 12 people marked the \u00a35-10 option; 3 people marked the \u00a310-15 option, and one person marked \u00a35.<\/p>\n Q4:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Format of meetings\u00a0 <\/strong>People attend the gatherings for different reasons – many just want to meet with others with whom they feel they have a common bond while some want to discuss serious topics in an in-depth way. \u00a0We have no intention of dictating the purpose\/s of the group, but hope everybody gains something from attending. Debbie\u2019s aim in starting the network up was to provide a safe and supportive environment for adult adoptees to discuss their adoption stories if they wish.<\/p>\n With that in mind, we asked adoptees<\/strong> who they felt should be able to attend our Reunions, and whether they would like meetings which are mostly open but may include closed sessions for adoptees only.\u00a0 \u00a012 people said they thought meetings should be open to spouses\/partners and children; three think meetings should be open to adoptive parents.<\/p>\n We also asked non-adoptees<\/strong> whether they would attend the reunions if they included closed sessions: 8 said yes; 3 said no; one said \u2018it depends\u2019, although s\/he didn\u2019t say what it depended on.<\/p>\n Q5:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Media presence\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0There has been media\/production company interest in attending our events: 1 person stated they would not attend meet-ups at all if the media were present; 8 prefer not to have media present; 1 is happy to attend provided the media leave him\/her alone; 8 were happy to have the media in attendance and to talk to them; two prefer the media to wait until the evening meal or events after\/outside the main reunion.<\/p>\n So, what are our conclusions?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>Location<\/strong> \u2013 given the geographical spread of people, we feel that it is logical for one meeting each year to take place in London\/South. \u00a0Out of fairness to those who live elsewhere, we will hold the other event in the Midlands as we believe the further north we go, the fewer people will attend.\u00a0 These events are for everybody \u2013 we don\u2019t want UKHKAN to split into two smaller regionally-focused groups; but obviously there is nothing to stop people organising their own local get-togethers.\u00a0\u00a0 That is likely to be work better for people who dislike larger gatherings.\u00a0 Please do use this website and the Facebook page to post about local events.\u00a0 \u00a0Since Debbie is from way up north, and I\u2019m the nation\u2019s heart [;-)], we will appreciate help with finding venues and restaurants for the London\/South reunions, and with providing any practical equipment such as PA\/AV systems.<\/p>\n Times<\/strong> \u2013 as some people travel long distances to attend meetings, we set the start time at 12 noon, with registration from 11am.\u00a0 This allows most people to travel on the Saturday morning, but does mean meetings go into the afternoon.\u00a0\u00a0 We will try to ensure meetings end by 3.30pm, so that, even if people join us for a meal afterwards, they can leave at a reasonable time.\u00a0\u00a0 A 12pm start and 3.30pm finish cuts out the need for most people to stay overnight, thereby avoiding hotel costs.\u00a0 Saturday was the clear favourite, so we will stick with that.<\/p>\n Costs<\/strong> \u2013 the responses gave us a clear steer of \u00a310 contributions towards venue costs.\u00a0 Obviously the more people who attend, the lower the cost will be.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Although we didn\u2019t refine the question, we assume people meant \u00a310 per family, not per person.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We will try to keep the costs of food & drink as close to the \u00a35 mark as possible.<\/p>\n The biggest help you can give us to keep the costs down is to register attendance as early as possible so that we have a clear idea of numbers.<\/p>\n Format of Events & Media <\/strong>– as the majority of people indicated a preference not to have the media present during the main events \u2013 including one who would not attend at all if media were there \u2013 we will not allow the media to attend.\u00a0\u00a0 There is still a significant number who are happy to talk to the media, and therefore any journalists or producers who ask to attend will be informed that they can attend the evening meal.\u00a0\u00a0 If journalists\/producers are going to attend meals, we will notify you in advance on this website and the Facebook pages, and also inform people at the beginning of the meetings.<\/p>\n We will instruct journalists not to make cold approaches to people, but to allow people to approach them if they want to discuss their stories.<\/p>\n Please do NOT invite journalists or production companies to UKHKAN reunions.\u00a0\u00a0 Again, you are perfectly free to talk to the media at your own events or in your own time, but please do not do this under the UKHKAN banner.<\/p>\n As only a minority of people indicated they are happy to invite adoptive parents, the UKHKAN reunions will be open to adoptees, their spouses\/partners, children and friends only.<\/p>\n We hope people find our conclusions acceptable.\u00a0 We have mooted the idea of seeking sponsorship to cover the costs so that nobody is excluded from attending on ground of costs.\u00a0 If this happens, we may need to have terms of reference for the network.\u00a0 We aren\u2019t at that stage yet, but if we ever get that far, we will post a message so we can get your ideas.<\/p>\n If anybody has connections with potential sponsors, please put them in touch with Debbie.\u00a0 We would be seeking either<\/span> cash to cover costs of venue, equipment and catering or<\/span> the provision of a venue with these facilities.\u00a0 Sponsorship in kind would be preferable as we don\u2019t have a bank account, and to set one up would not only require written terms of reference, but also a minimum of two signatories which is a bit inconvenient when we\u2019re dotted all over the country.<\/p>\n Regards to all<\/p>\n Kate Gordon<\/span><\/p>\n Footnote<\/strong> \u2013 since April\u2019s meeting, Debbie and I have discussed what time of year the meet-ups should take place.\u00a0 We propose moving one closer to Chinese New Year ie end of January \u2013 beginning of February; if the meetings are spaced out evenly, the second one would take place late June\/early July which would be a nicer time of year to meet than October.<\/p>\n We very much welcome your responses and further suggestions to all the above.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" At the April Reunion event, we posted 5 questions around the walls which were designed to help us with future planning.\u00a0\u00a0 Not everybody answered every question, but there were enough responses to help us plan future events.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Just to remind … Continue reading