Why the AAT Roadshow?

The community of patients and families touched by aplastic anaemia is dispersed. Whilst the illness is extremely rare, diagnosis of AA can strike anyone anywhere and at any one time. Our patient community is widely spread out. There is a need for us to be able to reach everyone affected as close to where they live as possible, to minimise the cost of travel, to offer opportunities to meet people like them, reducing isolation and providing vital information and support.

Our patient community has grown rapidly over the last year thus escalating the need for outreach activity. We have been successful in attracting additional funds from a number of community and health focused trusts and foundations, which has enabled us to start developing and testing a new Outreach Programme. We are enormously grateful to the Shears Foundation, Rowlands Trust, The Britford Bridge Trust, Barbour Foundation and Catherine Cookson Foundation for their grants that are enabling us to broaden our reach nationally.

Family Engagement Events - May 2019

Manchester, 2 May 2019

We met a group of patients and their families in Manchester on 2 May.

Dr M Saif shed light on aplastic anaemia and what happens in the bone marrow when the disease strikes.

Leeds, 9 May 2019

The team of clinicians at St James's Hospital in Leeds and the AAT enjoyed the opportunity to meet with a group of people affected by aplastic anaemia an PNH.

The brilliant Dr Anita Hill explained the connection between aplastic anaemia and paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria (PNH), whilst Clinical Nurse Specialists spoke about the need for a holistic assessment of a patient's needs when planning treatment.

Glasgow, 9 May 2019

The Glasgow patient and family support community meeting was hugely enjoyable, bringing together people from around Scotland for the first time and offering an opportunity to share experiences and hear about how the AAT can help and the plans for our work in Scotland in the near future.

St George's Hospital, London, 20 May 2019

Perhaps the most intensive of our pilot Outreach programme, the Family Information Day at St George's, was full of updates from the amazing clinical team and the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit, led by Dr Mickey Koh, Anthony Nolan and the AAT.

You can access various presentations shared during the day here:

• Physical activity before, during and after stem cell transplant (please get in touch to access the presentation - the file was too large to upload here)
• How to manage fatigue
• Scientific update from King's College Hospital
• Patient services at Anthony Nolan