IDKA
Ipswich & District Kidney Association
THE IDKA AGM 2013
As with many KPAs it has been a difficult couple of years for the Ipswich & District Kidney Association (IDKA) and the 2012 AGM was a low point with talk of dissolving the association. Over the following year we found ourselves doing a lot of our normal activity but there was also much work behind the scenes to gauge support and it was discovered that that there is a strong desire to keep IDKA alive, although the ‘rank & file’ were at as much of a loss as the committee as to the best way forward.
As we started to plan this year’s AGM, it was obvious it would be a make-or-break point for us and if IDKA was to continue it would need to be something special. Within the space of a single meeting, we went from our usual plans for an AGM where the Committee forms 75% of the attendance to a full-scale family day out with food and entertainment. An event like this cannot be completed without the commitment and involvement of a lot of people but we were fortunate to have a driving force that organised the venue, catering, entertainment - and the weather! Before we knew it, we had an AGM attended by about 150 people.
Our thought was that in the past our AGM has always been held mid-week in the Ipswich Hospital. We have always accepted that it all but excludes people who dialyse on that day and we acknowledged that it was also difficult for many other people such as those who work shifts or had problems with transport or baby-sitters. Neither are evenings particularly good for family members or the Renal staff who form such an important part of our lives. Finally, the last place that people want to visit after spending 3 days a week dialysing is a hospital - not least because of parking charges! So this year we decided to hold our AGM on a Sunday afternoon, at a location remote from the hospital and encourage attendance of patients, family and staff, and just in case that wasn’t enough we invited Sandy Lines from the NKF to come along and address the multitude.
The day was an overwhelming success, enjoyed by everyone and, as hoped, this translated into volunteers to join the committee and we were soon overwhelmed with ideas for the future. Nobody assumes it will all be easy from here on but we feel much better about our prospects and we see it as a stepping stone to even more success over the coming years.