This year we are celebrating International Women's Day with three brilliant speakers , all female experts in their field, and  all three sessions are open to the public for everyone to enjoy. Our lead event takes place both Face-to-Face and Online, whilst our two additional sessions are Zoom only. 

We are very pleased to welcome Professor Dame Louise Robinson to present a keynote speech on 'Dementia: Focus on Cure & Treatment as well as Cure'.

Worldwide, one person is diagnosed with dementia every 3 seconds and numbers are predicted to double in the next 20 years, due to our rapidly ageing societies. The World Health Organisation has classed dementia as a global public health issue, with a focus on earlier diagnosis, better care and now prevention and risk reduction. In the UK, the vast majority of dementia research funding is targeted towards finding the cause of, and a drug cure for, dementia for example in the UK, £275 million Dementia Research Institute and more recently, £95m for Dame Barbara Windsor Mission which is focused on rolling out new drugs if they should become available. Despite the funding imbalance between dementia cure and care, research has told us much about what good quality dementia care looks like and in the last decade, how we can reduce our personal risk of getting dementia in later life.

This talk will summarise current research in 3 key areas of dementia: care, cure and prevention.

Professor Dame Louise Robinson DBE (MBBS, 1985) is Regius Professor of Ageing at Newcastle University, and director of the Newcastle University Institute for Ageing. Having initially trained as a GP in rural Northumberland before developing an interest in palliative care for patients with dementia, she began working with dementia patients and their families on a clinical basis, seeking to lift some of the stigma associated with the condition. Around 10 years later she became involved in research to improve the links between medical research and practice for professionals supporting people with dementia. Louise now leads the team at Newcastle developing a shared care pathway that allows good quality care to be delivered to patients with dementia by their GPs, as well as training the next generation of dementia researchers.

You can book your FREE ticket for this special event online - there are Face-to-Face or Zoom Only Ticket Options available.

The artist Phoebe Anna Traquair (1852-1936) was a key figure in the Scottish Arts & Crafts movement who also became an honorary member of the Royal Scottish Academy.

In this online talk her biographer Elizabeth Cumming explores the life and work of this largely forgotten artist’s career from ambitious mural decorations in Edinburgh to large-scale embroideries, finely illuminated manuscripts and exquisite enamelled jewellery. Her many crafts may be seen today in the National Museum of Scotland and her remarkable suite of embroideries The Progress of a Soul in the new Scottish Galleries at the National Gallery of Scotland.

You can attend this session by booking a FREE TASTER SESSION via our Events Page Online 

The study and analysis of textiles dating to the early medieval period in the British Isles (450–1100 CE) was pioneered by women. While the collection and early research of these fragile fabrics was undertaken by antiquarians in the 19th century, the dawn of the 20th century saw a shift from male to female interest in the subject and the development of more scientific approaches to analysis.

To celebrate International World Women’s Day, this talk explores the development of early medieval textile analysis from its beginnings to the present day, highlighting the sometimes-unexpected ways these women came to be pioneers of the study of early medieval textiles in the British Isles.

You can attend this session by booking a FREE TASTER SESSION via our Events Page Online