An Invitation to the Historic Royal Heartland of London

I’m Janice Booth, the conference consultant for the British Acupuncture council( BAcC), and it is with great pleasure and an honour to write a piece for the Qi-Unity Report on behalf of the BAcC. Here’s a short introduction to our annual conference – I hope it will tempt you to come along!

With over 3000 members, the British Acupuncture Council ( BAcC) is the UK’s largest lead professional body for traditional acupuncturists. Membership of the BAcC guarantees excellence in training, safe practice and professional conduct and our aim is to reflect those same high standards at our conferences.

The BAcC conferences have grown and changed enormously over the last few years. In 2008 we hosted the second largest TCM gathering in Europe, with 16 countries represented by our delegates, including many colleagues from the United States. This year promises to have a global flavour, with a good number of overseas practitioners already signed up and we hope to welcome some of you readers too!

Our venue is one of London’s most majestic and historic university campuses. Here, for the second year running, we will host our event. The Royal Holloway, University of London, is an ideal setting. You will see from the website (www.rhul.ac.uk) that this college was opened by Queen Victoria in 1886, as the first significant further educational establishment for women at the turn of the 19th century, no longer exclusively for women of course!

On a practical note, being located just 20 minutes from Heathrow airport and very close to all main train and motorway routes, it is really easy to find. We will also have a regular free shuttle bus to collect delegates from train station or airport. And yet, despite being so close to the airport and the city, when you enter the grounds of the university you will feel as though you are in the deepest wooded countryside! With historic landmarks like Windsor Great Park and the Queens Royal residence just a few kilometres away and the centre of London only 15 minutes away by train, you may be tempted to combine your conference trip with some sightseeing!

It is with great pride and a spirit of inclusivity that the British Acupuncture Council welcomes all acupuncture practitioners and herbalists; we welcome those who practise acupuncture from a biomedical perspective; we are also running a dedicated programme for students and new graduates who are just starting out. When we all meet in September, we will bring together an eclectic mix of styles and beliefs, breathing new life into all the old texts to ensure that this rich tradition of ours has a long and robust life ahead.

Have a look at our website (see below) and discover the breadth and diversity of our speakers and the extensive list of subjects (pregnancy, the therapeutic encounter, knee pain, stress, ancient cosmology, ME...to name but a few). The sessions will be presented in exciting ways, from hot debate, discussion forums, and practical workshops, to intriguing research stories and keynote lectures.

You can book online by visiting the conference website: www.acupuncture.org.uk/conference

Or call the Conference manager, Nigel Kay, on 00 44 (0) 208 735 1216