The 2025 meeting was held in Newcastle and hosted by Andy & Jayne Thorpe from 1 - 3 October. We were based at the newly opened Dakota hotel on the riverside. The Dakota opened in March 2025 and is situated on St Anne's Wharf overlooking the River Tyne.
On the first evening, we dined at The Magic Hat Cafe. Situated next the Laing Art Gallery, it is the UK's first and only cafe and kitchen dedicated to challenging the UK's food waste. Since it was established in 2021, it has prevented some 400 tonnes of food waste from going into landfill. It uses food destined for landfill, from supermarkets and organisations like FareShare, to create its ever-changing menu. Sadly, due to the its premises being scheduled for re-develpment, it may soon need to close.
More about the Magic Hat Café
The Club outing on the Thursday afternoon was to the Victoria Tunnel, built between 1839 & 1842 to transport coal from the Town Moor down to the river for transport to London. After the mine failed in 1860, it was abandoned only to be re-purposed in World War II as an air raid shelter.
More about the Victoria Tunnel
The Academic Programme was held in the Dakota Hotel on Thursday and Friday mornings; papers presented are shown below:
| THURSDAY 2 OCTOBER |
| Peter Coyne, Consultant Colorectal & Robotic Surgeon, Royal Victoria Infirmary |
Pushing the boundaries: what teamwork can make possible |
| James Stoddard, Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist |
Preparing to give evidence in court |
| FRIDAY 3 OCTOBER |
| Arjun Nambiar, Consultant Urological Surgeon, Freeman Hospital |
Benign robotic reconstructive surgery |
| Chris Harding, Consultant Urological Surgeon, Freeman Hospital |
The "Mesh Scandal" |
| John Frew, Consultant Oncologist, Northern Cancer Centre |
Update on oncological treatments of muscle invasive bladder cancer |
| Rachel Pearson, Consultant Oncologist, Northern Cancer Centre |
Radiotherapy for renal cancer |
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