Celebrating 25 years of The Scar Free Foundation
It's our birthday! And we'll share a special message if we want to...
We’re 25 years old! To celebrate, we thought we’d better do something special. How about a two-day research symposium and reception, complete with a special birthday message from our Patron, HRH The Duchess of Edinburgh?
The message was recorded at Swansea University’s Simulation and Immersive Learning Centre in the company of Nobel Peace prize winner Dr Denis Mukwege, and Professor Iain Whitaker, Chief Investigator at The Scar Free Foundation Programme of Reconstructive Research.
This innovative location allowed us to look to the future, and what the next 25 years of scar free research holds, while letting us to appreciate how much our scar free community has achieved in the 25 years since our establishment.
For that, we have one man to thank: Mr Michael Brough.
On the day of the 1987 King’s Cross disaster, Mr Brough was the lead surgeon at UCL. Determined to improve the outcomes for survivors with significant injuries, he setup the Phoenix Appeal to fund the first university department of plastic and reconstructive surgery.
With the Phoenix Appeal in flight, and the support of BAPRAS, the Phoenix Appeal became The Healing Foundation, and its first director appointed in 1999.
And here we are, 25 years later, now known as The Scar Free Foundation.
The Scar Free Symposium brought together the world’s brightest minds in the field, and those with lived experience of scarring, to further map the next steps in our pursuit of a scar free future.
From the alarming 45% rise in hot water bottle burns due to the cost-of-living crisis, to bioprinting living tissue, to hearing from those operating in Ukraine and Gaza, the symposium facilitated an epic knowledge exchange.
It felt truly special to host a global community of those who share our mission of scar free healing.
In the evening, 200 members of our Scar Free community celebrated our anniversary milestone alongside us. Ambassadors, clinicians, researchers, and many more, were welcomed by our CE, Lt Gen Richard Nugee, and our Ambassador Lottie Pollak, before speeches, and catching up with friends old and new.
Among the energy of the symposium and the buzz of the evening was a feeling of optimism: it’s hard not to feel hopeful when surrounded by hundreds of others working towards the same goal.
Whether that goal is better representation, heightened awareness, and changing conversations around scarring. Or, whether it’s research into the mechanobiology of conflict wounds, 3D printing of body parts, and replicating living tissue, we are all striving for the same outcome.
Together, we will make a future without scarring reality.
Thank you to everyone who made our 25th anniversary so memorable.
