The Leonardo Royal Hotel in Birmingham was the venue for this year’s KPA Day on Saturday 14^th March. The day was started with a warm welcome to delegates attending on the day by David Coyle, who after 3 years as Chair of the NKF was stepping down.

As a follow on from the previous year the opening sessions focussed on the business of the day, with both the AGM and Council meeting of the Federation. This year’s AGM saw a change in the Executive Committee and a change of officers. As mentioned previously, David Coyle was stepping back from his role of chair after 3 years in the role, Brian Child has stepped away after over 7 years of service, holding several positions in his time. A few other members of the executive committee also decided to step down this year, and we thank Sarita Khurana, Judith Newcombe and Asif Zahman for their time and commitment this past year.

With positions to be filled, we were pleased to announce that Caryl Bryant will be taking the position of Chair, Geoff Downes is moving from position of Treasurer to Vice Chair, Mike Sinfield is taking over the role as Treasurer with Ros Aird announced as the new Secretary. We are also pleased for Soumeya Bouacida, Patricia Gooden, Jose Rico Diaz, Charleen Sepede and Tarsem Paul to continue as members of the Executive Committee and welcoming Zoe Buchanan, Edmund Clottery and John Roberts on to the committee.

It was also announced that Kirit Modi MBE, was stepping down as NKF President after many years of loyal service, but is taking on a new role as a NKF Patron. Caryl informed all those present that David Coyle had been voted in by the Executive Committee as the new NKF President.

The Council Meeting followed, which included a comprehensive NKF update given by Andrea Brown, CE of the NKF, regarding what had been happening in 2025. There were also updates given on the plans for 2026 by Andrea for Helpline, Marketing and Fundraising by Pete Revell (Head of Marketing and Fundraising for the NKF) Policy by Lucy Vasilou (Policy and Public Affairs, NKF) and KPAs by Chris Talbot (Membership Development Lead)

An open forum for those present closed the session, with lots of important questions being asked.

After the business had been concluded, we were delighted to introduce Professor Smeeta Sinha, Renal National Clinical Director (NHS England) who gave a fantastic presentation regarding what was happening within the renal landscape. This was a real highlight of the day and a fantastic opportunity for KPAs to understand what the priorities of NHS England are and what they are currently working on.

The session after Lunch was another keynote speaker for the day, with Ron Cullen, CE of the UK Kidney Association speaking to about their role in the renal world, giving a brilliant oversight of what they do and the impact they are having.

We were then treated to 3 KPAs sharing best practices with the group, with David Marshall from Sheffield Area Kidney Association (SAKA) giving an overview of their history and the benefits of having a good working relationship with Clinical Directors and senior staff at the hospital. Zoe Buchanan, Chair of the Gloucestershire KPA gave an inspiring talk on her journey as a Kidney patient, how this has led her to get involved with her local KPA, the importance of engaging younger people and the plans they have for the future. The chair of the Wirral and West Cheshire KPA, the most recent addition to the NKF, Phil Thomson gave an overview of the creation of this brand new KPA, highlighting the importance of the fabulous nursing team and how they have been the driving force behind starting a KPA. The presenters then formed a panel for an interactive question and answer session, which sparked some great conversations.

The day finished on a real high with the presentations of the new KPA Awards, celebrating the hard work of individuals and KPAs themselves. We are delighted to announce that awards were presented to:

Louis Toussaint (Royal Free Hospital KPA) – KPA Member of the Year

Chris Rolfe (Exeter and District KPA) – KPA Chair of the Year (Collected by David Coyle on behalf of Chris)

Bradford KPA – KPA of the Year

There was one more award presented to the surprise of many, not to mention the recipient. After receiving a nomination for this person in KPA Member of the Year, it was felt that this person’s contribution deserved something a little bit different, and after 50 years of loyal service a Lifetime Achievement award was presented to Judith Sidaway from the Dudley KPA.

Geoff Downes, the new Vice Chair of the NKF, closed the day with a thanks to everyone that had attended.