FAQ

Yes, you will. Plenty of people come to our events on their own, and the feedback tells the same story every time. As one solo attendee at a previous event put it: “I was attending by myself and stayed the whole weekend but found that there was always someone happy to chat with me.”

Everyone in the room shares the same experience in one way or another, which makes striking up a conversation far easier than at most events. The official ice breaker on the Friday evening makes it easier still, as you will know friendly faces before the conference day even starts. If you are nervous about coming, post in our community beforehand. You may well find others travelling from your area.

Category: Meet Ups and Events

No, staying over is entirely optional, but we would recommend it. With the official ice breaker on the Friday evening and a full day on the Saturday, many attendees make a proper weekend of it, and the conversations in the bar afterwards are often where the best connections are made.

The Leonardo Hinckley Island Hotel has over 360 rooms, complimentary on-site parking, a restaurant, bar and coffee lounge, and a leisure club with a heated indoor pool, gym, sauna and steam room. Wheelchair-accessible rooms and facilities are available throughout. Details of any discounted room rates for attendees will be shared nearer the time, so it is worth holding off booking until then.

Category: Meet Ups and Events

At previous events, many attendees arrived on the Friday and gathered informally in the hotel bar. It was always one of the unofficial highlights, so for Life Without Limits we are making it official.

The ice breaker on Friday 14th May 2027 will be a relaxed social evening at the venue. It is a chance to settle in, meet some friendly faces and ease into the weekend before the main conference day. It is particularly good if you are coming for the first time or on your own, as you will already know people by Saturday morning. Full details, including timings and whether a ticket is needed, will be announced nearer the time.

Category: Meet Ups and Events

Ticket prices and the on-sale date have not yet been announced. As with previous events, we will work with our sponsors to keep costs down and ensure tickets are excellent value.

The announcement will be made on the Life Without Limits page, in our community and via our newsletter. In the meantime, save the dates: Friday 14th and Saturday 15th May 2027.

Category: Meet Ups and Events

Everyone affected by sudden cardiac arrest is welcome: survivors, co-survivors, family members, rescuers, healthcare professionals and supporters. You do not need to be a member of our community to come, and it does not matter whether your event was three months ago or thirty years ago.

Our national events bring together a mix of first-time attendees and returning faces, and that blend is part of what makes them special. Whether it is your first event or your fifth, you will be made very welcome.

Category: Meet Ups and Events

Life Without Limits, our next national conference, takes place on Saturday 15th May 2027 at the Leonardo Hinckley Island Hotel in Hinckley, Leicestershire. This is the same venue that hosted our 10 Years Together conference in 2025.

For the first time, we are also holding an official ice breaker social evening on Friday 14th May 2027, so it is well worth arriving the day before and making a weekend of it.

The hotel is centrally located, just off the M69 and easily reached from the M1 and M6, and is around 57 minutes from London Euston by train via Nuneaton. The full schedule will be published on the Life Without Limits page nearer the time.

Category: Meet Ups and Events

It happens, and it is not a reflection on you or your organising. Some people say they will come and then get cold feet at the last moment. For survivors especially, the thought of meeting strangers in a new setting can feel daunting, even when they genuinely want to come. It does not mean they will not come next time.

A few things help reduce no-shows: give plenty of notice, send a reminder a few days before, and make the venue easy to reach. If only one other person turns up, that is still a meet up worth having. Some of the most meaningful conversations in SCA UK history have been between just two people in a pub.

If you do not want to go ahead with just one or two people, it is fine to reschedule rather than cancel outright. And if you feel disheartened, post in our community — others who have organised events will understand and can offer encouragement.

Category: Meet Ups and Events

Post in our community at least a month before the date. This is the most effective way to reach local members. Let us know and we can also share it through our wider channels to help spread the word.

A few other things that help:

• Give people a clear date, time, and location from the start. Vague plans rarely attract commitment.
• If you are undecided on the date, offer two or three options and use a simple polling tool like Doodle to find what works for most people.
• Send a reminder a week before and again a few days before. People are busy and diaries move around.
• If your area has a local cardiac rehabilitation service, they may also be willing to mention the event to relevant patients.

Category: Meet Ups and Events

A pub with a quiet area or private room is often the best choice, and it is where SCA UK started. Pubs are usually easy to reach, accommodating, and do not require everyone to buy much to justify the space. A café with a quieter section, a community centre, or a hospital meeting room (if someone has a contact there) all work well too.

Key things to consider when choosing a venue:

• Public transport access. Many survivors cannot drive, either permanently or during a DVLA suspension period. A venue that is hard to reach without a car will exclude people.
• Noise level. Loud background music makes conversation difficult and can be stressful. Aim for somewhere you can actually hear each other.
• Seating arrangement. A round table or a space where people can see each other works far better than a long narrow table.
• Flexibility. Choose somewhere that will not rush you out if the conversation is still going after an hour.

Google Maps is useful for checking travel times and transport options from different postcodes before you decide. Tripadvisor can help you check that a venue is accessible and well-reviewed before committing.

Category: Meet Ups and Events

No. Regional meet ups are community-led and anyone can organise one. You do not need to be an official SCA UK volunteer or have any formal role. If you want to bring a few local members together, you are welcome to go ahead.

That said, we are happy to support you. Let us know you are planning something by posting in our community, and we can help you promote it to members in your area. We can also share it via our wider communication channels if helpful.

Category: Meet Ups and Events

Three or four people is plenty to start. You do not need a crowd. The very first SCA UK meet up, in a London pub in February 2015, had thirteen people and it changed the course of all of them. Many regional meet ups since have started with far fewer.

If you can find two or three others in your area who want to come, you have everything you need. Post in our community to gauge interest, check the member map to see who is near you, and go from there. Numbers often grow naturally once people see that it actually happened.

Category: Meet Ups and Events

Online peer support is valuable, and many members find it life-changing. But meeting in person adds something that a screen cannot. You see a face. You hear a voice. You sit opposite someone who truly gets it, without having to explain yourself, and something shifts.

Many members describe the first meet up they attended as a turning point in their recovery. The research on social support and recovery from serious illness consistently points in the same direction: in-person connection matters. Peer support from people with shared experience matters even more.

If you are on the fence, read what our members wrote about their experience of our October 2025 regional events in Together Through Recovery.

Category: Recovery

The best way to find out about upcoming events is to join our community, where events are announced and discussed as they are planned. You can also check this page regularly, and the SCA UK blog where events are often written up before and after they happen.

Keep an eye out particularly in September and October, when we encourage members to organise regional gatherings to coincide with Restart a Heart Day and Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month.

Category: Meet Ups and Events

National SCA UK events are held every two years. These are our flagship gatherings, bringing together hundreds of members from across the UK for a full programme of speakers, connection, and celebration of how far our community has come.

Regional meet ups happen much more frequently, throughout the year, wherever members choose to gather. Watch our website, browse our past events, and join our community to be the first to hear about upcoming ones.

Category: Meet Ups and Events

Yes, absolutely. Organising a regional meet up is one of the most rewarding things a member can do, and it does not have to be complicated. A new meet up can start with just three or four people, a local pub, café, or community space, and a date in the diary.

We have a full guide on how to organise a meet up, covering everything from checking whether there are members in your area, to choosing a venue, to keeping the momentum going. We can also help you publicise it through our community. Get in touch and we will support you every step of the way.

Category: Meet Ups and Events

Completely normal, and very common. Walking into a room full of strangers takes courage at the best of times. After a cardiac arrest, when you may already be dealing with anxiety or a changed sense of who you are, it can feel like a significant step.

Most people who have attended their first SCA UK meet up describe the same thing: it was harder to get through the door than they expected, and far better on the other side of it than they had imagined. The moment someone else in the room says something you have never heard anyone say before, and you realise they understand exactly what you mean, is one of the more remarkable experiences recovery has to offer.

You can always come for an hour and see how you feel. No one will put you on the spot or expect anything of you. And if you want to ask questions or read reflections before committing, our blog post Together Through Recovery captures what attending felt like for those who came.

Category: Meet Ups and Events

Not at all. Meet ups are open to everyone who has been affected by a sudden cardiac arrest: survivors, co-survivors (partners, family members, friends), and rescuers. You do not need to be a survivor, and you do not need to be a member of SCA UK, though most attendees are.

If you witnessed a cardiac arrest or performed CPR, you are just as welcome. The shared experience goes beyond the person whose heart stopped. Read more about co-survivors and their place in our community.

Category: Co-survivors

It depends on the format, but the heart of every SCA UK meet up is the same: people who have been through a sudden cardiac arrest, or been close to someone who has, coming together in a room and recognising each other.

National events are larger and structured. They typically include speakers sharing personal stories and clinical insights, time to connect with others, and a sense of occasion. Regional meet ups are usually much more informal. A table in a pub or café, a handful of people, and a conversation that goes places other conversations cannot. Both are valuable in different ways.

There is no agenda you have to follow, no requirement to share anything you are not ready to share, and no pressure to be further along in your recovery than you are. Most people who attend describe it as one of the best decisions they made. You can read about what our October 2025 regional events were like in our blog post Together Through Recovery.

Category: Meet Ups and Events