OUCH (UK) was officially launched on Saturday June 9th 2001 and became a registered charity on May 8th 2002.
We exist to raise awareness of Cluster Headache within the medical profession and the general public, and we offer support and guidance to sufferers and their families.
We have contact with neurologists around the country who specialise in headache and we work closely with the Royal Free Hospital and King's College Hospital in London, where our Patron Professor Peter Goadsby is based. Professor Goadsby's team carry out clinical and laboratory-based research into the mechanisms and management of headache syndromes in the group of headaches known as trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias, including Cluster Headache. The Professor is widely acknowledged to be amongst the foremost clinical/translational consultants in headache in the world. Many of our members, both sufferers and supporters, have participated in the research carried out there.
We are a member of Headache UK, an umbrella organisation of headache charities, and we contribute to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Headache Disorders. We also have representatives working with the following organisations:
• National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
• Home Oxygen Service (HOS) National Patient Safety Group
• Disability Benefits Consortium
• European Headache and Migraine Association (EMHA)
• British Association for the Study of Headache (BASH)
We produce regular newsletters and information leaflets and we arrange meetings and conferences around the country and, more recently, online.
