Report from the Affiliated Groups Meeting, Southampton, 27–28 January 2000

• Local groups started with the development of the FPA clinics in the 1950s. • The introduction of pills and coils generated the need for meetings to discuss issues. Pill companies offered sponsorship. • Local groups were informal; some with doctors only and some combined with nurses. • In the late 1960s, the FPA arranged for two doctors from each region to meet annually. • NAFPD was formed in 1974. The local groups became affiliated and the annual meetings continued. • 1974 Saw the introduction of free contraception and the hand-over of clinics to the NHS with doctors overseen by the Public Health Department. • In 1993 there were 16 groups across the UK. • In 1993 the Faculty of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care was founded and continued to support the local groups, which became affiliated to the Faculty. • Now there are 24 groups, covering most of the UK, and representation from the Brook and the Society of Consultants in Reproductive Health Care. • The work of the Affiliated Groups is much appreciated locally and nationally.