Birmingham I A
Charity 1049396
http://birmingham.iasupport.org
Overview
Summary
Birmingham IA appears to be a locally rooted peer-support organisation within a wider national ileostomy and internal pouch association network. Its role extends beyond information provision: it seems to connect people facing life-changing bowel surgery with local hospital-based expertise, recurring peer contact and condition-specific publications. Its formal objects also retain an ambition to support research and knowledge-sharing, although the available evidence is stronger for its practical local support function than for current research activity.
Operational geography
Coverage: Regional
Operational areas:
- City Centre
Evidence and reasoning
Supporting evidence
City Centre
Confidence: high
The organisation’s official events listing identifies recurring Birmingham City-Centre Social meetings at St Martin in the Bullring. This is direct evidence of an active, venue-based service or support activity in the City Centre.
- Birmingham IA official events page
Lists Birmingham IA Birmingham City-Centre Social meetings at St Martin in the Bullring, including meetings on 6 June 2026 and 3 October 2026.
Remaining uncertainties
- Birmingham IA states that regular meetings are held throughout the Birmingham area, but it does not publish a complete current list of Birmingham meeting venues or neighbourhoods. This supports a citywide Birmingham service reach, but does not justify assigning activity to further named wards.
- The organisation says it has links with stoma-care nursing staff at all local hospitals, but does not identify the hospitals or describe the practical scope of those relationships. Their contribution to its Birmingham footprint cannot therefore be mapped to specific wards.
- The registered Charity Commission address is in Brierley Hill and the treasurer correspondence address is in Astwood Bank, Redditch. Available evidence indicates these are administrative or correspondence addresses rather than Birmingham operational sites.
- The official website shows active meetings beyond Birmingham, including Solihull, Sutton Coldfield, Redditch, Walsall and Halesowen. Together with the Charity Commission’s recorded areas of operation, this supports a regional overall footprint; the precise current boundary of that regional reach is not fully clear.
Additional evidence needed
- A current Birmingham meeting calendar naming all venues and dates, or a current annual report describing the locations of meetings and member support activity.
- Confirmation from Birmingham IA or its stoma-care nursing partners of the hospitals with which it currently works and whether those links involve regular on-site, referral or outreach activity.
- Evidence distinguishing any regular operational base from temporary meeting venues and correspondence addresses.
Areas of work
- Disability
- The Advancement Of Health Or Saving Of Lives
Who they help
- Children/young People
- Elderly/old People
- People With Disabilities
How they help
- Provides Advocacy/advice/information
Discoveries involving this organisation
The Atlas has not published any Discoveries involving this organisation yet.
Observations
A local bridge into a national specialist network
Birmingham IA appears to combine place-based relationships with the resources and identity of a UK- and Ireland-wide association. It may therefore act as a local access point to specialist support that would be difficult for an individual group to sustain alone.
Why it matters
This helps explain its likely value: not merely as a meeting group, but as connective infrastructure between patients, local care settings and a wider condition-specific community.
Show evidence
“IA’s network throughout the UK and Ireland offering local support.”
Source:Organisation“Birmingham IA provides support to ileostomists and internal pouch patients within the Birmingham area.”
Source:Organisation
Its operating model seems relationship-led rather than purely informational
Regular meetings and links with stoma care nursing staff suggest that support may be delivered through trusted human contact, alongside publications and advice. This may be especially important around major surgery, when practical and experiential knowledge can complement clinical care.
Why it matters
It distinguishes Birmingham IA from a static information service and suggests that hospital relationships may be central to how people find, trust and use the organisation.
Show evidence
“We have links with the stoma care nursing staff at all the local hospitals.”
Source:Organisation“Regular meetings are held throughout the Birmingham area.”
Source:Organisation“Provides Advocacy/advice/information.”
Source:Charity Commission
There is a broader knowledge ambition than the visible activity currently demonstrates
The charity's objects include research promotion, coordination and dissemination, while the current organisational material foregrounds memberships, publications, local meetings and hospital links. This may indicate that research is a legacy or network-level function rather than a prominent Birmingham-level activity.
Why it matters
This raises a useful question about where strategic responsibility sits: locally, nationally, or both. It also prevents assuming that formal charitable purposes equal current local delivery.
Show evidence
“To promote and co-ordinate research into bowel disease and other conditions leading to the removal of the colon.”
Source:Charity Commission“Members receive the IA Journal and the Midlands IA Bulletin at regular intervals throughout the year.”
Source:Organisation
- Whether local hospitals actively refer patients to Birmingham IA, or simply maintain informal links.
- Whether the group reaches people before surgery, after surgery, or both, and which communities are least reached.
- Whether research activity is delivered by Birmingham IA, the national IA, or neither in practice.
Remaining uncertainties
- Membership, attendance and geographic reach over time, including age and patient-stage data where appropriate.
- Evidence of hospital referral arrangements and examples of joint working with stoma care teams.
- Recent accounts, annual reports or activity reports showing research, outreach and service-delivery activity.
Additional evidence needed
Charity Commission profile
Activities
Birmingham IA provides help and support for people who face, or who have undergone, radical bowel surgery,an Ileostomy or Internal Pouch operation.
Charity objects
THE CHARITY’S OBJECTS (THE “OBJECTS”) ARE: TO HELP ANYONE LIVING IN THE BIRMINGHAM AREA AND ELSEWHERE WHOSE COLON HAS BEEN, OR IS ABOUT TO BE, REMOVED BY SURGICAL PROCEDURE OR WHO HAS AN ILEOSTOMY OR AN INTERNAL POUCH; TO PROMOTE AND CO-ORDINATE RESEARCH INTO BOWEL DISEASE AND OTHER CONDITIONS LEADING TO THE REMOVAL OF THE COLON, SURGICAL PROCEDURES PERTAINING THERETO, AND RELATED MATTERS AND FURTHER TO PROMOTE THE DISSEMINATION OF KNOWLEDGE GAINED BY SUCH RESEARCH; TO KEEP ILEOSTOMISTS AND OTHERS INFORMED OF ALL MATTERS OF INTEREST TO THE CHARITY BY THE PERIODIC DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION BY WAY OF PUBLICATIONS, BY ARRANGING CONFERENCES, SEMINARS AND COURSES ON TOPICS OF INTEREST, AND IN ANY OTHER MANNER WHICH IS CHARITABLE AND WHICH THE TRUSTEES CONSIDER APPROPRIATE.