The inaugural winner’s meeting was held in Porto Heli, Greece in 2014. The theme of the meeting was anatomy, a topic chosen because of its pivotal role in surgery. This was a small meeting comprising of 80 participants, however, it served to establish the ethos where not only scientific information was debated, but it enabled participants and faculty alike to develop close international relationships. Following the success of this first meeting it was decided to make this a permanent fixture of the winners project and together with the GESEA programme allowed delegates to be assessed for certification.