Tuesday 26 July 2011

A new link : Serefo


Regular visitors to our home page may notice that we have a recent addition to our list of useful links. This is the website of Serefo. The full name of Serefo is the Separation and Reunion Forum and it was established in 1999 following a meeting between Dr. Elaine Arnold and a small group of women of African Caribbean origin. They had been interviewed about their separation from their parents during their early years and their subsequent reunion with them. The women recalled experiences of the pain of parental loss, as well as the loving care received from their grandmothers and other members of the extended families. They remembered the confusion they felt when on arriving in a strange new country, they were reunited with parents who were strangers to them and introduced to younger siblings who had been born in the UK.  They also discussed some of the difficulties they encountered at home, at school, and in the wider community; a familiar experience to many born and left with surrogate parents during their formative years.

The forum has evolved from these initial meetings and now organises, workshops, conferences and publishes papers online which have been presented at its annual conferences. Initially, the Separation and Reunion Forum worked mainly with people of African Caribbean origin who experienced broken attachment as a result of separation and loss but it soon became apparent the women's reactions to their experiences, the grieving and the mourning of loss are relevant to human beings regardless of ethnicity and so the Forum's aims are now inclusive of all who have suffered loss. Find out more about Serefo at www.serefo.org.uk/  

This item was first posted on 26th July, 2011, on  the home page of the goodenoughcaring website at http://www.goodenoughcaring.com/Home.aspx?cpid=1

Monday 18 July 2011

Workshop Series for Professionals Working With Looked After and Adopted Children and Their Families


  
Date:               May - July 2011        
Fee:                 £95 per workshop (£245 for all 3)
Venue:            The Tavistock Centre, London
The Tavistock and Portman National Health Trust have written to us about their forthcoming series of workshops. These will provide an opportunity to develop a greater understanding of the effect of life experiences on the behaviours of looked after and adopted children and those in kinship care and would be suitable for professionals working in social services, education, health or other settings, including those who support or assess carers as well as those who work directly with the children.
The Workshops are:
Supporting Kinship Placements: How can professionals meet the needs of children in kinship care and their carers? on Thursday 12 May 2011, 9.30pm - 1.00pm
Managing Behaviour for Looked After and Adopted Children  on Thursday 9 June 2011, 9.30 - 1.00pm
Who Cares? Applying Attachment Theory to Looked After Children  on Friday 8 July 2011, 1.30pm - 5.00pm
For further information about the full programme and application form contact :
 The Conference, Events and Marketing Unit, The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust
120 Belsize Lane, London      NW3 5BA
Telephone : 0208 938 2285
events@tavi-port.ac.uk
www.tavistockandportman.ac.uk/cpd51

This announcement first appeared on the goodenoughcaring website home page in May, 2011