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From Andrew Roberts
http://studymore.org.uk/
studymore@studymore.org.uk
telephone: 020 8 986 5251
mobile 07505527755
home address: 177 Glenarm Road, London, E5 ONB

A meeting of the Survivors History Group will take place at Together, 12 Old Street, London,  EC1V 9BE on Wednesday 25.5.2016 between 1pm and 4.30pm. Everyone is welcome and refreshments will be provided.

Here are the other dates for 2016:

Wednesday 27.7.2016
Wednesday 28.9.2016
Wednesday 30.11.2016

London meetings are on the last Wednesday of every other month

For this meeting, Peter Campbell has prepared a talk about disability and the survivor movement. This is not his review of "HelenSpandler's book", as he has not finished reading all of it, but he will refer to it.

Helen's book is Spandler, H., Anderson, J. and Sapey, B. 2015
Madness, distress and the politics of disablement. Policy Press

I am wondering if we could have a collective review of it on
Wednesday 27.7.2016? Could Peter Campbell and Peter Barham work together on something to launch a discussion? Andy Brooker, Frank Bangay,  Laura Able, myself and others have all been reading it. How many of us could attend on  27.7.2016? If not, perhaps 28.9.2016?

Helen Spandler has said she may be able to come to one of our
meetings to discuss her work.

Patsy Staddon and Bonnie the Poodle entertained us on Wednesday 27.4.2016. This is the first time that a poodle has taken part in our discussions and Patsy will send us a photograph to put on our website. Ruff Ruff from Bonnie to Patch and our other doggie members.

Peter McGeary has prepared notes on the discussion of Patsy's work and I hope to circulate a report later. Patsy's articles include:

"Service user led research in the NHS: Wasting our time?" in Critical Perspectives on User Involvement edited by Marian Barnes and Phil Cotterell.

She has edited two critical anthologies of research:

2013 Mental Health Service Users in Research: Critical Sociological
Perspectives Policy Press.

2015 Women and Alcohol: Social Perspectives. Policy Press.

Just in case this is becoming something of a monologue about Policy Press, let me mention that Andy Brooker met Alison Shaw at the launch debate for Peter Beresford's "All Our Welfare" on Wednesday 11.5.2016. Alison is the Director of Policy Press and is "proud to publish Peter's book" - and hopes we enjoy it. She was over the moon (sailing in space) to discover we are also discussing Helen and Patsy's books.

Graham Estop has requested a review of the launch and the glittering
array of left-wing politicians, intellectuals and journalists who
took part. I have asked Andy Brooker if he can assist.

As far as I know, the remaining items have nothing to do with Policy
Press.

From Thursday 30.6.2016 to Sunday 3.7.2016  there will be a history bonanza in London with 'Feminism and Radical Utopianism, Past and Present (Thursday at Birkbeck) followed by Radical histories and histories of radicalism, a three day conference at Queen Mary University

http://www.raphael-samuel.org.uk/radical-histories/

On the Saturday from 2 to 3.30:

Survivor or service user: what´s in a name?  The Survivor History
Movement and Mental Health Museums Workshop:
Sarah Chaney
Peter Beresford
Peter Campbell

Check it out. You can go to everything for £50, Unwaged £25, Or just go for a day at £20, Unwaged £10. The Thursday event is free, but you must book.

And check out http://www.asylumonline.net/

Asylum are keeping rather quiet about an article (by me), in the 30th Anniversary issue due out in June, called "Thirty years speaking out. The many voices of survivors".  They tell me that it will be there, but that you will be distracted by the fantastic other articles. So please buy a copy and read it all!

Graham Estop has found a really good Twitter account. Look at the
other entries as well as the one Graham writes about. Graham writes "John Price, who used to work for the Nottingham Advocacy Group, (and other places, now living in Rotherham), alerted me to this fascinating archive on reasons for admission to the Aberdeen asylum in 1847 - including "abuse of tea"! "Disappointment in love" is another interesting one.  Nice they're not using medical diagnoses in this list!

https://twitter.com/NHSGArchives
or
https://t.co/S3NKiy7H7x

We have promising news, via Graham, about the future of the United Kingdom Advocacy Network (UKAN) archive, but I think that better wait till it is firmer before I report.

Finally - we have some good news of a grant that will enable the
Survivors History Group  to pay of our overdraft and carry on a
little longer at the standard of life we have grown accustomed to.
Thank you - Thank you - to The Barham Charitable Trust (-:

And thank you to Together for letting us meet in its headquarters and looking after us.

We will survive! We will thrive!


Best wishes, Andrew

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