On Friday 8th July, 2022 A Child in the Middle was officially welcomed into the world.
As well as fellow writers, family and old friends, a large number of colleagues from the world of mental health, adoption and education attended The Old Fire Station in Oxford for a lively discussion about the issues raised in A Child in the Middle around truth, identity, confidentiality and many more. It was a privilege to be in the company of so many experienced and thoughtful practitioners, many of whom hope that this book might feature on reading lists for those training in Social Care, CAMHs or related areas, believing that it is important that the voices of service users and the care experienced should be heard as well as more traditional text books.
Readings from the book included the poem ‘Write about an Article of Clothing’, as well as extracts from the nature notes and parts of emails which I exchanged with my birth mother. Here you can listen to some of the first ever letter I received from her.