| Greetings!
Welcome to our first newsletter of 2009. During recent years the Centre has expanded; the number of projects we offer and the number of staff on our payroll has grown. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our supporters for making this growth possible.
The increase in our activities is an indication of the demand for the services we offer, which has never been greater. We are delighted to let you know about two exciting new projects in this issue. With the generous support of The City Bridge Trust we are able to help more children, young people and families. We hope you will enjoy reading about these projects.
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New Projects To Help Families and Young People |
The Centre has been awarded grants from The City Bridge Trust to run two projects with young people.
Kidstime
Children whose parents suffer mental health disorders are 60% more likely to suffer behavioural problems, bullying and isolation amongst their peers causing them profound and perhaps permanent damage.
 'Kidstime' was created by Camden and Islington Mental Health and Social Care NHS Trust together with Young Carers' groups from Camden and Islington. It aims to provide families, in which one or both parents suffer from mental health disorders, with a support network allowing their children to take part in diverting activities such as creative drama workshops.
 The workshops use role play and other interactive methods to encourage thinking about difficult aspects of their day to day lives and their sometimes fraught relationships with their parents. 'Kidstime' allows these children breathing space to behave like children again and to mix in an environment where mental health is not stigmatised.
 A grant from City Bridge Trust will enable the Anna Freud Centre to fund the development, evaluation and implementation of 'Kidstime' workshops in a range of centres in Camden & Islington, Westminster and Hackney. Working with our collaborators Dr Alan Cooklin and colleagues in Camden and Islington, our goal is to roll out the 'Kidstime' model nationally.
Tackling Violence Project
The Anna Freud Centre will collaborate with the charity Kids Company to offer an innovative intervention for highly vulnerable young people up to age 24.
 Kids Company is nationally known to have an exceptional capacity to reach the 'hard to reach'. The young people most at risk as victims and perpetrators of violent crime are unlikely to have had access to therapy or support in statutory settings. Many are not in education, employment or training (NEET), and often the only support they receive is via services working through Kids Company.
 The Centre will work with a team of key workers who will be based at Kids Company to develop ways of working with young people who have been victims and/or perpetrators of violence, based on the Centre's Integrative Multimodal Practice (IMP) model.
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| 'Defiance' Screening Sells Out |
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Our advance screening of the film 'Defiance' on Thursday 8 January 2009 was a sell-out event. The star, Daniel Craig, and the story of Jewish brothers in Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe proved popular, drawing an audience of over 200 people to Swiss Cottage Odeon to enjoy the film. The event raised over £3000 for the Centre through ticket sales and donations.
Thanks to everyone who supported this event and special thanks to our Fundraising Committee who organised this event.
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| Forthcoming Events |
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Save the Date - Open Afternoon 2009
We are pleased to announce that our 4th annual Open Afternoon will take place on Sunday 13th September 2009. Please put the date in your diary! As usual we will open to visitors from 2.30pm to 5pm, with free, fun activities for children including face painting, arts and crafts, a raffle and refreshments. There will be an opportunity to learn more about what we do at the Centre as well as to enjoy a fun day out.
If you are interested in getting involved with this year's event please call the Open Afternoon team on 020 7794 2313. We always welcome donations for our raffle and tombola, arts and crafts materials and outdoor toys.
We look forward to seeing you there!
40 years on from the Robertson's film 'John' - what can contemporary film of infants in Russian orphanages, and parents who grew up in such institutions, tell us about attachment and development? James Robertson (1911-1988) was a psychiatric social worker and psychoanalyst. Robertson's work was instrumental in influencing policy regarding the separation of children from their parents in hospitals and homes. 'John' (1969) was the most well known of the films made by Robertson, following a young boy's experiences in a residential nursery while his mother is giving birth to a sibling. Forty years after 'John' was made, another film 'The Road Home', documenting attachment issues in a Russian 'baby home' similarly aims to inform and influence policy on the care of young children in institutional care. We will be joined by the director of 'The Road Home', Armorer Wason and Stewart Britten (child psychiatrist) , Tanya Morozova (child psychologist) and Slava Dovbnya (child neurologist) who are involved in 'educating' the Russian establishment on attachment. Date: Wednesday 13th May 2009 Time: 2-3.30pm Location: The Anna Freud Centre, 21 Maresfield Gardens, London, NW3 5SD There is no charge for this event but places are limited. If you would like to attend please email Sara.Mitchell@annafreud.org or call 020 7794 2313 to book your place. |
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Warm regards,
Peter Fonagy PhD FBA
Chief Executive, The Anna Freud Centre | |
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| Save the Date |
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We are pleased to announce that our 4th annual Open Afternoon will take place on Sunday 13th September 2009. Please put the date in your diary! |
| AFC News in Brief |
| Feature in Nursing Times |
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The work of Professor Peter Fonagy (our Chief Executive) and Professor Anthony Bateman has been highlighted in 'Nursing Times'. The article describes how Mentalization Based Treatment (MBT), which was developed by Professors Fonagy and Bateman, has been successfully applied by a team of professionals working with women diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD).
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