Comic Relief Funding: A Centre First!

We are delighted to announce that our first ever grant from Comic Relief was awarded to our AMBIT project in Autumn 2010. 

The project team have been given a three year grant to improve training resources for street-level work with hard to reach and vulnerable young people. AMBIT is a method of working with hard to reach young people that has been developed by staff at Anna Freud Centre, and workers in a number of teams around the UK where this approach has already been implemented.

The project is particularly focussed on addressing training needs for workers in street-level outreach projects more generally, especially in voluntary sector organisations. We will keep you updated on our progress. If you work for a voluntary sector organisation and are interested in finding out more please email Katy.

Award for Voice Collective Project

Congratulations to the Voice Collective project, which was awarded one of two international Hywel Davies awards for an 'outstanding contribution' to people who hear voices. 

Rachel Waddingham, from Mind in Camden, who co-runs a Voice Collective group for young people here at Anna Freud Centre, also presented the project at a major conference in November, which provoked a lot of interest in the project internationally.  It is hoped that further funding will be secured for the project to continue beyond March 2011, when the current funding comes to an end. 

A new book, 'Children Hearing Voices', written for parents and young people, was also released last week by PCCS Books, with two chapters by Rachel drawing on some of her experience in the AFC group. 

'Talking About Toddlers' Sells Out

We were delighted with the response to our event 'Talking About Toddlers', an evening talk for anyone interested in understanding more about their toddler, which took place on Wednesday 26th January 2011. We plan to run a series of talks on a variety of topics. If you receive this newsletter you will be kept up to date with forthcoming events. Remember - our events have limited places and sell out quickly, so avoid missing out by booking early on our website.

Do you already shop online or are you thinking about giving it a go? The good news is that you can fundraise for Anna Freud Centre every time you shop online!

Anna Freud Centre is a registered charity which needs funding to continue its work and via making a small change to your online shopping habits you can make a big impact.

Anna Freud Centre Colloquium

November 2010 saw the 36th Anna Freud Centre Colloquium: Developmental Hazards of Adolescence and the transition to young adulthood. The Colloquium began in the days when Anna Freud was still alive and has always been the event of the Centre's calendar which focused on psychoanalytic clinical work. This year two psychoanalysts presented clinical cases of adolescents treated in psychoanalysis. There were also workshops focusing on particular aspects of adolescence ranging from creativity, to violence, sexuality to in-patient treatment. 116 people from all over the world attended a very lively conference.  The newly revitalised child psychotherapy service was toasted with a glass of bubbly.

If you would like to receive an information pack about Anna Freud Centre, including a short 10 minute film about the Centre introduced by Jon Snow please email us your name and postal address by clicking here.

If you are interested in helping us to fundraise please get in touch by clicking here.

D is for...

Depression  Anna Freud Centre is extremely concerned about the increasing rate of depression among young people. The Centre is working with

with the Universities of London, Cambridge and Manchester to do something about this through a large-scale trial to find out what helps young people suffering from depression.
 
Development

The first year of a child's life is crucial to brain development. Another crucial period for brain development is adolescence. Parts of the brain responsible for self-control and emotions only become fully developed between puberty and adulthood.

Congratulations to Dr Nick Midgley, Head of the AFC's Programme for Children and Young People, who has recently received an Early Career Achievement Award from the British Psychoanalytic Council. This award recognizes his outstanding contribution to advancing psychoanalytic knowledge and practice since completing his Professional Doctorate at AFC in 2003.

In November 2010, the Freud Museum hosted the launch of the book Parents and toddlers in groups: a psychoanalytic developmental approach edited by Marie Zaphiriou Woods and Inge-Martine Pretorius. The book explores how psychoanalytic principles can be applied when working with parents and toddlers in groups, at the Centre and in outreach and specialist settings.