Broadcasting
I have been involved in several TV and Radio projects covering a variety of subjects - care, the societal oppression of young people and youth emancipation. race, unmarried mothers, travel, politics, gypsies and travellers, education, football etc. A few are featured here. The most recent concern the national Child Sex Abuse Inquiry . Some concern my 2012 BBC programme, The Crying Shame and the outcomes, which led to BBC Breakfast TV covering the issue as did BBC North West Tonight also in 2013
Youth, Trauma, Societal Oppression, Resilience and Collective Empowerment Interviews around the 2022 publication of my Youth and the Mystery Wall. Interviewed by teenagers on AllFM Radio. Listen here.
Why Does Anti-Racism Still Matter in Social Work?Webinar with Social Workers across the West Midlands - for West Midlands Social Work Teaching Partnership in October 2023 here
National Child Sex Abuse Inquiry 2014-16 The 2nd Chair to the Inquiry, Fiona Woolf resigned in November 2014. I was interviewed on Breakfast TV. Watch here In December 2014, the government had still not appointed a replacement Chair and we were pressing for a statutory inquiry. I was interviewed by R5Live's Adrian Chiles. Listen here . At the end of December 2014, discredited former Inquiry Chair, Baroness Butler-Sloss, argued against giving survivors a major say in the Inquiry. I was asked on BBC News to respond. Watch here. The 3rd Inquiry Chair, Justice Goddard took office in March 2015. On 25 March I addressed a Haldane (Socialist Lawyers) Society in London on the Inquiry. My speech begins at 58 minutes here. On 10 July, Goddard announced the start of her Inquiry. Phil Johnson and I appeared on the BBC Victoria Derbyshire Show. I pointed out continuing problems with the set up of the Inquiry here and Goddard's approach. Goddard resigned a year later. In June 2016, as the Inquiry entered its 4th year, I once more appeared on BBC news channels to announce and explain Whiteflowers/ SOIA's withdrawal from the Inquiry.
Forced Child Adoptions Apology Goes to Parliament
Following on from my Crying Shame radio programme, MP John Leech agreed to table an Early Day Motion to Parliament and we arranged a meeting and lobby. It was the main item on BBC South West TV News.
Watch the programme here and BBC Breakfast TV's 2013 follow up here, following events in Australia.
Rosemundy - BBC TV News Spotlight
This BBC TV News feature, broadcast in April 2012, highlights the plight of unmarried mothers sent to have their children in secret at Rosemundy House in St Agnes, Cornwall.
Watch the programme here.
The Crying Shame - BBC Radio
In this 2012 BBC Radio programme I return to my birthplace in the south west of England to explore the plight of my mother and other unmarried mothers in the 50s and 60s and hear painful testimonies. I also consider the issue of racism and ethnic matching in adoption and foster care. The documentary won a commendation in the 2013 BBC Gillard Awards. Mark Grinnell, Radio Devon Manager, commented: “A marvellous, gripping, emotive listen.” Listen to the programme here.
Crying Shame - Talk Radio Europe
Following the Crying Shame I was interviewed about my early life by this station for Brits living in Spain. During the interview I was interrupted by a Green Finch repeatedly tapping on my window.
Listen to the programme here.
The Award Winning Golly in the Cupboard - BBC Radio
In 2005, I presented the BBC Radio Merseyside Golly in the Cupboard documentary, based on my book The Golly in the Cupboard. It won the national Race in the Media Award for Factual Radio programmes, beating off competition from 50 other national and local programmes.
More information and the soundtrack of the programme can be found here. The new video can be found here
Taking a Stand - Fergal Keane interview on BBC Radio 4
BBC's Fergal Keane questions me in his 2005 Radio 4 series "Taking a Stand" on my campaigning to secure the flies kept on me as a child, and how I felt about what I discovered about my mother and father.
Listen to the programme here.
Bring Back Orphanages - The Insider, Channel 4 TV
This Channel 4 programme, part of "The Insider" series, was broadcast on Friday March 9th 2007. In the programme I argued the case for a more positive view of children's homes.
More detail of the programme can be found here. You can watch the episode by clicking here
Woman's Hour - BBC Radio 4
This debate on the current state of care between myself and Hazel Halle (The Fostering Network's Director of Services), was hosted by Jenni Murray on Radio 4 on Aug 17th, 2011.
Listen to the broadcast here.
Blood Isn't Always Thicker Than Water - Brother of Mine Series - BBC Radio 4
Julian Lloyd Webber, the solo cellist and brother of Andrew Lloyd Webber, explores non-blood siblings and how shared experience can be a greater bond than blood. He looks at this through the stories of Phil Frampton, who grew up in care homes, and Eric White, who arrived in Britain as a Jewish refugee during World War II and grew up in a Christian family. Listen to the programme here.
Suzi Hoffman Desert Island Discs - Salford City Radio
Suzi Hoffman at Salford City Radio, on her 2011 Desert Island Discs-style programme, questions me about my life. She plays 10 tracks that I chose to accompany my story.
Listen to the programme here.
London's Social Work Action Network Conference
25 minute soundtrack of my speech with Dr Liz Davies to London's Social Work Action Network Conference in July 2009 on experiences and potential benefits of working with the media to protect children.
Listen to the soundtrack here.
Simon Mayo Panel Discussion about the Care System
Simon Mayo chairs a live panel discussion involving myself and others on BBC Radio 5 about the care system. March 2007.
Listen to the programme here.
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