I’ve just returned to my hotel after dinner with seven members of the BAC O’Connor team here in Burton-on-Trent. It’s been a very busy time over the past two days here and I am really tired. I was pleased to see that Vanessa White had written a piece on Facebook for the of BAC O’Connor team which I could copy and post, rather than write a new blog post on my personal reflections. I’ll do that tomorrow. Here are Vanessa’s words:
‘We have been very honoured to have hosted a visit from Professor David Clark who is based in Perth but who took time out on his visit to the UK to spend 2 days with us here at BAC O’Connor. It is 20 years almost to the month that David first met Noreen in the Houses of Parliament and came down to Burton when the then Wired In team started an evaluation of the BAC, two qualitative pieces of research, and 19 Personal Stories. Also based on the testimonials that Noreen wrote for David some years later:
‘Wired In was the first real grass roots organisation in the field in this country and for that you should be very, very proud. And remember the enormous amount of respect and support that is held for you from grassroots organisations right across the sector…’ Noreen Oliver MBE, CEO, BAC O’Connor, Burton-on-Trent, UK
Over the years David has become really interested in trauma and its healing (particularly Bruce Perry’s work) along with indigenous healing practices and during his visit David gave a talk to service users; From Pain into Power, a trauma healing story about Aboriginal child artists.
David also gave a talk to staff about what Wired In tried to achieve via their grassroots initiative, along with his reflections about recovery, about BAC O’Connor, and the other people who have inspired him.
‘Inspirational’, ‘his lecture gave me hope’, ‘simply brilliant’, ‘I learnt a lot’, ‘I found it fascinating, interesting and informative’ was just some of the feedback received from staff and service users.
Over the 2 days that David has spent with us we have spent the time reminiscing about BAC, Recovery, old friends, and most of all Noreen and all that she inspired and achieved.
For more information on the Aboriginal child artists of Carrolup follow the link: Aboriginal Child Artists of Carrolup: Healing Trauma‘