Kevin teams up with JK to Help Children in Eastern Europe
Kevin teams up with JK to Help
Children in Eastern Europe
2
News
A quick word
With an eye on the future of some of Europe’s most
disadvantaged children, Birmingham psychologist Professor
Kevin Browne has teamed up with leading children’s writer
JK Rowling and Baroness Nicholson to launch a charity to
help young children who are placed in institutional care, to
create awareness of their plight, and to raise funds (full story
opposite). While with an eye on the past, new recruit and
member of Channel 4’s Time Team of archaeologists, Henry
Chapman speaks about life and work at Birmingham and
his experiences on the TV digs (page 7).
The charismatic ‘keepy uppy’ world champion, ‘Mr Woo’,
was on hand to wow (or is that woo?) spectators at the
Guild of Students’ recent pre-World Cup party (page 5)
And he wasn’t the only sports star on campus recently.
Birmingham’s sportsmen and women have been enjoying
success both home and away, from athletics to American
football. A full sporting round-up is on page 6
Calling all gastronomes. The Astor restaurant (staff house)
is one of the University’s best-kept and best-value secrets
but not for long. It’s now open to everyone during weekday
lunchtimes and evenings. Check out the back page to
set your mouths watering with details of their enticing
post-Easter offer.
Sam Smith
Content Editor
s.smith@bham.ac.uk
0121 414 6948
Does money lead to happiness?
The ‘happiness’ of our society was the topic under scrutiny earlier this month, when author, economist
and government advisor, Lord Layard, delivered the 28th annual ‘Happiness Lecture’.
Richard Layard’s book, Happiness, lessons from a new
science, published last year, provides a very fresh approach
to answering the question of what makes societies happy. In
the book, he explores why, as societies become richer, the
people within them do not become happier. Everybody wants
to earn more money but why are we rarely happier when we
do? Combining economics, brain science, sociology and
philosophy the book explores, quite literally, how we can make
society ‘happier’ and Lord Layard drew upon these themes
when he examined the causes of contentment in his lecture.
The Baggs Memorial Lecture has been an annual event
since 1976. Thomas Baggs was an alumnus who went on to
become a teacher, journalist and a war correspondent for the
Daily Mail before pursuing a successful career in advertising
and publicity for the USA automobile industry. When he died
in 1973, he bequeathed a substantial sum to the University
to provide for an annual public lecture on the theme of
‘Happiness – what it is and how it may be achieved by
individuals as well as nations.’
Over the years, many distinguished speakers have tackled
the topic from their own personal viewpoint, including Yehudi
Menuhin, Alan Bennett, Maureen Lipman, Trevor McDonald
and Robert Winston.
Psychologist Professor Kevin Browne, of the University’s Centre for Forensic and Family Psychology,
is a vociferous campaigner for the rights of children and young people in Romania and Eastern Europe.
He has worked for many years with MEP Baroness Emma Nicholson to remove children from care
homes in Romania and other European countries and through this effort, the pair’s work has led to
Romania becoming an example of good practice within Europe.
Now, together with leading children’s writer JK Rowling,
Professor Browne and Baroness Nicholson have launched
a charity to help young children who are placed in institutional
care to create awareness of their plight, and to raise funds.
Professor Browne has teamed up with ‘JK’ as part of a highlevel
group to ensure the respect and protection of the rights
of children and young people in Romania and Eastern Europe.
In the last four years a total of 22,000 children have been put
back into family based care, half of these have been returned
to their parents or relatives. The number of Romanian children
with disabilities in care homes dropped from 7,000 in 1990
to 1,000 in 2002. In addition, the number of foster families
has increased from almost none to over 15,000 and, due
to a change in legislation, it is now no longer possible to
institutionalise children under two years old.
Professor Browne says: ‘Children in care homes under three
years of age are at risk of harm because the early years of
life are critical for brain development. Normal development
requires the opportunity for frequent one-to-one interactions
with a parent, therefore high quality instititional care should
only be used as an emergency measure to protect or treat
children. Even then, it is recommended that they are placed
back into family based care as soon as possible’.
‘Already the numbers of children in care homes in Romania
are falling, but nevertheless, the numbers are still high
compared to other European countries and more work
needs to be done, so I am delighted that Jo Rowling is
highlighting the needs of children in Eastern Europe and
that Emma Nicholson’s political skills are placing child
rights on the policy agenda of governments. In this way
they both ensure that the expertise and research that my
team and I have developed, with funding from the EU
Daphne Programme and the World Health Organisation,
is not only heard, but put into practice.’
The plans of the new charity are to use the knowledge and
experience gained in Romania and apply it to other parts of
Europe where there are significant numbers of children in
need. It is hoped that the successful combination of high level
political action and an influential forum of international experts
will next be applied to Moldova, where the government has
expressed a willingness to change the nature in which
children are protected and their rights upheld
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