Events & Notices

AGM 2012 - A Date for the Diary

BFMS are pleased to confirm that the Annual AGM and Conference for 2012 will be held on Saturday 24th March at a central London venue from 11am to approx 5pm. Members will be mailed with details when these are confirmed.

This promises to be a most useful and informative day and we hope as many members as possible will be able to attend.

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Arnold Wesker's play 'Denial' coming to London in May 2012

for more information and to book tickets click here

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Gallery Talk on False Memory at Chapter, Cardiff CF5

In November 2011 Professor Chris French gave a fascinating talk on the subject of False Memory; covering many related topics including dissociative identity disorder, sleep paralysis and ritualised satanic abuse claims.

Chris was invited to speak by Alasdair Hopwood of the WITH Collective art project to coincide with his exhibition at the Oriel Gallery at Chapter in Cardiff and his new residency at the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmith College, University of London. This latest project aims to increase public understanding about False Memory and current research into the manipulation of memory for medical purposes.

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Tribute to author, Richard Webster

Richard died on 24th June 2011 of sudden heart failure. He was aged 60. At the time of his death he had been on the verge of publishing his latest book which exposed the largest and longest-lasting paedophile-ring scare which had been taking place in Portugal. Richard, no stranger to dealing with controversial causes, strove to reveal the truth in cases where entrenched belief, uncritical acceptance and poor practice fuelled modern day witch hunts. Among his numerous works is his book, Why Freud was Wrong, Sin Science and Psychoanalysis, in which he argued powerfully from a sceptical point of view revealing how Freud, 'Far from being the fearless and independent thinker of psychoanalytic legend - repeatedly fell under the spell of charismatic theorists who were mistaken or deluded.' He wrote a chapter specifically dealing with Freud's false memories in which he explained, 'there is a great deal of evidence, most of it in Freud's own frank and astonishing words, that he went out of his way to persuade, encourage, cajole and sometimes bully his femail patients to reproduce scenes of child sexual abuse which he himself had reconstructed from their symptoms or their associations'.

At his memorial service in Oxford, Roger Scotford, founder of the BFMS, spoke movingly of their friendship over the years.

"Richard used to tell me off! If I wrote something that he didn't approve of, he would ring up and put me back on the right track. Always of course, with good grace and accompanied by that laugh of his which we all knew so well. I have to acknowledge that he was always right. His advice was well intentioned, cogent and was much appreciated. He was always right - except once. In 1996, Richard came to the annual general meeting of the British False Memory Society in London. Before the meeting opened, he berated me for allowing an unscheduled speaker to address our members. Richard thought that we were giving a platform to someone who was supporting notorious care workers who should be in prison.

But, by his eloquence and the clarity of his case, John Rayfield from the Bryn Estyn care home in North Wales set Richard on a new course. Together with Gwen Hurst, John started Richard's quest for the truth at the care home. A truth that Richard's book, The Secret of Bryn Estyn - The making of a modern witch hunt revealed with more insight than the official judicial review ever achieved.

From Bryn Estyn Richard went on to study the Shieldfield Nursery case and there are two people, Dawn and Chris, both here today who, I am certain, could not be more grateful for the work that he did for them. (He and investigative journalist, Bob Woffinden, with the assistance of Sir Geoffrey Bindman and barristers Adrienne Page QC and Adam Speker, helped to bring a successful case for defamation against the Newcastle social services panel which condemned the nursery workers as guilty even though they had been cleared of any wrongdoing in a court of law.)

Richard was fearless in his search for the truth and we hope that his writings will live on forever. We are all going to miss him so much."

Richard Webster's obituary written by Bob Woffinden appeared at www.guardian.co.uk Sunday 31 July 2011.

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Tribute to BFMS Scientific and Professional Advisory Board member Professor Hugh Freeman

It is with great sadness that we announce the death on 4th May 2011 of Professor Hugh Freeman, retired consultant psychiatrist and member of the BFMS Advisory Board since 1996.

During his distinguished career, Professor Freeman spent 17 years as a consultant psychiatrist in Salford, Greater Manchester, where he initiated, among other things, a system of referral which prevented many hospital admissions, by providing early treatment and alternative care. His curriculum vitae was one of the longest ever seen and among his many activities Hugh was a consultant to the World Health Organisation; the editor of the British Journal of Psychiatry for 10 years, author of numerous books and advisor to SANE, the mental health charity, and to the BFMS.

He and his wife, Professor Joan Freeman, generously hosted a number of Board meetings at their London home. Hugh was kind and generous in his commitment to the BFMS and his guidance will be greatly missed.

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BFMS Chair of Trustees' Obituary

Jill Parker

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Jill Parker, Chair of the BFMS Board of Trustees, who died peacefully on 11th March 2010. She meant a lot to us in BFMS and we shall miss her immensely because she was with us almost from the beginning. We enjoyed her kind hospitality for many trustees' meetings in London and for that splendid reflection day at Minster Lovell. She had a gentle way of leading us which was very appropriate and all backed up by genuine, deep understanding and compassion coming from her professional background as a General Practitioner and her personal values. We admired her courage and cheerfulness and remember that she really put herself out on our behalf in the Refuge issue when she resigned as one of their trustees when challenged over her work with the BFMS. As I understand it, her garden which my wife and I visited nearly two years ago, was an expression of her spirituality for she said, “I keep my soul in my gumboots”.

Rev’d John Young
BFMS Trustee
16th March 2010

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APRU Speaker Series Autumn 2011

Professor Chris French, Professor of Anomalistic Psychology at Goldsmiths College, London and BFMS Advisory Board member has published details of the Invited Speaker Series 2011-12 Autumn Term. Attendance is free. Click here for details.

Chris also has a regular column on the Guardian Online science pages. He has covered the topic of false memories and the work of the BFMS.

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BBC Memory Programmes

BFMS have had contact with the researchers who have put together this series of BBC Radio 4 programmes on Memory. Professor Martin Conway is advising consultant for the series.

The subject of false memory has been covered and you can read the articles online by clicking on the following link - www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/memory/.