Now I have been thinking about ways of taking the BHC story to a wider audience.
In Canada our colleagues never miss an opportunity to speak to communities, create exhibitions in museums and public libraries, and accept invitations from the media.
Over here, we still lag behind these enterprises, partly because we are still the new kids on the block, and we have yet to develop clusters of interested BHC people in towns, cities and villages.
At present to my knowledge there are only two British Facebook sites devoted specifically to British Home Children. Ours was set up from Manchester and is run by Tricia in London.
It currently has 1,211 members which is very good for a group that is only a year and a bit old, and they are drawn from across Britain and North America.
Very early on we created a poster which can be downloaded and displayed in public places, as well as a PowerPoint which can be used to support meetings or just shared with people who want to know more.
And today I began thinking of a more ambitious project, in the form of a History Wall.
Over the last decade in collaboration with a local artist I have produced a series of installations which tell the story of a building or an area.
The largest was 80 meters long and consisted of sixteen panels, while last week we unveiled a new one.
Now the big ones are commissioned or sponsored by local property developers and have fronted building projects, but we have produced smaller ones which are displayed on pubs, bars, restaurants and shops as well as libraries.
Some have become tourist attractions, while others encourage people to ask questions and go looking for more information.
The bigger ones have also been used by local schools.
And in the case of two of the walls, we invited the Lord Mayor Of Manchester to open one and Baron Bradley of Withington another, thereby ensuring media coverage.
So, I think a wall however modest with a mix of images and text, displayed in a public place, will advance knowledge of BHC and draw people in.
Pictures; history walls in Chorlton, 2019 and 2012
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| A History Wall |
Over here, we still lag behind these enterprises, partly because we are still the new kids on the block, and we have yet to develop clusters of interested BHC people in towns, cities and villages.
 |
| A Wall proving popular |
It currently has 1,211 members which is very good for a group that is only a year and a bit old, and they are drawn from across Britain and North America.
Very early on we created a poster which can be downloaded and displayed in public places, as well as a PowerPoint which can be used to support meetings or just shared with people who want to know more.
And today I began thinking of a more ambitious project, in the form of a History Wall.
Over the last decade in collaboration with a local artist I have produced a series of installations which tell the story of a building or an area.
 |
| Attracting interest and discussion |
Some have become tourist attractions, while others encourage people to ask questions and go looking for more information.
The bigger ones have also been used by local schools.
And in the case of two of the walls, we invited the Lord Mayor Of Manchester to open one and Baron Bradley of Withington another, thereby ensuring media coverage.
So, I think a wall however modest with a mix of images and text, displayed in a public place, will advance knowledge of BHC and draw people in.
Pictures; history walls in Chorlton, 2019 and 2012
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