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21st Birthday Celebrations

...of the Perceptions Forum

21st Birthday Celebration

National Perceptions Forum celebrated its 21st year with a special event on 1st September. Twenty-eight of us gathered for an afternoon of socialising, music, food, a DVD, an exhibition of cartoons and poetry, a raffle and a rolling slideshow of art. All the creative work, including the DVD, was the work of our members. Many of those who came have contributed a lot in many different ways. It was a testament to the energy and creativity that has kept us running all these years and made Perceptions Forum what it is today. The two main attractions were musical performances by Biff Gladman and Nina. Biff had travelled all the way from the highlands of Scotland to play for us and his songs, which are mostly about living under the mental health system, were very true to many of our shared experiences. Biff covered a wealth of angles against blues/jazz piano. Nina gave us a fine performance of classical guitar. Both performances were listened to with hardly a whisper to be heard. The day ended with a reading of survivor poetry by Roz Hewitt, who has written a book for which a number of our members were consulted. Finally, the raffle was drawn and we all went back to our lives. see a larger visual version