Mental illness

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Mark Ravenhill's theatrical highlight of 2008 - the Free Theatre of Belarus

The most incredible experience I had in 2008 was a visit to Minsk, the austere capital of Belarus. It was eye-opening, moving, salutary - and, as I prepare for 2009, I can't help thinking back to it. I was there as a guest of the Free Theatre, a company lauded across the world not only for their stunning performances, but also for their championing of human rights. At home, the company operate underground, leading the artistic resistance to President Lukashenko's regime, the last remaining dictatorship in Europe.Wondering how the Free Theatre had fared since my spring visit, I recently phoned Natalia Koliada, the group's director. She sounded in high spirits. The company was in Prague, ex-Czech president Václav Havel having invited them there to perform their piece Generation Jeans, in which denim becomes a metaphor for freedom. They planned to film Havel that afternoon for a documentary. "We've travelled a lot in Europe this year," Natalia says. "We've met lots of people who tell us artists shouldn't be political. But we don't believe that. We believe artists are the moral conscience of their society." The group have now set themselves the challenge of interviewing artists all over the world who are involved in the struggle for democracy and human rights, for their first documentary film.But the situation in Belarus, Natalia says, is not getting any better: "We had rigged elections in September, which weren't recognised internationally. Europe, though, is nervous about Russia after the problems in Georgia. So they've decided they need us as a buffer state. Sanctions against Belarus have been lifted and Lukashenko is free to travel in Europe, despite the recognition that he is a dictator. This means the regime has got a new confidence and it has had an immediate impact on the number of political prisoners. There's even more suppression of free speech."Last spring, at the Soho Theatre in London, the company performed their piece Being Harold Pinter, in which extracts from his plays are used to create a portrait of life under oppressive regimes. At Tom Stoppard's suggestion, Natalia and the group read Pinter's work, paying particular attention to his later political plays and his impassioned Nobel prize speech. His writing chimed with their own experience of dictatorship and the struggle for human rights. It was thrilling to see how much these later plays, which in the UK hadn't always been as well regarded as the earlier ones, meant to the group. And the Nobel speech - mocked by some when Pinter delivered it - rang true and clear in Being Harold Pinter. Although he was clearly frail, Pinter came to the theatre that night to show his support.One of the Free Theatre actors was refused leave from her day job with the state theatre, but came to the UK anyway. What, I wondered, happened to her? "She was fired when she got home," Natalia says. "But so was another of our actors from the state theatre - and she had obeyed the travel ban. So now none of our company has a regular job and many of us have lost our apartments."The authorities in Belarus have said there are no new plays by native speakers. But last year, the Free Theatre actually printed a book of new Belarussian plays and distributed it free to every theatre and library in the country. "The book caused huge excitement," says Natalia, "particularly among young people." But in November, her father, who had helped prepare the book, was sacked from his university job. "The authorities told him that we were sick, corrupted people and that he should disown us. Of course, he would never do that and so now he has no job."Despite these hardships, the Free Theatre are more determined than ever to press on with their work. Last year, they created two new shows and started an underground school in Belarus, to promote artistic resistance. The aim is to create a new generation of theatre-makers, people who combine the skills of actors, writers and directors. "We've found eight wonderful, brave young people," says Natalia. "We're training them in secret and are inviting theatre people from all over the world to teach. Mark, when will you come and run classes?"Sometimes, the Free Theatre's projects seem recklessly ambitious. "We've realised this is an international struggle," says Natalia. "We're making links with playwrights and musicians in countries such as Zimbabwe, because we want to fight dictatorship everywhere." She laughs loudly. "Yes, we're a little crazy. But that's the only way to carry on. We didn't begin as a political group. We just wanted to put on plays. We started with your play, Some Explicit Polaroids, and Sarah Kane's play 4:48. The authorities banned them because they said homosexuality and mental illness don't exist in Belarus. This made us see that everything is political. Our children don't remember a time before Lukashenko, which is frightening. People tell us things will never change. We don't believe that."I find Natalia's determination exciting, challenging, and even a little frightening. I'm sure Pinter would be delighted to see that his abhorrence of political hypocrisy, his championing of human rights and his bloody-minded determination lives on so brightly in the Free Theatre of Belarus.TheatreHarold PinterMark Ravenhillguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Charities lose faith and hope as funding crisis leaves them with £2.3bn black hole

Charities are facing a multi-billion pound black hole in their finances as companies withdraw sponsorship and individuals cancel standing orders as the economic downturn bites, according to an authoritative study published today. A survey of 362 charities by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the Institute of Fundraising and the Charity Finance Directors' Group reveals that charity incomes are expected to fall in real terms and costs to rise. PwC estimates that the shortfall could reach £2.3bn next year as the UK heads towards recession.The forecast is the clearest sign yet of the crisis facing the charitable sector as a result of the credit crunch and has been met with warnings that charity services - often aimed at helping victims of financial hardship - will be curtailed, and some may even collapse.The squeeze has already seen the value of corporate donations tumble. The British Red Cross was forced to cancel its winter gala ball beside the Thames this month as it could not find a corporate sponsor for an event which usually raises £500,000. Shelter, the housing charity, lost £400,000 in the space of six weeks this autumn when corporate sponsors, including the nationalised mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley, cancelled donations.Charity chief executives will now press ministers further to release a £500m emergency fund to help see them through the slump. "There is no doubt that over the coming year we will see charities fail," said Stephen Bubb, director of the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations. "We need help to help the victims of this recession."Demand for services which deal with homelessness and mental illness has grown at the same time as a fifth of charities report increased cancellations of direct debits by individual donors - often a bedrock of income. Of the charities surveyed, 71% said they expected corporate donations to fall or stay static over the next year, and a fifth of those feared they could lose at least 15% of corporate income. Some reported declines of up to 50% already.After a decade of strong growth in revenues, the value of legacies and wills - which account for a third of the income of UK charities - has also plunged, and the charities' investment income has collapsed in line with the equity markets. According to the survey, the only growth looks set to come from charity shops, as bargain hunters turn to second hand goods. Even that is threatened by a lack of goods to sell, as some would-be donors try to raise extra cash by selling their bric-a-brac online.This afternoon a group of 27 charities which have lost £46m in investments in Icelandic banks will lobby a creditors meeting for the release of their frozen assets. Among them are Cats Protection and the children's hospice Naomi House, which together invested £16.9m with Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander."In all but a technicality the recession is upon us and the economic climate is looking bleak," said Keith Hickey, chief executive of the Charity Finance Directors Group. "The one certainty is that our beneficiaries will need us more than ever. We must respond to this demand by ensuring that our charities are strongly led and able to ensure that we make the maximum possible use of resources."The crunch has come at a difficult time for Shelter, which offers advice on mortgage problems, homelessness, keeping warm and coping with rent arrears. Banking donors, who account for a third of corporate donations across the sector, pulled the plug on sponsorship deals as a rise in repossessions precipitated a 20% increase in demand for services. It had already laid off 30 staff."If the situation worsens there will be an impact on our services," said Adam Sampson, Shelter's chief executive. "It is the speed with which it has happened which has made it very difficult to adjust. We have to plan for a significant proportion of our loyal donors not being able to afford their five pounds a month standing order payments."Donations from the rich and legacies have slumped, according to the survey. Of charities polled, 86% expected legacies to either decline further or remain static over the coming year."Giving from rich individuals, which had been flagged up as the next big thing, has gone down the pan," Mark Astarita, director of fundraising at British Red Cross, said. "The bulk of the value of legacies is in property and shares, and their value has plummeted. We have predicted a 20% decline next year." That would wipe more than £3m off the charity's £100m annual income.Overall, however, the British Red Cross, believes its income will grow modestly next year, largely from monthly direct debit donations gathered through face-to-face fundraising."It is going to be tough, but it is not all doom and gloom," he said. "We are watching our individual donations closely and there is no detectable change."Short of fundsWith more than two-thirds of charity bosses believing corporate donations will fall or stay static in the next year, charities which rely on this stream of income will be under pressure.The Money Advice Trust, which provides free advice for individuals struggling with debts, relied on corporate donations for 65% of its £7.3m annual income in 2006-07. Five high street banks each gave it more than £500,000 in that year, including Royal Bank of Scotland, now nationalised.The Prince's Trust depends on the commercial largesse for around a fifth of its £22.5m fundraising income.Breast Cancer Care depended on corporate donations for 52.6% of its income, Breakthrough Breast Cancer, for 16.6% and the Royal Opera House for 16.1%.The crisis-hit UK financial sector accounts for around one third of UK charities' income from corporate donors. Figures from financial information group Caritas Data show RBS gave £57m in cash and kind last year, Barclays £52.4m and HSBC £50.7m.Voluntary sectorRecessionCredit crunchCharitable givingguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Lyndsay Moss: Why fear is the key to stigma over mental illness

THERE are few subjects that remain taboo these days. Celebrities in the jungle discuss how they lost their virginity; the "real life" magazines reveal intimate details

Eight in 10 seriously harmed children 'missed' by agencies

More than 80% of children who are killed or seriously injured as a result of abuse or neglect are missed by the national child protection register, the Guardian can reveal.In the week that social workers from Haringey in London were lambasted over the horrific killing of a 17-month-old known as Baby P, and Manchester social services staff faced questions over the deaths of three-month-old Delayno Mullings-Sewell and his two-year-old brother, Romario, the findings show that scores of children who die at the hands of relatives are not on the radar of social services departments, even though in some cases injured babies have had medical treatment.The figures, obtained from unpublished government-commissioned research, show a widespread pattern of missed opportunities where police, social workers and health professionals fail to communicate or act on evidence of potential abuse. Postmortem case reviews included in the research where children died in the care of their families reveal that midwives, hospital staff and social workers saw evidence of abuse while the children were still alive but councils did not place them on the child protection register. Despite signs of the abuse being clear to authorities, infants who died from forced starvation, broken ribs and smashed skulls were all missed off the register, which lists 29,200 children "known to be suffering harm". Just 33 of the 189 children whose death or serious injury prompted a local authority serious case review between 2005 and 2007 were on the register, according to the analysis of the most serious cases to be submitted to ministers next spring.The research has raised concerns that, across the country, procedures that should result in children at risk being protected by the government's flagship anti-child abuse system are not being followed, leading to deaths that could be avoided. The number of serious cases in the period 2005-2007 rose 17% on the previous two years.Concerns about the state of child protection have been exposed after the case of Baby P sparked furious clashes in the Commons and triggered two separate government inquiries, one to examine social services in Haringey, the other to revisit the national system established after the case of Victoria Climbié, who was murdered in the same north London borough eight years ago. Yesterday at the Old Bailey the three people convicted of involvement in the Baby P case were warned that they face substantial jail terms.Marion Brandon, a University of East Anglia academic who is leading the analysis of serious case reviews, said social workers often struggled to respond appropriately because they found cases frightening and confusing. "They make an early assessment, and don't tend to change their minds," she said. "They keep looking for evidence that supports their view and that can be very dangerous. They might stick to saying it is a case of neglect when it is actually abuse."Between 2003 and 2005, 45% of children who were killed or seriously injured through abuse or neglect were not known in any way by the social services but may have been on the radar of other public authorities. "In cases where the authorities saw evidence that a child may have been abused, an investigation should have taken place which could result in the child being placed on the register," said Sally Trench, an independent social work consultant who works with local authorities. "There will inevitably be a number of neglected and abused children we don't know about, and I feel particularly concerned about babies and toddlers, who may rarely be seen by any professionals."Between 2005 and 2007, the majority of serious cases involved a baby under the age of one. In most of those cases, they were younger than six months old. Almost a quarter of cases involved children over 11, with a significant minority aged between 16 and 18. These included suicides, sometimes following a history of abuse, missing persons and some teenagers who were victims of violence from non-family members."There are two peaks of vulnerability and danger - babies and older teenagers," said Brandon. "The smallest number we have found is between the ages of six and 10 which is the age bracket of Victoria Climbié [who died aged eight] and it was the inquiry into her death which has led to most of the recent learning. Our attention may have been deflected from the greater risks that we know are posed to babies. Since health visitors and midwives routinely work with babies they need to work more closely with social workers so that together they can offer better protection to these very young and potentially vulnerable children."This month it emerged that three-year-old Tiffany Wright was starved to death in a room above a Sheffield pub despite concern being raised by a midwife and pub regulars. She was not on the child protection register and was found dead from bronchopneumonia and covered in insect bites. In another case, Jessica Randall, from Kettering, lived for just two months and was referred to hospital several times, at least once with bruising. Her parents were known to social workers, but she was not on the child protection register either. She eventually died from a "massive skull fracture with subdural bleed" and her ribs had been broken.Councils denied they were being negligent by missing similar cases off the register. "Quite a proportion of those deaths and serious injuries are unpremeditated and appear to come out of the blue," said Colin Green, director of children's services at Coventry city council speaking on behalf of the Association of Directors of Children's Services. "The parent may suffer an acute psychotic episode or there could be an adult suicide which is preceded by the murder of the children. It would have been extremely difficult to discern any threat to children in those cases."He said the register was considered a "draconian intervention in family life" and that while some children may display bruises or other signs of harm, investigations could be inconclusive. "Judgments need to be made and they are not always going to be right," he said.According to the most recent mortality statistics, 84 boys and 64 girls under the age of five died in 2006 from "injuries, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes".The causes of death in 38 cases were injuries to the head and neck including fatal fractures of the skull and facial bones and injuries to the thorax. Thirteen infants died from "injuries involving multiple body regions", 15 from the "effects of a foreign body entering through a natural orifice" and 14 from a "foreign body in the respiratory tract". A further 18 died from asphyxiation.A previous study of serious case reviews found that one in three families suffered a combination of domestic violence, mental illness and substance abuse. A third of cases showed evidence of poor living conditions. "We have to understand more about what makes these complicated families tick," Brandon said. "Until we do that, we won't be able to properly grapple with them."Concern emerged this week that government policy has discouraged councils from decisive intervention in suspected cases of abuse and neglect. Ofsted, the government agency that rates local authority children and young people's services departments, docks marks if children remain on the register for more than two years. Child protection lawyers also believe a steep rise in legal fees associated with taking children into care is putting children at risk. In May the court fee for a local authority to bring such a case to court rose from around £100 to £2,225.Child protectionCrimeguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Ban on votes for prisoners is illegal, says EU

The government must give prisoners the right to vote or the next general election will be illegal under European law, ministers have been warned by parliament's influential Joint Committee on Human Rights.The committee's conclusion threatens a constitutional crisis for Labour, which has tried to bury the issue ever since the European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2005 that inmates should have the vote. The committee, comprising six MPs and six peers, has written to the Ministry of Justice saying the government must urgently change the law so that the majority of Britain's 84,000 prisoners are given the right before the country next goes to the polls.'A legislative solution can and should be introduced during the next parliamentary session,' it states. 'If the government fails to meet this timetable, there is a significant risk that the next general election will take place in a way that fails to comply with the convention and at least part of the prison population will be unlawfully disenfranchised.'In addition to convicted prisoners, those banned from voting include members of the Lords, anyone found guilty of election corruption within the past five years and people with learning disabilities or a mental illness deemed incapable of making a reasoned judgment.Being hauled before the European Court of Human Rights for failing to comply with the convention is an unpalatable prospect for the government. But introducing a law allowing jailed offenders to vote is likely to spark a furious row that the government's opponents could exploit to their political advantage.'The idea that our entire democratic process could be overturned in this way is ludicrous,' said shadow justice secretary Nick Herbert. 'Claiming sweeping new entitlements for prisoners is a classic example of over-reaching human rights laws which have lost sight of the importance of balancing responsibilities. Parliament should make these decisions, not European judges.'The government originally said it would consider the issue of prisoners' voting rights in a two-stage consultation that was supposed to have been completed in January 2008. Ministers said a new law would follow after May 2008.But a joint committee member attacked the Justice Ministry for dithering on the issue. 'The government cannot pick and choose which human rights treaty obligations it fulfils for party political reasons or just because it feels an issue is not populist enough,' said Evan Harris, a Liberal Democrat MP. 'Gordon Brown is going soft on human rights. There is every chance that this country may be in breach of international law if the government doesn't have the courage to act before the next general election.' The Prison Reform Trust, which campaigns on behalf of prisoners, has written to the Justice Secretary, Jack Straw, asking why the government was delaying the legislation. 'This mean-minded, foot-dragging approach... calls into question the government's commitment to social inclusion, citizenship and human rights,' said Juliet Lyon, the trust's director.The European ruling stipulates only that a blanket ban on prisoner voting is unlawful, suggesting that certain segments of the prison population - such as murderers Ian Huntley and Rosemary West - will still not be entitled to vote. Legal experts believe the government may seek to limit the prisoners who can vote to those who have been rehabilitated and are considered 'good citizens'. But the judgment, made in response to a case brought before the European Court of Human Rights by a British prisoner called John Hirst, suggests imposing this qualification may be difficult. Following the Hirst ruling, several states passed laws giving prisoners the right to vote. In 2006 Ireland passed legislation allowing all prisoners to vote by post in the constituency where they would live if they were not in prison.A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Justice said: 'Prisoner voting rights is a sensitive and complex issue, and we need to look very carefully at what the right approach to prisoner enfranchisement in the UK is and at how it would be implemented.'Constitutional reformPrisons and probationguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Figures on forces mental illness

The Ministry of Defence is publishing statistics detailing the number of forces personnel suffering mental health problems.