Lyn Ferrand's Blog

mycancerstory3.blog

In my new blog - see above, I was gripped by doubt and fear before I pressed a single letter on my laptop. Not because I had been ill, but because I'd decided to expose all my feelings about what had happened. Was this a good idea? Family thought it was. But the voice in my head kept shouting: don't! Others agreed with me: it's an egotistical act, no one wants to read about your problems, get a grip, woman!
Then, one five o'clock morning, while I was daydreaming about the next chapter in my new novel - BTW, I have been attempting to finish it and a memoir since 2021 - a thought popped into my head: the fear and loathing I'd experienced about my cancer diagnosis had spilled over into how I felt about myself and that was why my feelings felt unmentionable. Yes, that was it! Result. Understanding. Move on.
It takes a long time to disentangle the jumble of emotions that slap you hard in the face when, after a lifetime of comparative health, an illness that might kill you fast looms large. Moaning about it is useless. Imparting facts to others is the way to make the event useful.
Facts can have an emotional edge and all the creative arts give you emotional permission to record the things you feel things in a new way; a way that makes you free from those toxic, messy and destructive thoughts that your illness is you. It is not.
I pressed the keys and wrote the first post. I might even finish the novel and the memoir now.

            A cancer diagnosis is like being hit by a bus. You hear the words: I’m afraid it’s not good news and you think, is she talking to me? No matter how gently the medics break it to you or how much empathy they splash about, the realisation that your body has let you down and is playing its own nasty little game, silently trying to kill you, those words are the start of an ongoing drama you never imagined would completely encompass your body, life and mind, even though you read somewhere that one in two people get cancer today.

            Cancer of the endometrium, or for the uninitiated, womb cancer was what my body served up at the MRI and CT scans. How could my womb do this to me? Inside its dark, cosy interior it had nurtured four healthy babies, been slashed open during a caesarean section, healed itself and taken me through the menopause without too much hullaballoo.  Now, it was harbouring an evil baby; a large cancerous polyp that had to be removed sharpish, along with all the other bits that made me female, otherwise it would consume the rest of me. 

            My youngest daughter, who had bravely accompanied me to the pre-op meeting with the surgeon, took it all in her stride. Her youth and optimism was comforting. You need someone like that when the dreaded words are spoken and you see, for the first time, the CT picture of the invasion of abnormal cells in there, out to get you. 

            Telling other people is not so easy. Cancer is a word no-one really wants to hear. Getting too close to someone who has it, might rub off. Is it really not catching?  Despite the advances in treatment, it still means a painful death to many. But if you catch it early, you can be cured, though the medics say you will be in remission, which makes you feel as if you’ve just come out of the confessional with your soul temporarily starched and white again until you commit the next sin.

            No one tells you that when half your innards are removed you will feel crazy and emotional, as well as hurting. You are told you won’t feel like doing very much and you will need to rest for six to eight weeks, but they don’t tell you about the chronic constipation, the visions that wake you in the wee small hours, where you see yourself on your deathbed with blood seeping out of every orifice, and the sense that you will never be the same again.  It takes a lot of self-love and support from family and friends to see you through.

            That said, who in their right mind can fault the NHS and the amazing care you will receive, before, during and after the operation or procedure as it is politely referred to. Those people are saints; skilled and compassionate, professional and knowledgeable, they put our mealy-mouthed politicians to shame. 

            Pay our doctors and nurses and all who work with them what they deserve, Rishi! Access to excellent healthcare is the right of every citizen. To achieve this you must   adequately reward the people who make us well, without quibbling or talking nonsense to them.  If one in two people will get cancer, our representatives in parliament should realise that they are dicing with their own deaths by making our amazing NHS jump through hoops. It’s the NHS that defines Britain as a great country, not the divisive national conservatism that appears to be taking hold. Be warned!

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia has turned the world upside down, polarising the understanding of good versus evil. President Putin has for years, subtly invaded the world with his ideas, his notion that authoritarianism is the only way to defeat democracy. But, he a slippery individual, well-versed in deception, lies and manipulation. It seems to me he has now pushed himself into a corner where only the continued deaths of his soldiers and the people of Ukraine can assuage his rabid psyche; one that was clearly skewed by his childhood and subsequent time in the KGB. Putin is a man who has lost his grip on reality and is encouraging other leaders to do the same. So, I ask why has the UK government allowed some of our newspapers to be sold to Russian Oligarchs? Isn’t this part of Putin’s plan to destroy democracy by using the media to brain-wash people into believing there is only one way to live; under a dictator? Why was Evgeny Lebedov allowed to part-own The Evening Standard? Why was his son given a Knighthood by the British government? Surely this was the start of the infiltration of our media? It doesn’t happen quickly, this taking over of the minds of a population. Was this part of Putin’s long term global plan to murder not just people but free speech and ultimately, democracy?

In my career, I made theatre and film. To record lives and experiences honestly and without any political persuasion was paramount. To reveal the truth in my work took time, research and introspection. I had to examine in detail my own beliefs and political perspective to make sure I could remain neutral when writing, while revealing the notions and traumas of my characters. A moral stance was, to me, important and necessary. However, showing the amoral or sometimes overtly wicked side to a story or a character was also part of that stance. Much of my work was tasked with raising awareness of social and health issues. Some of my work ruffled feathers, but it was allowed to be performed and illustrated in film and theatre. There was no census accept my own innate sense of what what was wrong and dangerous to put before an audience. Putin and all dictators in the past crave audiences where they can portray the worst of themselves and be applauded by their people for this. Politicians in their orbit lose their sense of moral direction, blurring the lines through fear or intimidation or the promise of the acquisition of money. Games are played, not just with the lives of men, women and children, but by twisting the thoughts of others in political power, making them believe that what is wrong in plain sight, is right.

The complexity of modern life is like a huge cauldron simmering on a fear-fed fire, stirred by the wooden spoon of the Internet, tasted and added to by today’s dictators and ultimately fed to the hapless citizens of any country standing too near the flames. Hungary is in this position as I write this on 1st April 2022. They have elections coming up soon. Listening to one of their leading politicians on the BBC, spotlighted how cleverly words can be turned to cover the truth, to evade clarity, to sit safely on the fence and to create a false sense of moral rightness. What does the word ‘friend’ mean, the man asked the interviewer, who wanted to know if the Prime Minister of Hungary was Putin’s friend. Apparently, according to him, the word ‘friend’ has a different meaning in the la la land of politics.

It is so easy to find your head full of muddled thoughts, for that is what authoritarianism means; persuading the people that wrong is right, friend means something other than ‘friend’ and morals are an old-fashioned concept best left to the church, although the church can be conscripted into this crazy thought maze at the drop of a hat.

President Zelensky has shown clarity, courage and leadership. He has seen the people of Ukraine butchered. He is telling it as it is, with political grace and an elegant understanding of the dangers he and the people are facing. He and the people of Ukraine deserve to be applauded, for all the right reasons.

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Writer and Director Lyn Ferrand – www.lynferrand.com – founded Turning Point Theatre Company in 1989. In 2000 she co-founded Buzzword Interactive Films and made award winning theatre and training film dramas.

Working in association with a variety of voluntary and statutory agencies over a period of 14 years she was commissioned to write and direct plays and films that looked at diverse health and social issues. She designed and ran training programmes using theatre and film. Clients included The Crown Prosecution Service, The Devon and Cornwall Police, Devon County Council, Lancashire County Council, the Scottish Mental Health Association, Women’s Aid, Rethink UK and Carers UK. Lyn worked with director and humanist Augusto Boal  She wrote forum theatre plays and worked as a forum theatre practitioner for many different clients in the field of health and social care. Her article about her work with carers is published in Contemporary Theatre Review: http://www.informaworld.com 

Lyn studied Theatre Arts at Dartington College and Law at The Open University.

Lyn’s film THE LOST CHILD has been described as  :  “An example of exceptionally effective learning”

The Lost Child training DVD was commissioned by Lancashire Social Services for the ACPC . It was written and directed by Lyn, produced by Mike Berenger and shot by Greg Browning.

The film was:

Highly Commended at The Community Care AwardsHighly Commended at the Cumbria and Lancashire SHA Achievement AwardsWinner of The National Training Awards North WestWinner of The Skills for Care Training Accolade and was awarded 4 stars in Community Care Magazine.

The Lost Child is currently being used nationally and internationally (University of Southern Australia) and has proved to be a very useful and innovative training resource.

“North Essex Partnership Foundation Trust is using the DVD The Lost Child as a component of its mandatory two day Safeguarding Children Training which is provided to all clinicians and practitioners working within NEPFT. The DVD is used as an interactive exercise within which professionals explore the impact of parental mental illness on the child and the knowledge of professionals working in different domains and agencies.
The response to the DVD – (which has been used as part of the mandatory training programme for over three years with more than 750 professionals) – has always been excellent. It enables professionals to consider the impact of mental illness on relationships, the position of the child and frequent absence of the child’s voice in adult mental health services. Following use of the DVD as an interactive exercise, professionals link the lessons learned into policy and procedure – for example the use of genograms in all assessments. The DVD is thus an essential component in translating theory regarding the impact of parental mental illness on children and families into practice”     Consultant, Safeguarding Children & Adults. North Essex Partnership Foundation Trust

COMMUNITY CARE MAGAZINE:

“I hope this DVD is an indicator of just how far on-a-shoestring, role play-reliant social care training has come. The fact that this is a DVD for one blows the cobwebs off the technophobe perception of top-loading VCRs, writes Graham Hopkins.

Back in the early 1990s, I remember having to use a video of Monty Python’s parrot sketch on my courses on social care complaints just to have a visual break. But it is the top-notch quality of this professional production that stands out. Happily, it is a quality that training resources – often themselves the neglected child of social care organisations – are increasingly now providing.

Bravely commissioned by Lancashire social services to explore child protection and parental mental illness, the 30-minute film for the most part convincingly traces the relationship between Alison (Anita Parry) a make-the-best-of-it mum and Nick ( Mike Berenger ) a mentally-ill study in smouldering tension.

It is seen in flashback through the eyes of their 16-year-old daughter, Tina (Frankie Waller), the acting star of the piece – despite her accent occasionally wandering up and down the M1. Her line, “I’m not a child – don’t think I’ve ever been a child,” is the film’s sound central message.”

Star Rating: 4/5

Lyn’s play Aggravated Trespass was commissioned by The Crown Prosecution Service and The Devon Racial Equality Council. It was presented to an audience of judges, magistrates and police at a major conference in the South West.

“A polished cast of actors delivered a telling script raising a number of highly pertinent issues around racism in rural communities. Peter Ellis (Chief Inspector Brownlow from ‘The Bill’) played a newly appointed JP who found himself hosting a ‘difficult’ dinner party where his student daughter introduced her black fiance and his barrister sister to two family friends whose attitudes to ethnic minorities were sadly all too familiar. The play required its audience to think carefully about how black people are received in the prosperous shires and how ‘liberal’ facades can so easily mask deeply irrational prejudices.”

You can read more about Lyn’s work here: www.lynferrand.com

Lyn is now a carer for her husband, makes the occasional short film and writes novels. Since 2014 she has published four books. 

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Six years ago, I began writing novels. It’s been a tough learning curve, but one I’ve enjoyed. There have been lots of hiccups and ups and downs in my personal life during the last five years. In 2016, I become a full-time carer for my husband. It’s ironic, as one of my most successful plays CARERS explored caring in depth.

Many early mornings and late nights allowed me to fit writing in when I could. Tearing hair out would be a good description of my feelings at certain moments during the past few years. Has it been worth it? Absolutely. My husband is making progress after his stroke and life is on a more even keel. I have been helped by a wonderful charity called Devon Carers. They have supported me with practical as well as emotional help. They have been a lifeline for me in my darkest moment.

  Writing has helped me cope with the rush of unexpected emotions any family trauma brings. One thing I learned was never to take anything for granted and always be thankful. Loving someone very much also helped, as did the support I received from my family and friends. I can’t thank them enough.

My last book is a sequel to my first novel PRETENDING. I wanted to explore the characters I’d created in more detail. The book has not turned out the way I expected. The characters took me on a journey that led me down lots of garden paths and round the bend at times. In the end, I capitulated and the novel was finished and is now can be purchased online or from publisher  Feedaread.com  I am now working on the  third  book in this trilogy – ACTING DEAD. Watch out for a publishing date later this year.

JONTY’S WIN is a quirky, humorous romance that looks at what happens when someone wins a vast amount of money on the lottery. Thanks for reading my blog.

Lyn Ferrand is the founder of Turning Point Theatre Company, Buzzword Films and most recently, Turnaround Films. She has written and directed film and theatre since 1990, working in association with a wide variety of voluntary and statutory agencies. In 2000 she launched Buzzword Interactive Films with Greg Browning. Buzzword and Turning Point Theatre won several awards for training films and theatre productions, including The National Training Awards.

Her film and theatre projects have been commissioned by many different clients in the voluntary and statutory sectors and used to highlight specific health and social issues, as well as for training healthcare professionals.

Awards: National Training Awards for the film THE LOST CHILD, The Skills For Care Accolades, Pavilion Innovations in Training and Prudential Carers Award. My work has been shortlisted for The Charity Awards and received four stars in Community Care Magazine.

Lyn was the Diversity Manager for DREC, creating diversity training for The Crown Prosecution Service and the Devon and Cornwall Police, including writing and producing the film NICE PEOPLE which looked at issues around rural racism.

Since 2015, Lyn has written three novels, published by Feedaread. Her books can also be found on Amazon.com and other online book outlets. Lyn is a member of The Writers’ Guild of Great Britain.

LYN FERRAND was the founder and director of registered charity Turning Point Theatre and Buzzword Interactive Films. Lyn trained at Dartington College of Arts and studied law at The Open University. Her work blazed a trail for other companies working today, using theatre to inform and raise awareness in the field of health and social care. Over fifteen years, Turning Point Theatre explored many themes, touring plays about mental health, carers, bereavement, domestic violence, and child protection. The work was an innovative and new concept at the time, engaging audiences using post-performance discussions and interactive forum theatre. Commissions came from UK organisations and as far away as Canada. 

She began making short film dramas in 2001, at the request of clients. She won awards for her work, including the National Training Award for her film The Lost Child. The film looked at the impact parental mental illness can have on a child. It is currently being used as a training resource across the UK and in Australia and can be accessed here: https://turnaroundfilms.vhx.tv/products/the-lost-child

See Lyn’s last film on Youtube: https://youtu.be/CUdGGfkbdrg   Working with a talented young filmmaker Jack Oliver, Lyn wrote and directed this short film for professional singer Alex Poulton in 2016. 

 

Lyn is married and has four adult children. She now writes novels, runs training workshops, makes the occasional film and is a carer for her husband. She recently took up a voluntary role as a Carers Ambassador.

BOOKS:

Front Cover

Character led story of love, loss & laughs 12 December 2018
A great read! Belly laughs, beautifully crafted characters – the good/bad/happy/sad – unexpected plot twists and a happy ending, for some at least.
View on Amazon.co.uk Add a comment and view this book’s reviews on Amazon.co.uk
2.
Very enjoyable read. 12 September 2018
It took me a short while to get involved with the story, but once there I found myself wondering about various characters and endevoured to find time to read a little more of their stories at every opportunity. Very sad in parts and with humour tinged with pathos. Each character and voice very different. I want to know more about them please. This would also make a great audio book.
View on Amazon.co.uk Add a comment. View this book’s reviews on Amazon.co.uk
3.
Wow, what a gripping book! 10 September 2018
If this is the quality of Lyn’s sequel I really can’t wait to read the next part to this story.
Lyn has the enviable skill to make the reader feel completely involved in each of the characters lives and in doing so gives the reader the possibility of a new perspective on their own life. Her writing style is individual and hugely engaging.
What an immensely talented author! Everybody should experience reading this book.
View on Amazon.co.uk Add a comment. View this book’s reviews on Amazon.co.uk
4.
A delight to read! 7 September 2018
Would you want to personally befriend or even know most of the characters in ‘Jonty’s Win’ if they really existed? Possibly not! But reading about them is another matter altogether. Lyn Ferrand has assembled a compelling cast of misfits, could-have-beens and never-weres, replete with all manner of very human weaknesses and foibles, to create an utterly compelling page-turner. It’s not often I read a book from start to finish…Read More
View on Amazon.co.uk Add a comment. View this book’s reviews on Amazon.co.uk
5.
THE MAN WHO THOUGHT HE WAS HAPPY
Great read thoughtful and gripping tale 14 December 2015
What a great page turner. Was lucky to read this on a long flight without any distractions. A totally self obsessed man living in a bubble of his own importance, unaware of what is going on in the lives of people he loves. The book takes you on a journey through his awakening into the world. Keeps you hanging and guessing all the way through, jump in and read it hope there is a lot more to come from this author.
View on Amazon.co.uk Add a comment View this book’s reviews on Amazon.co.uk
6.
THE MAN WHO THOUGHT HE WAS HAPPY
29 September 2015
Really enjoyed this book! The descriptions of places and people were wonderful, and the story line keeps you on your toes till the very end. Interesting to bring Italy into the story and mix it in.
Looking forward to her next book now.
View on Amazon.co.uk Add a comment. View this book’s reviews on Amazon.co.uk
7.
The writing is pacy and at times poetic but never boring. An engrossing read 10 August 2015
Couldn’t put it down. Got straight into it, right from the start. The struggle the main character has to make sense of his life, rang a few bells for me, as a mere man! The writing is pacy and at times poetic but never boring. An engrossing read, full of surprises.
View on Amazon.co.uk Add a comment View this book’s reviews on Amazon.co.uk
8.
RURAL CUT
Really enjoyed reading about the situation the characters were in. 7 October 2014
Really enjoyed this Book. Interesting ending.
View on Amazon.co.uk Add a comment. View this book’s reviews on Amazon.co.uk
9.
RURAL CUT
5 July 2014
Although Lyn Ferrand’s latest book Rural Cut like her first book is set in the West Country the subject matter couldn’t be more different. We find ourselves drawn into the lives of a couple of elderly people who made the understandable but rather foolish decision to sell up and leave behind familiar surroundings and friends in the hope of finding the ideal setting (in a gated community) for their retirement. What they didn’t…Read More
View on Amazon.co.uk Add a comment View this book’s reviews on Amazon.co.uk
10.
PRETENDING
16 September 2012
A fast paced novel that’s easy to read and difficult to put down. The characters are so wonderfully interesting and intriguing that whether or not you actually like their personalities, you can’t help loving them anyway! Great writing makes the chops and changes in location, character and sometimes time very easy to follow and enjoyable to read. Would recommend this book to anyone – particularly if you are from or have ever…Read More
View on Amazon.co.uk Add a comment. View this book’s reviews on Amazon.co.uk
11.
Great book by first time author 22 August 2012
Really enjoyed this book. Interesting characters – love them or hate them, most of them utterly selfish. Great insight into the life of actors and the theatre. I thoroughly recommend this book.
View on Amazon.co.uk Add a comment. View this book’s reviews on Amazon.co.uk
12.
Interesting and entertaining story 21 August 2012
Pretending was an interesting and entertaining story about a group of actors who travel around with a director who has her own issues to face, like racism. I found it interesting as had not much idea of how these travelling groups work and the conditions they have to put up with. The story had lots of small interesting twists, though I did sometimes get lost with the numbers of extra characters which sometimes appeared for a…Read More
View this book’s reviews on Amazon.co.uk

Thank you to my lovely readers for taking time to write these reviews!

Shuntuncider reviewed JONTY’S WIN

[image error]

Front Cover

Character led story of love, loss & laughs 12 December 2018

A great read! Belly laughs, beautifully crafted characters – the good/bad/happy/sad – unexpected plot twists and a happy ending, for some at least.

View on Amazon.co.uk Add a comment View this book’s reviews on Amazon.co.uk

2.

Christine Charlesworth reviewed JONTY’S WIN

Very enjoyable read. 12 September 2018

It took me a short while to get involved with the story, but once there I found myself wondering about various characters and endevoured to find time to read a little more of their stories at every opportunity. Very sad in parts and with humour tinged with pathos. Each character and voice very different. I want to know more about them please. This would also make a great audio book.

View on Amazon.co.uk Add a comment View this book’s reviews on Amazon.co.uk

3.

Amazon Customer reviewed JONTY’S WIN

Wow, what a gripping book! 10 September 2018

If this is the quality of Lyn’s sequel I really can’t wait to read the next part to this story.

Lyn has the enviable skill to make the reader feel completely involved in each of the characters lives and in doing so gives the reader the possibility of a new perspective on their own life. Her writing style is individual and hugely engaging.

What an immensely talented author! Everybody should experience reading this book.

View on Amazon.co.uk Add a comment View this book’s reviews on Amazon.co.uk

4.

Chris Bailey reviewed JONTY’S WIN

1 of 1 people found the following helpful

A delight to read! 7 September 2018

Would you want to personally befriend or even know most of the characters in ‘Jonty’s Win’ if they really existed? Possibly not! But reading about them is another matter altogether. Lyn Ferrand has assembled a compelling cast of misfits, could-have-beens and never-weres, replete with all manner of very human weaknesses and foibles, to create an utterly compelling page-turner. It’s not often I read a book from start to finish…Read More

View on Amazon.co.uk Add a comment View this book’s reviews on Amazon.co.uk

5.

Wooders 58 reviewed THE MAN WHO THOUGHT HE WAS HAPPY[image error]

Great read thoughtful and gripping tale 14 December 2015

What a great page turner. Was lucky to read this on a long flight without any distractions. A totally self obsessed man living in a bubble of his own importance, unaware of what is going on in the lives of people he loves. The book takes you on a journey through his awakening into the world. Keeps you hanging and guessing all the way through, jump in and read it hope there is a lot more to come from this author.

View on Amazon.co.uk Add a comment View this book’s reviews on Amazon.co.uk

6.

Chris reviewed THE MAN WHO THOUGHT HE WAS HAPPY

Best of lyn ferrand’s books so far ! 29 September 2015

Really enjoyed this book! The descriptions of places and people were wonderful, and the story line keeps you on your toes till the very end. Interesting to bring Italy into the story and mix it in.

Looking forward to her next book now.

View on Amazon.co.uk Add a comment View this book’s reviews on Amazon.co.uk

7.

Amazon reader reviewed THE MAN WHO THOUGHT HE WAS HAPPY

The writing is pacy and at times poetic but never boring. An engrossing read 10 August 2015

Couldn’t put it down. Got straight into it, right from the start. The struggle the main character has to make sense of his life, rang a few bells for me, as a mere man! The writing is pacy and at times poetic but never boring. An engrossing read, full of surprises.

View on Amazon.co.uk Add a comment View this book’s reviews on Amazon.co.uk

8.

[image error]Chris reviewed RURAL CUT

Really enjoyed reading about the situation the characters were in. 7 October 2014

Really enjoyed this Book. Interesting ending.

View on Amazon.co.uk Add a comment View this book’s reviews on Amazon.co.uk

9.

Rita reviewed RURAL CUT

5 July 2014

Although Lyn Ferrand’s latest book Rural Cut like her first book is set in the West Country the subject matter couldn’t be more different. We find ourselves drawn into the lives of a couple of elderly people who made the understandable but rather foolish decision to sell up and leave behind familiar surroundings and friends in the hope of finding the ideal setting (in a gated community) for their retirement. What they didn’t…Read More

View on Amazon.co.uk Add a comment View this book’s reviews on Amazon.co.uk

10.

Emma reviewed Pretending[image error]

1 of 1 people found the following helpful

Pretending by Lyn Ferrand 16 September 2012

A fast paced novel that’s easy to read and difficult to put down. The characters are so wonderfully interesting and intriguing that whether or not you actually like their personalities, you can’t help loving them anyway! Great writing makes the chops and changes in location, character and sometimes time very easy to follow and enjoyable to read. Would recommend this book to anyone – particularly if you are from or have ever…Read More

View on Amazon.co.uk Add a comment View this book’s reviews on Amazon.co.uk

11.

Rita reviewed Pretending

1 of 1 people found the following helpful

Great book by first time author 22 August 2012

Really enjoyed this book. Interesting characters – love them or hate them, most of them utterly selfish. Great insight into the life of actors and the theatre. I thoroughly recommend this book.

View on Amazon.co.uk Add a comment View this book’s reviews on Amazon.co.uk

12.

Chris reviewed PRETENDING

1 of 1 people found the following helpful

Interesting and entertaining story 21 August 2012

Pretending was an interesting and entertaining story about a group of actors who travel around with a director who has her own issues to face, like racism. I found it interesting as had not much idea of how these travelling groups work and the conditions they have to put up with. The story had lots of small interesting twists, though I did sometimes get lost with the numbers of extra characters which sometimes appeared for a…Read More

View on Amazon.co.uk Add a comment View this book’s reviews on Amazon.co.uk

 

NEWS!  THE LOST CHILD film is now available to stream through VHX. Just click here: https://turnaroundfilms.vhx.tv/products/the-lost-child

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This is what our latest client says about the film:

‘I have been using the Lost Child as a film for students in my postgraduate social work subject on working with children and families (around 70 students). I explain that it is an excellent film that centres the voice and effects of complex family issues on children. There are some students that can’t attend class and streaming it would enable us to use it online.’  Dr Carole Zufferey, Senior Lecturer, School of Psychology, Social Work and Socal Policy, Magill Campus, Magill, Australia.

Turning Point Theatre Company and Buzzword Interactive Films created training programmes for a variety of voluntary and statutory agencies, from the nineties through to 2013. The subjects covered included the work done by informal carers; that is, people who look after a friend or relative at home, health matters, such as ageing, osteoarthritis, mental health, in particular Schizophrenia and child protection, looking at children who grow up in a family where there is parental mental illness.

[image error]All the work the two companies carried out, appear as relevant today as they were then, particularly the project commissioned by Lancashire Social Services: THE LOST CHILD. The film was the outcome of a series of day-long workshops for professionals, working in the field of child protection, using forum theatre to explore the issues and a performance of an interactive forum theatre play.

The success of the project meant that the company was commissioned to make the film to give the project a shelf-life and it is still being used today, both here in the UK at a universities in Australia. The film was designed with a menu, so that trainers could stop the action at certain point, to enable audiences to discuss the problems depicted in the drama. THE LOST CHILD went on to win a raft of awards, including The National Training Awards.

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The Lost Child

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KEEPING MILLY HAPPY is a short film that looks at how elderly patients can so easily deteriorate if they do not receive appropriate care for osteoarthritis. This film was commissioned by Devon County Council and is still in use in various hospitals and care centres around the UK.

Another successful film produced by Buzzword was NICE PEOPLE. This was commissioned as a training resource for the Devon and Cornwall police, and to raise awareness in the county on rural racism. [image error]The film was used as the basis of a series of training workshops run by Lyn Ferrand and her company, designed specifically for police officers. The film was part of this training programme.

Lyn Ferrand, the writer and director of all these innovative projects has now retired. Thank you to all the talented and wonderful actors, cinematographers, crew and everyone else involved in the making of these films and the original projects.

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Lyn is now a carer for her partner and writes novels. These can be accessed online at:

www.feedaread.com

Amazon.co.uk

Waterstones.com

RURAL CUT: This book explores how financial greed and the repercussions of indiscriminate development can ruin lives and change rural places for ever.


JONTY”S WIN: Can money alone mend the loneliness, austerity, damaged relationships and homelessness that the protagonist Jonty Greer unwittingly uncovers? Will Jonty’s money make him a better person? Or will he and the people it attracts, remain the same?
Jonty’s Win is a sequel to Lyn Ferrand’s first novel Pretending.
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[image error]PRETENDING

The story of six actors and a director convinced that theatre will change the world. Events change everyone, though strangely, pretending prevails…

THE MAN WHO THOUGHT HE WAS HAPPY

Jake Adams discovers that family scripts run parallel, each new generation caught up in an involuntary mimicking of past lives and times and in his obsessive compulsion to find Emma, he is forced to see that what really matters is how, in the moment, we connect.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[image error]Turning Point Theatre Company and Buzzword Films created training programmes for a variety of voluntary and statutory agencies, from the nineties through to 2013. The subjects covered included the work done by informal carers; that is, people who look after a friend or relative at home, health matters, such as ageing, osteoarthritis, mental health, in particlular Schizophrenia and child protection, looking at children who grow up in a family where there is parental mental illness.

[image error]All the work the two companies carried out, appear as relevant today as they were then, particluarly the project commissioned by Lancashire Social Services: THE LOST CHILD. The film was the outcome of a series of day-long workshops for professionals, working in the field of child protection, using forum theatre to explore the issues and a performance of an interactive forum theatre play.

The success of the project meant that the company was commissioned to make the film to give the project a shelf-life and it is still being used today, both here in the UK at a universities in Australia. The film was designed with a menu, so that trainers could stop the action at certain point, to enable audiences to discuss the problems depicted in the drama. THE LOST CHILD went on to win a raft of awards, including The National Training Awards.

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The Lost Child

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KEEPING MILLY HAPPY is a short film that looks at how elderly patients can so easily deteriorate if they do not receive appropriate care for osteoathritus. This film was commissioned by Devon County Council and is still in use in various hospitals and care centres around the UK.

Another successful film produced by Buzzword was NICE PEOPLE. This was commissioned as a training resource for the Devon and Cornwall police, and to raise awareness in the county on rural racism. [image error]The film was used as the basis of a series of training workshops run by Lyn Ferrand and her company, designed specifically for police officers. The film was part of this training programme.

Lyn Ferrand, the writer and director of all these innovative projects has now retired. Thank you to all the talented and wonderful actors, cinematographers, crew and everyone else involved in the making of these films and the original projects.

More photos:

Lyn is now a carer for her partner and writes novels. These can be accessed online at:

www.feedaread.com

Amazon.co.uk

Waterstones.com

RURAL CUT: This book explores how financial greed and the repercussions of indiscriminate development can ruin lives and change rural places for ever.


JONTY”S WIN: Can money alone mend the loneliness, austerity, damaged relationships and homelessness that the protagonist Jonty Greer unwittingly uncovers? Will Jonty’s money make him a better person? Or will he and the people it attracts, remain the same?
Jonty’s Win is a sequel to Lyn Ferrand’s first novel Pretending.
[image error]

[image error] 

[image error]PRETENDING

The story of six actors and a director convinced that theatre will change the world. Events change everyone, though strangely, pretending prevails…

THE MAN WHO THOUGHT HE WAS HAPPY

Jake Adams discovers that family scripts run parallel, each new generation caught up in an involuntary mimicking of past lives and times and in his obsessive compulsion to find Emma, he is forced to see that what really matters is how, in the moment, we connect.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[image error]Jonty’s Win by Lyn Ferrand is a funny, at times sad, thoughtful book about what happens when you become filthy rich overnight. It’s what we all want, isn’t it? Buy at www.feedaread.com  at Waterstones https://www.waterstones.com/author/lyn-ferrand/753084  at Barnes&Noble  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/jontys-win-lyn-ferrand/1128890017?ean=9781788763516

 

Download on AMAZON KINDLE NOW for just £2.00!  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jontys-Win-Lyn-Ferrand-ebook/dp/B07FMD8CCF/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1532856195&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=Jonty%27s+Win+by+Lyn+Ferrand+on+Kindle

[image error]Jonty Greer is an irresistible, impoverished jobbing actor catapulted into the fraught mindset of a rich man by a lottery win. Certain that money can deliver happiness and change, he strives to give his fortune a social conscience by funding what he views as life-changing theatre workshops, initially to the young people of a small English seaside town. [image error]As insecure as he was ten years ago when he worked for The People Train Community Theatre, he summons support from his old acting buddies, Edward D’Amato and Caroline Fenton, persuading them to join him on his altruistic quest to heal and inspire the disenfranchised youth of the town and possibly, the whole world. Jonty is unprepared for the demands a vast amount of money put on him and the people around him, including the local council, the women in his life and an abused child attending the workshops. [image error]Can money alone mend the loneliness, austerity, damaged relationships and homelessness that he unwittingly uncovers? Will Jonty’s win make him a better person? Or will he and the people his money attracts, remain the same? Jonty’s Win is a sequel to Lyn Ferrand’s first novel Pretending.

This is the second book in the Jonty series. Look out for the next one, coming soon! Enjoy!

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