An appreciation
Whenever a CD arrived, in a very recycled envelope with a Hertford postmark, I always knew there would be no shortage of photos for the next issue of the Voices insert in Camphill Pages.
The CD would be from Richard Woolrych and would contain presentations of photographs taken and voice recordings made by members of Camphill communities. Richard always made sure I had all the photographs available, so the CD might contain hundreds!
Richard passed away on 23 July this year but his work since 2001 with the Camphill Families & Friends advocacy project, then ACT – Advocacy, Consultancy and Training, and more recently in concentrating on Photovoice, helped many people in Camphill communities find a new voice and new ways of expressing themselves.
A social worker who had previously worked in Oldham and Hertfordshire, and in community development in Salford, Richard became involved with Camphill through the Families & Friends Advocacy Project launched in 2001. His role was to provide advice and support for individuals, families and communities, including helping Camphill residents and potential residents, and their parents, negotiate with local authorities on placements and funding.
Richard had been helping disadvantaged people to use photography as a way of expressing themselves for more than 20 years, and he brought the idea of Photovoice to Camphill. Soon, with Richard’s help, one young man who wanted to live at Newton Dee persuaded a reluctant social services department at a case review meeting by presenting photographs he’d taken at the community and at places they’d preferred.
Then photographs taken by Camphill community members in Photovoice workshops with Richard became the basis for a series of local ‘Getting Together’ conferences. The photographs helped residents from different communities to exchange views and ideas on community living. A national conference at Oxford in 2003 was followed by others at Grange in 2004, Milton Keynes in 2006, Ludlow in 2007 and Derbyshire in 2008.
Richard was involved in all of these, often to be found in a corner or side room, with camera, laptop and microphone, recording what the conference participants wanted to say about their pictures.
Richard helped many people to speak with pictures including assisting community residents to express how they wanted their communities to develop. He also guided residents at Newton Dee in creating a Photovoice presentation expressing their opposition to a road plan which would have disrupted their lives.
Richard’s invaluable legacy to Camphill can be seen in the way that our community members are now better able to express themselves and make their voices heard – often in photos.
Richard suffered from pulmonary fibrosis in the year before his death. His funeral was on 9 August at the Epping Forest woodland burial park.
Sandy Cox