CHRISTMAS 2010
It would be somewhat ambiguous to suggest we have had a good year but we have certainly had good moments.
The overwhelming and extremely difficult thoughts in our minds have been regarding Luke's Inquest. I am not going to dwell on this except to say that our four year wait has been acknowledged as too long and too painful. We took part in a radio documentary that is still on i player about delayed inquests, with interviewer, John Waite. It seems the Coroner heeded this and brought his verdict date forward.
During listening to the evidence our Barrister turned to us and said "I don't know how you can bear to hear this?" It was exceptionally difficult to hear about the mistakes that were made in Luke's care and the inefficiency of passing on information. We now have a Rule 43 letter and the Lord Chancellor knows of Luke's case so that lessons can be learnt. Changes are now being made in hospital training enabling nursing staff to have more knowledge about the care of patients with mental health problems. The Coroner said he never wanted to hear of such a tragedy in his jurisdiction again. We feel we have been properly heard and we are now taking all this to the next stage.
It has been delightful to see the second Luke Bitmead Bursary winner Ruth Dugdall and her book The Woman Before Me being so well received and enjoyed by many. A psychological thriller that is a gripping read. She has been a great ambassador for Luke's Bursary and we are looking forward to continuing to work with her next year.
A huge thank you to everyone who continues to support Luke's Fund both with donations and encouraging messages and if you haven't yet donated this year we would be delighted to hear from you as we are running a bit late and this means our third bursary winner will be announced on 20th January 2011 in London.
We continue to be exceedingly appreciative of Tom Chalmers of Legend Press who with Lucy and Lauren does an enormous amount of work guiding Tiffany and I so that we choose the most publishable entry. Zoe Jenny and Sam Mills bring their invaluable experience as successful writers themselves to our judging panel and we feel tremendously fortunate to have their opinions.
It wasn't possible to take a holiday this year because of the inquest but we both feel extremely relieved that our exhausting fight to make sure Luke's case was heard has been successful. Hopefully our desire to change peoples' attitude to mental health problems is beginning to take effect.
The positive memory I shall hold from 2010 is of the wonderful, generous spirited people I have met because of Luke's death. There are some incredibly special moments that I hold in my heart - the beautiful bunch of flowers left at my front door with a message on my mobile telling me they were there. The fabulous bouquet that arrived on the 4th anniversary of Luke's death - the man delivering them was there to greet me as I came back from taking flowers to Luke's grave. The perfect moment to know others were remembering Luke as well. And two fabulous concerts that lifted our spirits remembering how brilliantly Luke played the drums.
As it says on Luke's grave stone "To live in the hearts of those we love is not to die." He certainly lives on in many people's hearts and as his Mother this means so much to me and energises me to continue the work that he has left me to do.
We wish you all a very happy Christmas and certainly for 2011 I hope we will all discover more of what really matters in life enabling us to share joy with those we love and the certainty of the knowledge that we are loved in return.
Elaine Hanson
Donations
By cheque payable to The Luke Bitmead Memorial Fund to:
The Luke Bitmead Memorial Fund
C/o The Hanson Partnership LLP
Suite A Unit 16 Cirencester Office Park
Tetbury Road
Cirencester
Glos
GL7 6JJ
Or pay by BACS/Internet transfer to:
The Luke Bitmead Memorial Fund
Account number 71543547
Sort code 40-05-26
Many thanks
27 October 2010
We remember our much loved son on the fourth anniversary of his death.
We remember a fantastic Neil Diamond concert that we went to with Luke and as we listened to Neil on television last night singing "I'm a believer" we remember the dynamic personality that Luke had, and how we danced that night and laughed when we were all together.
The joy of Luke will always be with us.
Thank you to everyone who remembers him and supports his Memorial Fund.
We have achieved a great step forward in our quest to raise awareness of mental health problems and we will explain further in due course.
In the meantime the judging for the winner of The Luke Bitmead Memorial Fund Writers Bursary continues..
Chris & Elaine Hanson
27 October 2010
We have noticed that there have been comments in the press that "NHS not responsible for death of Oxford author." The coroner was at pains to point out on a number of occasions during the inquest that the purpose of an inquest was not to apportion blame. He was very clear as to the limits of an inquest. Also the coroner recorded that, "Luke Bitmead took his own life whilst suffering from depression".
The Coroner handed down a fifteen page document in which he gave his decision and reasons. Clearly he had spent much time and consideration to produce this document for us Luke's family and we in turn need time to assimilate all that he has said. There is clearly more to say and do, but we do not wish to act or respond hastily. We did however feel it necessary to point out what has been reported by the press that might be misleading.
THE CORONER'S VERDICT FOR LUKE BITMEAD
As you know we had been told by the Coroner that he would be giving his verdict in October but this date has now been brought forward to 10th September 2010 at about 2pm.
We will hope for a narrative verdict as we feel that would seem to be the only fair one for Luke and will help us to have some feeling of justice. Nothing will bring Luke back to us but for it to be clearly understood that the lack of treatment for his psychological pain, only one hour during the sixty hours he spent in hospital was, we believe, at the root of him ending his life. Treatment for a patient's psychological state, particularly when they have just attempted suicide, MUST be recognised as being as important as treatment for their physical state.
The evidence that we heard during the five days of Luke's Inquest, we believe, confirmed this.
We thank you all for your continued support.
Elaine & Chris Hanson
The winner of the Luke Bitmead Writer's Bursary
The Woman Before Me by Ruth Dugdall
Thursday, launch night was special in that it showed us very clearly how our tragedy can bring an opportunity to show generosity of Spirit to others, enabling us to feel valued in return. Ruth and I met early on in the loo, completely by chance!! It was a moment to reconnect before the evening got under way. Ruth was full of a mixture of emotions, excitement and anxiety. For me it was delightful to know how much it meant to Ruth and that we had provided a stepping stone to enable her exceptional book to at last reach the shelves of book stores or be purchased over the internet.
It was a relief to notice she still had both ears! And her hair was looking good. [REMEMBER HER TRIP TO THE HAIR DRESSERS.]
Ruth had arrived with four generations of her family. From Grandparents to her daughter and five year old son, they were all there to celebrate her success. Ruth had started to write The Woman Before Me when she was in hospital after the birth of her son. Perhaps knowing this will help you to understand how committed she is to being a writer. Speaking personally, after childbirth it took all my energy to look after my new baby and try and get enough sleep so I would manage when I got home. Doing anything creative would have been on the back burner. Not so with Ruth.
Tom gave a short speech introducing Ruth who then delivered an extremely moving thank you, explaining the connection between us as her book is about the death of a baby called Luke and our memorial fund was set up because of the tragic loss of my baby called Luke. Yes he was thirty four but the loss of a child is difficult to come to terms with however old that child was. My eyes filled with tears as I listened to her compassionate words and I could see hers filling as well. And yet in that moment I believe we saw each other clearly. Two Mothers understanding pain but not afraid to take that pain forward to create something unique. As I have said before it is amazing how people are coming into our lives that we quickly feel a connection with. Ruth wrote her book a year before my son died. I am fascinated by the mysteries of the mind, the continuation of life after death and the influence of our past life experiences on our present behaviour.
Ruth said to me later, she now feels she carries the mantel of The Luke Bitmead Memorial Fund for a year and she will pass it on to our next winner with pride when her year comes to an end. We feel it is remarkable how energy keeps spiralling in from different directions to encourage us to continue our quest to motivate and support creative people who do so much to give all our lives more depth and meaning.
"Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams, who looks inside, awakens."
Carl Jung
Celebration time!
As you all know we have been dealing with difficult things and it is time to remember the energy of Luke that left us an amazing legacy that enabled us to create The Luke Bitmead Bursary. This week on Thursday 26 August 2010 we are tremendously proud to be launching our second bursary winner's novel The Woman Before Me written by Ruth Dugdall.
Without Tom Chalmers of Legend Press none of this would have been possible. Today he said "When we began the Bursary there was an aspect of a brave step into the unknown. and therefore we are absolutely delighted that through it we have discovered two novels of such brilliance as ON THE HOLLOWAY ROAD by Andrew Blackman and THE WOMAN BEFORE ME by Ruth Dugdall. We are incredibly excited about the launch of Ruth's novel and believe it will herald the start of something very special for her as an author - it's a fantastic read and one we expect to prove a huge success - Order Now!"
The Woman Before Me is a psychological thriller set in coastal Suffolk.
It is about Rose Wilks, whose life is shattered when her newborn baby Joel is admitted to intensive care. Alongside her in hospital is Emma, who has just given birth to Luke and the two women become friends. Luke dies and Joel is thriving - then tragedy strikes and Rose is the only suspect.
The novel starts with Rose having spent five years behind bars. She is just weeks away from release if she can convince probation officer Cate Austin to recommend parole.
As Cate is drawn into Rose's story she begins to question everything she thought she knew about justice, love and obsession.
I asked Ruth today how she felt anticipating Thursday
"Well, I know I'm not calm. At the hairdressers I was talking about the launch party and my hairdresser had to tell me to shut up, as my head was moving around so much she thought she'd cut my ear off! I'm excited and also emotional, as I'm about to arrive at a destination that for many years felt mythical.
I'm also grateful. To you, Elaine, most of all. Without your generosity in setting up the Bursary this would never have happened."
We feel privileged to have found such an empathic and talented writer who is enabling us to continue to remember Luke with positivity.
LUKE'S INQUEST - ADJOURNED UNTIL OCTOBER
Never underestimate the power of collective intent.
PLEASE LOOK AT THE NEW DONATIONS PAGE
My feeling was that telling the story about Luke's Inquest a little at a time would be a calm way to manage a deeply upsetting time. What I had not been prepared for was the media interest that followed the Inquest. That rather took me by surprise. It has however proved to be a cathartic time and one when we really valued the professionalism and compassion of the press. No time however to write anything here but hopefully you have found other sources that have kept you informed and thank you so much for staying with us.
Face the Facts the programme researching why inquests sometimes take so long, gave us an introduction to being interviewed and also treated with respect for our grief over the loss of Luke.
Julian Sturdy, the producer set things up explaining how it would all unfold and he and John Waite, he of the mellifluous voice, came and interviewed both me and Chris at home. We had all Luke's photographs, drum sticks and books on display so they could get a feel of the person we were talking about. I then did another short piece after the Inquest. This time outside with traffic around. There I was in full flow when the most enormous transporter hove into view and completely drowned both me and John out. We started again this time it was a growly motor bike! We could only laugh and it made me think of Luke. He would have thought it all hilarious and probably said "third time lucky guys" and so it was.
As for the Inquest - we heard what seemed like a huge amount of evidence. Eighteen witnesses gave verbal evidence and given that much of it impacted on us in an emotional way we felt exhausted at the end of every day. In fact Chris and I went to bed about 9pm every night and were then wide awake about 2am going through what we had heard. There were thirty-one witnesses in total.
It was upsetting to hear witnesses say "I can't remember it was so long ago." One person did this many times and seemed to be unconcerned that she couldn't remember. That was painful to watch and hear. You can read so much from body language!
Other witnesses clearly showed how much they cared about what had happened to Luke and it felt as if they shared in our anger that mistakes had been made that left them feeling let down as well. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
It was a relief to have daughter, son-in-law and two little granddaughters with us on Wednesday and Thursday. Children demonstrate beautifully how life goes on and spending time with them helped give us the emotional energy to keep listening attentively.
Now, as you know, we are adjourned until October for the Coroner's summing up and verdict. He has asked for submissions from all Counsel by 9th August with an extension for two of them until 16th August due to holidays. This is because he wants to have the opportunity to deliberate on the evidence while it is fresh in his mind. We hope and pray he will give a narrative verdict. Perhaps all of you caring people joining us in that hope will allow it to happen.
The book Tuesdays With Morrie written by Mitch Albom has many important messages in it. Here is one of them that I know Luke would have connected with.
"My visits with Morrie felt like a cleansing rinse of human kindness. We talked about life and we talked about love. We talked about one of Morrie's favourite subject's compassion, and why our society had such a shortage of it. Devote yourself to loving others; devote yourself to your community around you in a way that creates something that gives your life purpose and meaning. "You notice" he added grinning," there's nothing in there about a salary."
Since Luke's death we have been shown amazing compassion, sometimes from people we hardly know. It has been so empowering to know how much people care and linking with like minded people will enable us all to have a more meaningful experience of life.
More to follow soon.
You have all been truly magnificent in your ability to make sure we knew we had a huge amount of support, helping to maintain our emotional strength, during the five days of Luke's Inquest. That support came in many different ways. Flowers, cards, letters, email messages and our neighbour who kept our garden watered. And very importantly all the visitors to Luke's website. It was so good to know we were not alone. We could feel you there with us.
The Coroner and his Clerk treated us with kindness and compassion. The Coroner read my witness statement for me and none of the legal representatives wanted to question me. I wanted to add to my statement so I was sworn in and took the stand. I asked "why was it that as Luke was admitted to hospital having tried to commit suicide by taking an overdose that during the sixty hours he was in the Great Western Hospital there was only about one hour when his mental health was focused on?" That question remains unanswered. Did nobody think it was important to discover with clarity what had driven Luke to want to destroy himself?
You may have been aware that the press have been a great help in enabling Luke's story to be known and we are extremely grateful for that. If you Google "Luke Bitmead Inquest" you can read some of the reports.
Luke's Inquest
The time of waiting is coming to an end. Advancing towards the Inquest for Luke inevitably stirs painful memories of the most devastating time of our lives. We keep reassessing everything that happened three years and nine months ago and discuss what we could have done differently. What would have made the difference for Luke to feel sufficiently supported to continue with his life?
We are also focusing on how his medical treatment could have been conducted in a way that may have achieved a positive result instead of this appalling tragedy. Perhaps the Inquest will give us some answers?
We are so grateful to have connected with many compassionate people who have helped us feel supported at this time. True empathy from people we hardly know and one we don't know at all!! Our anonymous donor has sent a beautiful, thoughtful letter that we have found very encouraging. This person fears being intrusive in our grief but let me assure you it is messages like this that help sustain our energy during a time that is sometimes emotionally draining.
Friday 16th July we were interviewed by BBC Radio 4 for a programme that will be broadcast later in August. We will be interviewed again after the Inquest. More news will follow in due course. It felt cathartic to be able to talk about Luke in an atmosphere of gentleness whilst being asked some searching questions. It is good to spend time with people who really care and are endeavouring to make a difference to the way society manages bereavement.
Thursday 19th August the long awaited launch of Ruth Dugdall's book The Woman Before Me will give us an opportunity to remember Luke with positivity. Ruth is not only an extremely talented writer but a kind and sensitive woman. She delayed the launch of her book until after the Inquest so we will have our traumatic time behind us and will be able to join whole heartedly her celebratory night. We value her generosity in doing this enormously.
We will be staying in Trowbridge for the week of the Inquest but will pick up emails on our return. May I ask all of you who have given us such brilliant support to visit Luke's website and send us positive thoughts during that week. If you could introduce one other person to Luke's books and his story that will really help to increase the growth of his Fund and the opportunity to change people's attitude to mental health issues.
We send our heartfelt thanks to our wonderful growing family of supporters who have helped us maintain our strength during a time of much anxiety.
Elaine and Christopher Hanson
13th MAY 2010 LUKE'S BIRTHDAY.
Today we are proud to announce the 3rd LUKE BITMEAD WRITER'S BURSARY in memory of our much loved son and brother. It is brilliant to know we have already helped two exceptional writers to get their talent acknowledged and their books published.
2008 Andrew Blackman won with his well received book ON THE HOLLOWAY ROAD.
2009 Ruth Dugdall was our winner with her amazing book THE WOMAN BEFORE ME. We are greatly looking forward to the launch in August 2010. Ruth generously delayed the launch date until after the inquest for Luke so we could be there.
Now we open the opportunity for a flock of fledgling writers to submit their work to Legend Press. Today begins another exciting voyage of discovery to enable fresh talent to be given the opportunity to be acknowledged by the literary world.
Please look at www.legendpress.co.uk for all the details as to how to enter, giving yourself the opportunity of a publishing deal and a prize of £2,500 plus runner up prizes. Everyone will be invited to a celebration night when prizes will be awarded in October. We hope this will inspire talented writers who are as yet unpublished, to believe in themselves and have the courage to allow their work to be professionally assessed by the excellent team at Legend Press. It is thanks to the continued support from Tom Chalmers at Legend Press that we are able to offer this award.
Remember " Confidence comes not from always being right but from not fearing to be wrong."
We wish you all inspired creativity in your writing and good luck.
--o--
For some time I have felt as if I was standing at the opening of a long dark tunnel unsure whether I really wanted to go down it. Now we have the date for the full Inquest for Luke and there will be no turning back.
The Inquest for Luke will start on Monday 26th July 2010 in Trowbridge and will last for four or five days. Anyone wishing to attend is free to do so and we would be pleased to have your support. Mental health and self esteem are essential for all of us to lead creative, productive lives. Knowing we are supported by family and friends helps enormously to give us the confidence to cross into unfamiliar territory. Instead of blaming others perhaps we can all take some responsibility for the fractured society that we live in and discover together how to increase the opportunity for healing.
A clearer understanding of Luke's untimely death will be, we hope, illuminating for the people caring professions bringing clarity to their work.
Luke often found the words of Jonathan Cainer thought provoking. I read this by him in 2008 and found it helpful. I would like to share it with you.
'If you have tried everything that you know how to do, maybe it is time to try something that you don't know how to do. You may need to step outside your comfort zone. This will only prove stressful if you fear failure. Sometimes, though, life obliges us to embark on an education. It doesn't let us rest on our laurels. At such times, we don't really have much of a choice. If we try to hang on to the status quo, it will simply slip even further from our grasp. Our only hope is an open mind……………………and an open heart won't go amiss either.'
As we move closer towards the Inquest I am well outside my comfort zone but I also have a strong belief that we will create something positive in Luke's memory and there can be no better way of showing our love and respect for him.
PRE INQUEST HEARING
It was an anxious time waiting for the Pre Inquest Hearing and we were helped enormously by your encouraging messages and kind words. Hope is important for us all and you gave us hope by knowing we had your support.
The Coroner treated us with compassion and respect asking how we would like Luke to be addressed as Luke or Mr. Bitmead. We had no hesitation in saying "Luke." We know that is what he would have wanted. The Coroner also apologised for the delay and explained why this had happened. It seemed a bit surreal sitting opposite what seemed like an army of solicitors and a barrister, there were seven and then there was us, Chris my husband, me Luke's Mother and our solicitor. The evidence and witnesses to be called was discussed. The Coroner decided on a five day Inquest so we were able to feel some relief that the evidence will be looked at carefully and we may find some comfort in this. The Coroner has also reduced the time scale before the full Inquest and it will now be sometime between May and August. This again was a relief as it has certainly felt like a dark cloud hanging over us probably because of the uncertainty of it all. I have said to some people it is like waiting to sit an exam that you have no chance of passing. Nothing can bring Luke back but to improve understanding of why he died must be important for us all and perhaps this will bring us some calmness that we lack at the moment.
A big thank you for the donations that have come in recently. It felt like shafts of sunlight through our darkness and helped to sustain us when everything seemed so bleak. Donations from Whitby, North Yorkshire, Scotland and Suffolk give some idea as to how Luke's Fund has a diversity of supporters and this will increase the opportunity for us to develop and grow.
Hope sustains us through disappointments and suffering. Without hope life is meaningless. The Russian novelist Dostoevsky observed "To live without hope is to cease to live." Thank you to all those people who have given us hope that we can achieve something positive in Luke's name.
It is encouraging and comforting to see the visitors to Luke's website continue to grow even though I haven't been able to post fresh news for some time. A big thank you for your loyal support.
Completely unexpectedly my Father, Luke's Grandfather died on 30th December 2009. He was enjoying watching the cricket on Sunday 27th December. On the Monday he began to feel unwell. On Tuesday his blood pressure dropped alarmingly and he was rushed to hospital and on Wednesday he passed away peacefully. The last time I saw him he said he felt he had lived too long. He was 98 years and would have been 99 years on the 29th of this month. What an incredibly long life. He lived in Devon and so with the difficulties of snow and slippery roads getting there was challenging. The Memorial Service was 22nd January 2010 and his ashes are now scattered with my Mother's. He has left us a legacy which will help to support Luke's Bursary Fund. I hope you will understand that as my Father's only child there were things that had to be attended to and inevitably there has been a time delay here.
We now have the date for the Pre Inquest Hearing for Luke. It will be 23rd February 2010. We are aware tough times lie ahead but we are full of determination to achieve something positive from our tragedy. If returning to the most traumatic time in our lives helps in the care and understanding of others then it will have been worthwhile to re -experience the pain of losing Luke in what I feel was a way that could have been prevented. There is so much more to tell that can't be told at the moment.
We are thrilled to have received a very generous donation from a person who wishes to remain anonymous and this has really helped raise our spirits during the sad time of the loss of another family member. It certainly helps us to know people are aware of what we are doing in Luke's memory and want to give their support. Huge THANK YOU to the anonymous person.
My dream for Luke's website is to encourage others to find a way to believe in themselves and live their life being the person they want to be not feeling they must comply with the expectation of others.
"The true voyage of discovery consists not of searching for new paths but of seeing with new eyes."
Marcel Proust
I wish you all a creative, pleasurable and satisfying New Year.
Donations to
Luke Bitmead Memorial Fund, account number 71543547 sort code 40-05-26 or The Hanson Partnership LLP Suite A Unit 16, Cirencester Office Park, Tetbury Road, Cirencester, Glos. GL7 6JJ
HEARTWARMING NEWS
The march towards Christmas can be particularly hard for those people who will experience the loss of a loved one particularly poignantly at this time when families gather. We struggle with our emotions and try to remain positive knowing what we are creating in memory of Luke will help provide others with the opportunity to gain confidence to pass over the rough terrain that life sometimes puts in our path. For me, Luke's Mother, I find it amazingly helpful to receive news of others happiness which gives us the feeling of being included and sharing in that joy.
ANDREW BLACKMAN our first bursary winner, whose beautifully written book ON THE HOLLOWAY ROAD is being enjoyed by many, has just married Genie. Andrew gave me permission to share a part of his message to us, with you.
"We've been together for nine years now and to be honest we felt married already, in the sense of knowing that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. Still, it was a nice thing to do, and we went to Paris on the Eurostar for a one night honeymoon."
We met Genie at the presentation evening and felt her to be a total delight. We send our congratulations to them both and hope 2010 will provide an opportunity to meet up again. At the moment they are spending time in the sun visiting Genie's family in Barbados and we send our warmest wishes to them all. Andrew promised to send us some sun and it seems to have arrived in Gloucestershire today. Thank you.
At this time of giving may we ask for donations for next year's bursary to be sent to
The Hanson Partnership LLP Suite A Unit 16, Cirencester Office Park, Tetbury Road, Cirencester, Glos. GL7 6JJ
Cheques should be payable to THE LUKE BITMEAD MEMORIAL FUND alternatively payments by BACS should go to Account No 71543547 Sort code 40-05-26. Thank you.
We have all heard of the pebble in the pond and the ripple effect well it felt as if a boulder had been unexpectedly heaved into our emotional pond when we were notified that the pre inquest hearing for Luke was going to be held the day before I was due to travel to London to care for small Granddaughter Tillie, while Luke's sister Tiffany and husband Rob were having their second baby. The experience of the tragedy of Luke's death means I am particularly attentive when it comes to helping to take care of loved ones. Fortunately an understanding Coroner has now postponed this until January which is an enormous relief and we are extremely grateful. It is a huge relief also that following two miscarriages, we now have a beautiful Granddaughter Perdita Sapphire Josephine who will be known as Purdie, sister for Tillie.
This explains the delay in sharing the brilliant experience of the second presentation of Luke's Bursary. It was wonderfully comforting for me, Luke's Mother, to hear how our ten finalists appreciated the whole experience and for those of you who have written or emailed I really value hearing how this has helped you gain in confidence and determination to follow your dream. Of course it is important to accept that success is a journey not a destination. And confidence is about doing what you need to do in the short-term to achieve your long term goals. I know how uplifting it can be to receive some validation of the work you are doing and to hear from our two talented writers Zoe Jenny and Sam Mills who made helpful comments on the work they read. We value their professional input on the judging panel enormously and having them there to speak to you personally I believe added greatly to what you were able to gain from the evening.
Our winner Ruth Dugdall is someone we are now getting to know better and she has shared some of her experience of mental health problems in her work as a Probation Officer. We will reveal more of this soon. It is wonderful that something seems to be guiding the right people to us enabling the development of Luke's Fund to grow in exactly the way we intended, encouraging fledgling writers and speaking of mental health problems so that the stigma can be eradicated. We are thrilled that Ruth's book will be published by Tom Chalmers of Legend Press next year.
Thank you to everyone that entered this year's competition and for the nine of the ten finalists, to see you in London for presentation night was a great pleasure for us. We know some of you had travelled a great distance and brought relatives and friends as enthusiastic supporters who helped make the evening the superb success it was.
More news soon.
After such an amazing night meeting our ten finalists it is frustrating not to have the opportunity to recount the diversity of the second bursary presentation and the evening we all shared. We are weighed down by things that must be attended to and a special event needs to be focussed on. Soon we shall be able to bring you up to date.
Thank you to all those people who keep in touch with Luke's website.
The Luke Bitmead Writers Bursary Winners
RUTH Dugdall is our WINNER, an unpublished author from Suffolk who travelled to London accompanied by her husband with her childrens' good luck wishes ringing in her ears. Her novel THE WOMAN BEFORE ME will be published by Legend Press summer 2010. Ruth also received a cheque for £2,500.
IAIN LAURIE was awarded second prize and a cheque for £500, which will help him to purchase the new computer that he is in much need of.
BEA DAVENPORT was awarded third prize and a cheque for £400. Unfortunately she was unable to join us for the presentation, so we send her our congratulations and hope this acqknowledgement of her talent will give her confidence to persue what ever path seems to be beckoning her in the future
A fuller report on this scintillating evening will follow in due course.
The Luke Bitmead Writers Bursary Presentation
We can feel the excitement growing in anticipation of The Luke Bitmead Writers' Bursary Award evening. It will be a great pleasure to meet our ten finalists, and together with the Legend Press team we are delighted to be encouraging new talent. Talent that has had to overcome personal difficulties with courage and determination. We feel extremely fortunate to be meeting these people.
With double the number of entries this year we knew we would have a dilemma choosing our ten finalists - and so it proved to be. A real "Catch 22". For those of you whose name does not appear amongst the finalists, please remember that without your submission we would have had less wealth of choice. You have all helped us create an impressive competition that is growing in stature. We value your openness in your personal statements and maybe by writing about your difficulties you feel more empowered knowing that you have resources enabling you to get this far. That in itself is an achievement.
We are proud to announce The Luke Bitmead Writers' Bursary Shortlist
| Thomas Aldis | Ruth Dugdall |
| Bea Davenport | Marion Woolley |
| Garlen Lo | Rowan Crombie |
| Kevin Loughnane | Iain Laurie |
| Kate Winser | Catherine Scott |
Great news for one of our judging panel
"Sam Mills' bestselling novel 'The Boys Who Saved the World' is being made into a film. The novel is about a group of disillusioned teenagers who set up their own religion - the Hebetheus Faith - and, in their misguided desire to change the world, kidnap an Asian girl at their school whom they claim is a terrorist. The book is a controversial political thriller, a love story and a topical exploration of religious faith. The film will be written and directed by first-time Turkish director Ufuk Gokkaya, who has made over 30 short films. It is now in pre-production and filming is due to begin at the end of the year. A test shoot took place in Wales and the test trailer can be viewed at www.tbwstw.com - as well as more information on the book, cast and crew."
Many congratulations Sam!
Those of you who are regular vistors to Luke's website will notice we have now removed the names of last year's finalists. We wish all of them well as they move forward in their lives and thank them for making our first presentation a huge success.
The experience of being part of that vibrant night when Andrew Blackman was the winner of Luke's first bursary will stay in our hearts and minds forever. We hope for the finalists it was a stepping stone towards greater confidence in being who they are, something we all strive to do.
NOW we are preparing for the presentation to our 2009 winner, and we are certainly feeling ripples of excitement.
Choosing a shortlist is incredibly difficult - do you try to choose a range, what are the main factors to take into account, and there is always that nagging concern of the classic one that got away. But with a lot of reading and discussion we have managed to whittle the list down, to be announced shortly, and then it is to the panel - can't wait to discuss the fantastic chosen books further!'
It gave us a huge buzz to read this from the dynamic Tom Chalmers of Legend Press. It reminded us of the words of James Russel Lowell "Books are like bees that carry the pollen from one mind to another"
The shortlist will be posted soon.
The countdown is over!
The date for entries is now closed, good luck to all of you for the opportunity of receiving a financial award of £2,500 PLUS a publishing deal with Legend Press.
We are delighted to hear from Tom Chalmers that entries are up on last year for Luke's Bursary. Perhaps the rain has kept you in and kept you writing, although we do remember how Luke on sunny days would position his laptop in the shade with his body in the sun. He would lie on the lawn with a towel over his laptop and head, fingers flying over the keys. Rain or shine he would write. It is brilliant for us to be able to do something to encourage you talented but as yet unrecognised writers in Luke's name. Thank you to all of you who have already sent your work in and we hope it is encouraging for those of you who are still writing to know that we value you all and hope we have been able to give you extra incentive by working towards a specific date
THE SECOND LUKE BITMEAD WRITERS' BURSARY
13 MAY 2009
We are proud to announce on Luke's birthday the second Bursary in his memory. The energy and creativity of TOM CHALMERS and his dynamic team at LEGEND PRESS are again giving us their support and an opportunity of a fantastic publishing deal for the winner.
We are delighted to have ZOE JENNY and DEBORAH WRIGHT bringing their professional expertise, gained in their own successful writing careers, to the panel of judges. Further details can be read at www.legendpress.co.uk
We thank all of you who have donated to Luke's Fund which enables us to present a cheque for £2,500 to the winner. Other prizes will be decided near the presentation date. Anyone who would like to make a donation in memory of Luke please make cheques payable to "The LUKE BITMEAD MEMORIAL FUND" and send them to THE HANSON PARTNERSHIP LLP, CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS, SUITE A UNIT 16 CIRENCESTER OFFICE PARK, TETBURY ROAD, CIRENCESTER, GLOS GL7 6JJ.
With your support, we will be able to do as last year, giving second and third prizes and runners up prizes as well. We know there are many people out there who feel connected to Luke and this is a really meaningful way to continue that connection, supporting the bursary that he wanted to create. Thank you.
ANDREW BLACKMAN last years winner goes from strength to strength. Read his book "ON THE HOLLOWAY ROAD"
2009
We wanted to share our pride with you at seeing our first winner of the Luke Bitmead Writers' Bursary in print: Andrew Blackman's On The Holloway Road was formally launched at a party in London's West End on February 26th and is available in bookshops from February 28th. It was wonderful to see Andrew looking so confident as he gave his speech and his reading from his first published novel - it looked as if coming out of the shadows and stepping into the spotlight was something Andrew took in his stride. The time was right. We feel his supportive partner Genie was an integral part of this. We were also thrilled to see our second prize winner last year, James Higgerson, come along to support Andrew, and to receive a lovely message of support from our third placed winner Andrew Kirby ahead of the evening. What lovely people Luke's award has introduced to our lives.
A big thank you to Tom Chalmers and his team at Legend Press, the publisher of Andrew's novel, in helping us to realise Andrew's dream of a life in print come true. We were also honoured to have our judges, themselves bestselling writers, Zoe Jenny and Deborah Wright in attendance at Andrew's launch. We are all excited about awarding another bursary in Luke's name later this year - further information will follow soon!
It seems our openness to the unknown leaves more room for you, Luke's friends and fans to help us make the incomprehensible, comprehensible. Your continued supportive messages, donations and creative ideas energise us for another year of growth and discovery in this troubled world. By allowing you to play your part in building Luke's Fund into something people can turn to for creative help allows you to be creative as well.
Andrew Blackman's book On The Holloway Road will be launched in February and it is with enormous pride that we see the Luke Bitmead Award has been acknowledged on the front cover
ANDREW BLACKMAN'S "ON THE HOLLOWAY ROAD" IS A GREAT READ AND WE FEEL SURE IT WILL DO WELL. IT IS A BOOK ABOUT TWO LONDONERS SEARCHING FOR MEANING AND FREEDOM IN MODERN-DAY BRITAIN AND IT FEELS ABSOLUTELY RIGHT THAT WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO BE ONE OF THE LINKS THAT HAS ENABLED ANDREW TO BECOME A PUBLISHED WRITER.
THE MENTAL HEALTH STRAND TO OUR FUND IS ALSO PROGRESSING. WE ARE SEEING CHANGES TO PEOPLES ATTITUDE AND AWARENESS OF AN ILLNESS THAT NEEDS COMPASSION AND UNDERSTANDING. A HUGE CAMPAIGN BEGINS IN 2009 THAT WILL BE FOCUSING ON BRINGING KNOWLEDGE INTO EVERYBODIES LIVES THAT WILL ENABLE US ALL TO RESPOND DIFFERENTLY. WHEN SOMEONE BREAKS THEIR LEG AND BECOMES UNSTABLE WE OFFER SUPPORT TO STEADY THEM. THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT WE NEED TO DO WHEN PEOPLE BECOME PSYCHOLOGICALLY UNSTABLE, OFFER SUPPORT TO STEADY THEM. THAT CAN BE JUST LISTENING TO HOW THEY FEEL AND ENCOURAGING THEM TO SEEK PROFESSIONAL SUPPORT WITHOUT FEELING GUILTY ABOUT BEING UNWELL.
NOW WE NEED TO RAISE FUNDS FOR NEXT YEARS BURSARY. ALL THE DETAILS TO ENABLE YOU TO DO THIS CAN BE FOUND ON THE MEMORIAL FUND PAGE, OR YOU CAN SEND CHEQUES MADE OUT TO THE LUKE BITMEAD MEMORIAL FUND TO KEBLE HOUSE, THE FARRIERS, SOUTHROP, GLOS. GL7 3RL. WE THANK ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE ALREADY DONATED FOR 2009 BEFORE WE HAD EVEN ASKED !!!!!
PLEASE REMEMBER LUKE'S BOOKS MAKE GREAT PRESENTS AND ALL THE ROYALTIES GO INTO THE FUND ENABLING US TO REMEMBER OUR MUCH MISSED SON AND BROTHER IN A WAY THAT HELPS OTHERS.
WE WISH YOU WHATEVER YOU WISH YOURSELVES FOR CHRISTMAS AND OFFER YOU TWO THOUGHTS.
"SUCCESS IS A JOURNEY, NOT A DESTINATION." UNKNOWN
"WHATEVER YOU ARE, BE A GOOD ONE." ABRAHAM LINCOLN
THE SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF THE LUKE BITMEAD MEMORIAL FUND
27th OCTOBER 2008
The Greek Poet Hesiod [circa 700BC] wrote, "If you should put even a little on a little and should do this often, soon this would become big." So it is with Luke's Fund. To receive messages telling us how much you miss Luke helps us enormously to feel we are not alone with our grief. We received a card from one of Luke's dear friends who he did much traveling with, that has a burst of sunflowers on the front, and a compassionate message inside. Another letter came from a school friend who has had a major back operation and was unable to join us for the presentation of Luke's Bursary. He sends us encouraging words and a donation towards next years award. Yesterday we received the winnings from a sweep-stake at a wedding guessing the length of the speeches! Luke would be amused at the creativity you are showing to enable his fund to grow. This is just a taste of how donations are coming in.
If everybody that knew Luke donated a small amount we would soon have sufficient to be sure of next year's presentation when we feel it will be needed even more to support artistic talent in these difficult financial times.
For those of you that have read White Summer you will know that The Swan in Southrop, heavily disguised by Luke as The Duck, was featured in the book and indeed some of the story was written in the bar! Yesterday we had lunch in The Swan remembering Luke and the happy times we had spent with him there. The new people running The Swan are Lana who is front of house and made us very welcome, and Sebastian the chef who creates delicious dishes which we enjoyed immensely.
We walked down to the Churchyard and put vibrant flowers on his grave trying to remember the joyfulness of Luke and his ability to see humour in the most difficult of circumstances. That is what we must do now. He used to call me a technophobe, and would laugh at how I struggled using the computer but then showed me how to master the technology that I feared!
We are delighted to have linked with another family whose son also died by suicide, a few weeks after Luke. To read more about this please visit the Memorial Fund page.
During the wet season, I hesitate to call it summer, it has been encouraging to continue to receive messages and see the number of visitors to Luke's web site grow. It is wonderful to know we have your support in keeping the memory of Luke alive in a way that sends out the clear positive message that we are incredibly proud of him. It seems many of you were proud to be his friend and now we are delighted to be able to call you our friends as well. This connection between us is creating a change in the way that people perceive suicide. When people are angry, but feel guilty or frightened and powerless, they often turn the anger in on themselves. The result is depression. You are helping us, Luke's Family, to feel empowered. Your support gives us a feeling of being in a floating dock where we have been raised up for maintenance and repair. We are grieving while being held by the buoyancy that knowing you care as well, gives us. We remember the difficulties that other people are living with and some of you shared on the night we presented Luke's first bursary. Taking more time to listen to each other provides opportunities to learn and discover how to give support to those who are in need but feel unable to ask. At the end of October I feel privileged to have been invited to meet with nine other mothers who have also lost valued sons by suicide. We will be brain storming together, driven by the strongest of motives to help discover what makes someone believe that all that is available for them is to destroy themselves. And what we can do to prevent other families experiencing this terrible trauma. Luke felt instinctively that what would be good for the world was to help people laugh. He, as those of you who knew him will remember, had a great gift for this. I am sure he would be delighted to see that the BBC's new mental health campaign, Headroom is fronted by what might seem an unusual choice of person. She is a psychotherapist with an MA in neuroscience. Look on the Memorial Fund page and you may discover you know this person well in a completely different guise. A quote from Therapy Today says about her "Her informal, confessional and jargon - busting style is intended to demystify mental health issues, and she uses her humour to demolish taboos." Well we like the sound of all that. Amongst our friends out there is someone who has been hiding his talent as a photographer but has just sent us a great picture of Luke and other people who were at the launch of White Summer. We will be adding them to the Gallery pictures in due course. Luke was enigmatic . He was also unpretentious. His idea of creating a bursary for fledgling writers was something he, I feel, knew would have a profound affect enabling people to be drawn together in a supportive way. Perhaps we did not realise how quickly things would begin to grow. It feels as if we flung a handful of seeds on to exceptionally fertile ground. We have quickly learnt that to give creative people an opportunity they seize it, play around with it and explore what they can give in return. We would like to share more with you about the amazing evening in London. When we arrived the room where the awards were due to be presented had its windows wide open as it was a hot night. We feared the roar of the traffic outside would make conversation difficult. We need not have worried. The room filled very quickly and the animated conversations between lively, energetic people completely obliterated any sounds of traffic. The plan was for the judges to weave there way amongst the vibrant crowd and each try and speak to the writers on our short list. This worked well except nobody could find Andrew Blackman. Had he arrived, yes his name had been ticked off Lucy's list so where was he? We decided the time had come to proceed and we just had to trust in the belief that he would appear. Read more about Andrew and in due course the other writers who received awards on the Memorial Fund page.
We continue to receive messages of congratulations on the success of our first presentation of this new award and things are happening that we will be sharing with you. In the next few days we will have the opportunity to confirm the changes we hear that are being made in the attitude to mental health. We will also share some of the complimentary messages plus offers of creative help that we have received. Changes are being made in areas where things have stayed stuck for years. THANK YOU to everyone that is helping make this happen.
We are proud and excited to announce the winner of the first Luke Bitmead Writers Bursary as Andrew Blackman from North London. Andrew receives the winners cheque of £2,500 and a contract from Legend Press to publish his novel On The Holloway Road. None of the judging panel had managed to meet Andrew in the hour before the presentation so it was equally exciting for us to meet our winner, and find him to be such a charming man.
The finalists were announced at the award ceremony in London on the evening of Thursday 24th July in front of a large and excited crowd. The judges were so impressed by the standard of entries, and the determination and hard work in the face of adversity shown by the writers, that additional prizes were awarded to all eleven shortlisted entries:
We are so encouraged to receive so many wonderful compliments on the night about Luke's idea to have a writers bursary that we are now making plans for next year! Please continue to support us.
JUDGING PANEL
Elaine Hanson and Tiffany Orton (Luke's mother and sister) would like to say a huge thank you to their fellow judges who put so much time and effort into evaluating all the chapters and personal stories submitted: best selling authors Sam Mills and Zoe Jenny together with Tom Chalmers and Lucy Boguslawski of LEGEND PRESS.