Elders in Residence
Our Elders in Residence are our critical friends, our sources of wisdom and hope, support, inspiration and reason. They advise us and keep us straight. No easy task and we are very grateful to them for being here.
Avril Bellinger
Avril Bellinger, Honorary Associate Professor in Social Work, University of Plymouth UK, is an academic activist, international volunteer, founder of Students and Refugees Together (START), co-author of The Strengths Approach in Practice: How It Changes Lives, grandmother and allotmenteer.
See Avril's recent presentation 'Migration, the climate emergency, and homelessness: Taking a strengths approach' at the University of Southampton's Centre for Homelessness Research and Practice (CHRP) annual conference 2024 on our SlideShare page.
Deirdre Ford
Deirdre Ford is a registered social worker, associate of Research in Practice, trustee of Students and Refugees Together (START) and co-author of The Strengths Approach in Practice: How It Changes Lives.
Mike Gonzalez
Mike Gonzalez
I was professor of Latin American Studies at Glasgow University before I retired. My parents were both exiles - my mother an Austrian Jew expelled by the Nazis, my father a Spanish Communist who left at the end of the Spanish Civil War. I have written on Latin American culture, history and politics and worked with Alison on language and translation.