Professor Peter Townsend - Tribute events

Memorial Service

Date and Time: Thursday 19 November, 11am - 12.30pm
Venue: St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, London WC2N (Link to location information)
This memorial service is open to all with no booking necessary.

Memorial Conference

Date and Time: Friday 20th November 2009, 10am - 4pm
Venue: Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London, WC1 (Link to location information)
For free tickets email: townsend-memorial@bristol.ac.uk

This free one day memorial conference for Peter Townsend will consist of four panels of speakers about Inequalities in Health, Older People, Poverty & Social Exclusion and Social Policy. The aim of the conference is to be forward looking rather than only reminiscing about the past. Speakers will be asked to spend at least half their time talking about what still needs to be done (both academically and politically) and how this can be achieved. Each session will have time for discussion.

Speakers will include:
Julio Boltvinik (El Colegio de México); Jonathan Bradshaw (University of York); Roger Bullock (Social Research Unit at Dartington); Danny Dorling (University of Sheffield); David Gordon (Townsend Centre for International Poverty Research); Kate Green (Child Poverty Action Group); Paddy Hillyard (Queen's University, Belfast); Hilary Land (University of Bristol); Ruth Levitas (University of Bristol); Roy Parker (Centre for Social Policy); Allyson Pollock (University of Edinburgh); Asuncion St.Clair (University of Bergen); Randall Smith (University of Bristol); Nick Spencer (University of Warwick); Peter Taylor-Gooby (University of Kent); Alan Walker (University of Sheffield); Margaret Whitehead (University of Liverpool); Nicola Yeates (Open University).

The conference is being supported by Academy of Social Sciences, British Academy, Child Poverty Action Group, Comparative Research Programme on Poverty, Fabian Society, Social Policy Association, Social Research Unit at Dartington and the University of Bristol.

Memorial Performance

Date and Time: Thursday 10 December, UN International Human Rights Day, 6.30pm-8pm
Venue: Old Theatre, LSE (How to get to LSE location map)
 
Broke: Voices from the Edge - a performance by Ice and Fire
 
Throughout his long life Professor Peter Townsend worked hard first to prove the existence of poverty in Britain and then to persuade our society not to take such deprivation for granted. This performance of 'Broke' by Ice and Fire is dedicated to his memory.

Using dialogue from real-life interviews with people living in poverty in the UK, the actors explore the dismal side-effects of such gross disadvantage - the homelessness, the lack of affordable housing, the unemployment, the debt, and much else besides. The plight of the poor on its own doorstep mocks Britain's aspiration to be an ethical force in the world and a beacon of human rights standards at home. Often unseen and unheard, this performance gives the poor a voice.

This event is free and open to all, with no ticket or pre-registration required.