First-hand ideas and experience about social policy play an important part in this book. In the spirit of a participatory approach highlighting ‘user involvement’, I wanted to give equal priority to experiential accounts alongside conventional ‘expert’ knowledge. Thus within these pages you will find much that originates with welfare service users and their organisations, as well as policy theoreticians and service providers. This includes comments of my own, but I wanted to open this up more broadly and decided also to seek the views of members of my extended family about the welfare state. In some cases, material that has been included already existed and I have signalled its source. In most others I specifically sought people’s views. I tried to do this in a way which would have as little influence as possible on what people had to say. I have included at the end of this Appendix written guidance which I gave to family members which reflects what I said to everyone. There are contributions from people of every age here. I tried to set logical limits to whom I asked, because otherwise it began to feel that ‘family’ could extend to many hundreds if not thousands of people! Apologies to anyone close who feels left out. I am pleased to say that everyone I asked was kind enough to offer a contribution, so here is one survey that can claim a 100 per cent response rate.

Peter Beresford

The author, born 1 May 1945

Educated Wix’s Lane Primary School Battersea, Emanuel School, Wandsworth, University College, Oxford, BA Hons, Middlesex University, PhD

Emeritus Professor of Social Policy, Brunel University, long-term user of mental health services, Co-Chair of Shaping Our Lives, the disabled people’s and service users’ organisation and network

Maureen Beresford,

Born 24 May 1942

My sister, educated Wix’s Lane Primary School and Clapham County Grammar School, Clapham, lived her adult life in New York

Worked as a secretary/personal assistant

Died 2000

The Honourable Mrs William Beresford

Née Ida Kaufman (also known as Kaye)

Born 23 May 1909

My mother, born of immigrant Jewish parents, East End, London, first cousin of Sally Gould, left school aged 14

Milliner in East End sweat shops until her marriage Met my father in 1934

Died 1990, Trinity Hospice, Clapham

(Tape recorded interviews 1989*)