The human face of help to find unknown families

Birthlink’s Dr Gary Clapton is entranced by the stories of ordinary people

In keeping with many charities, Birthlink is feeling the effects of austerity. Donations are smaller and councils, strapped for cash, are cutting the support for children and family services back to the bare minimum of what they can provide in-house.

This means that publicity for what we do is ever more important. And this is why we have joined with the people behind Humans of Edinburgh.

Humans of Edinburgh is an idea with a simple message: ‘Edinburgh, one story at a time’ and consists of a growing Facebook gallery of photographs taken on the streets of the city.

“We tell the tale of 500,000 Edinburgh inhabitants, one human at a time”. Behind each one is a story. Some are brief to the point of mysterious (“These days… people don’t know what it takes to be an elf.”) Others are lengthier. We have decided to post photographs of ourselves with a comment. Those who have been helped by our service have also volunteered.

New staff member Lara was one of the first to be posted. Her photograph comes with a caption of her most recent work helping a 70-year-old woman, adopted as a baby, make contact with her family of origin.

Secretary Debbie is also featured: “The most rewarding part about my job is being the first point of contact for people who call looking for advice and support. It is part of my job to reassure them that Birthlink will do whatever they can to help in their journey. We help adults with issues surrounding adoption.

“It takes courage to make that first step and contact Birthlink. I know how difficult it can be, as sometimes this will be their first chance to speak to someone about adoption, and the lifelong impact it has had on them.”

So, all those are interested in putting a face to a Birthlink name can now see us. Birthlink’s manager Kate Mcdougall also features. She has helped thousands of adopted people make the first tentative steps towards their roots and her pride in the work is obvious: “We are the only place where people who have a mutual wish for contact can register their hope of being able to make a connection. When we mention adoption people usually think of children.

“However, adoption is a lifelong process and everyone affected by it can carry the weight of adoption throughout their lives. This means that they can feel the need for help and support at any stage in their lives. Our work spreads across the generations.”

Members of the public who have been helped by us have also included comments and there’s one photograph that comes with a story-length caption.

Here’s an excerpt: “I was brought up with an adopted sister, we were brought up to know we were adopted. When I got to 18, my mother told me the little bit she knew about where I came from.

“Now they were quite open about it, and they wanted to help me. When I got back from living abroad in 2000 Judy, my sister, convinced me to go and look at my ancestry. My sister’s case was one of the very first cases Kate did at Birthlink….”

Mike’s story goes on to relate the familiar work that we do putting together ‘relative strangers’ and concludes: “Anyway, Kate managed to get Dave (a brother he’d never met) on the phone, and she asked if we wanted to be put in touch, and I of course said yes. When I got home in the evening, the phone rang, and it was Dave!”

We are pleased to feature amongst the 565 images and stories (63,000 ‘likes’ too).

But don’t just look up Humans of Edinburgh for our presence. There’s much more. Find out at the Humans of Edinburgh Facebook page, Instagram: @humansofedin and Twitter: @humansofedin Dr Gary Clapton is senior lecturer, Social Work, School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh