Finding Our Families
Cross Country Co-operation
Agencies involved in Child Migration Schemes in the United Kingdom will intensify their work with C-BERS Services to speed the process of tracing family records of former child migrants who were sent out to Australia.

At an interagency meeting in London in August, UK Agencies also agreed to increase their efforts to work with C-BERSS in supporting former child migrants who wanted to make the trip back home to connect with their family and/or country of birth.

C-BERSS Chairperson, Maria Harries says the agencies were receptive to feedback from former child migrants who had already been assisted by C-BERSS to reunite with their families. Based on that feedback, "our collective aim is to make the trips easier and a happier experience for all concerned".

Maria described the August meeting, which took place in "a large room in West London" and included representative from the Child Migrant Trust as well as eleven other UK agencies, as "very constructive".

"What was so useful for me was that most of the agencies who were involved in sending child migrants to Australia, and who are now so important in helping with information and travel support, were all in one room working co-operatively towards a common goal, with representatives from the Child Migrant Trust and C-BERS Services".

"We all agreed how important it was to work fast and hard to locate and make available records from the past, and to help in tracking down families".

"The meeting was very supportive of the work already been done by the Director General of Western Australia's Department of Family and Children Services in establishing an index of all people who came to WA as child migrants. The index, which is due to be completed within the next couple of months, will help in the sharing of records between our different countries.

"I was left with a real sense of hope that there were so many people working together in the race to re-connect our C-BERSS clients with their families and heritage".

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