Summary
On Thursday 13th June 2024 Lecture Theatre 1101 David Chiddick Building, University of Lincoln, Brayford Pool, Lincoln at 12 midday until 2 pm (including refreshments, networking and information stands)
To reserve your place please contact:
Mo Ray (mray@lincoln.ac.uk) Telephone: 01522 88 6289
Grace Tompkins (grace.tompkins@lincsymca.co.uk) Telephone: 01522 508 360 or 07803 858570
Louise Marsh (lmarsh@lincoln.ac.uk)
If you need blue badge car parking, please contact Mo Ray (mray@lincoln.ac.uk) – limited bookable parking may be available.
Joan Blass and Daphne Franks at Joan’s 90th Birthday Party, April 2014
“Your mother and her man friend – did you know they were married?”
So, with a phone call from Joan Blass’s doctor, began a series of events which have highlighted the gaps in safeguarding for older and vulnerable people both at the time of marriage and in the law.
Joan’s daughter, Daphne Franks tells the story of a secret marriage, a revoked will, an unmarked grave, grooming, gaslighting, a Private Member’s Bill and a campaign to highlight all the issues. The Franks family hope to fill all the gaps so nothing like this will ever happen to another family in the future – because, as they have learned, it’s currently happening to many older and vulnerable people and their families.
Daphne was unable to prevent her mother, Joan Blass, from a predatory marriage in 2015, even though Daphne and her husband Stephen lived next door to her and had raised their fears about the man with the Police, Social Services, NHS and a solicitor. At the time of the marriage Joan was almost 92 with advanced vascular dementia and terminal cancer.
Daphne has been campaigning ever since to change the laws and procedures around marriage to prevent such marriages happening to others and has found huge overlap with other kind of abuse of vulnerable people such as, grooming, gaslighting and coercive control. Daphne has given over two hundred talks about the issues nationally and the campaign has made significant progress. More information may be found at www.predatorymarriage.uk.
Daphne taught Communication Skills plus other non-clinical topics such as the importance of teamwork at Leeds Medical School for many years and still works nationally as a freelance Communication Skills teacher.