The Gwen Kirkwood Fund: A Lasting Legacy for Infant Mental Health 

The British Psychotherapy Foundation (bpf) are honoured to announce that a generous donation of £2,207, collected in-memory of Gwen Kirkwood, will establish a new bursary called The Gwen Kirkwood Fund. This fund will support trainees undertaking the Psychoanalytic Parent Infant Psychotherapy (PIP) training, or in their final years of the Independent Psychoanalytic Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy (IPCAPA) training, who demonstrate a commitment to public sector parent-infant work post-graduation. 

Gwen, who died on 26th January 2023, was a highly respected and much-loved Psychoanalytic Parent Infant Psychotherapist. Her death was a tragic loss to her family, friends, colleagues, and the communities she served, especially in East London. 

Gwen trained at the Tavistock in the late 1990s, worked in Newham CAMHS and later led the Parent Infant Psychotherapy Service in Hackney, collaborating closely with the Perinatal Mental Health Team. A gifted clinician and teacher, she was part of the first cohort of PIP trainees and had recently become the London Hub lead for AiMH UK. 

Gwen brought a deeply psychoanalytic sensibility to her work, grounded in a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach. As a Black woman of Indian and African Caribbean heritage, she was attuned to the ways in which racism and migration shape identity and mental health, weaving this understanding into her work with thoughtfulness and care. 

The Gwen Kirkwood Fund celebrates her passion, her work in infant mental health, and her commitment to supporting future generations of practitioners. In particular, the fund aims to improve access to advanced psychoanalytic training by supporting trainees from global majority backgrounds, helping to remove financial barriers and promote greater equity in the field. Gwen is greatly missed and now remembered through a fund that reflects her values and continues her mission. 

At the bpf, our mission is to remove financial barriers for aspiring psychotherapists and ensure the profession reflects the diverse communities we serve.  

If you would like to support our trainees by making a donation to The Gwen Kirkwood Fund, or help us develop more bursary funds to support more trainees, please donate here.