I act
as the Communications Officer for the Society for Psychical Research, am a freelance
copy editor, and occasional blogger.
Higher qualifications
B.A. (Hons.) Philosophy and
English (2:2) – University of Kent at Canterbury
B.Sc. (Hons.) Psychology
(2:1) – Birkbeck College, University of London
B.A. (Hons.) Open degree (1st)
– The Open University
M.A. Modern European Thought – Thames
Polytechnic
Ph.D. Film Studies – University
of East Anglia (Life After Death in the
Cinema)
Ph.D. History – Anglia
Ruskin University (George Albert Smith
(1864-1959): From Stage to Screen)
Memberships
The
Society for Psychical Research
The
Royal Photographic Society
The
Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena
The
Parapsychological Association (Professional Member)
The J
B Priestley Society
Cambridge
Cycling Campaign
The
ACD Society
Society distinction
Associate
of the Royal Photographic Society (by research)
Affiliation
Honorary
Visiting Research Fellow in the Faculty of Arts, Law and Social Sciences, at
Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge (September 2014-September 2019)
Labour Party – Member 1983-2018,
20223-date
Fortean
Times –
Special Correspondent 1993-date
Society for Psychical
Research website trustee statement
The following trustee statement appears on the website of
the Society for Psychical Research:
Tom joined the Society in 1987 and Council in 1989. He
became a member of the Publicity sub-committee in 1988, co-designing the SPR
logo in 1990, and has served on its successor committees (currently the
Education and Publicity Committee) ever since. Having assisted with the revamp
of the website in 2007, he added news items to it until the appointment of a
dedicated content manager in 2018. He was Hon. Appeals Secretary from 1989 to
1990, seeking financial donations from large businesses, and Hon. Testing
Officer from 1992 to 2007, arranging tests for psychic claimants.
He has refereed papers for the SPR’s Journal, and
was its book reviews editor from 2009 to 2018. Joining the Library Committee in
2010, he became its chair in 2016. Since 2011 he has served on the Conference
Programme Committee. Also in 2011 he became Communications Officer: in that
role he responds to general enquiries received through the website and manages
the SPR’s Facebook page (since 2010) and general ‘X’ account (since 2013); he
managed the Psi Encyclopedia X account from 2019 to April 2026. He has been
instrumental in securing several collections for the SPR’s archives. In 2025 he
joined the Survival Research Committee.
For some years he was a coordinator of the Anglia Paranormal Research Group and investigated a number of spontaneous cases. He has contributed to the SPR’s Journal and Magazine (and the latter’s predecessors), as well as Fortean Times and various online publications; blogs at http://tomruffles.blogspot.co.uk/; and is the author of Ghost Images: Cinema of the Afterlife. He is an Associate of the Royal Photographic Society (by research), was an Honorary Visiting Research Fellow at Anglia Ruskin University from 2014 to 2019, and is a member of the Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena and a Professional Member of the Parapsychological Association. He holds two PhDs, one awarded by the University of East Anglia on Life After Death in the Cinema, the other by Anglia Ruskin University on George Albert Smith (1864–1959): From Stage to Screen, which examines a significant figure in the early history of the SPR.
(Last updated 18 July 2026)