Brook Advisory Centres were set up by Lady
Helen Brook
Helen Brook, CBE (12 October 1907 – 3 October 1997), born Helen Grace Mary Knewstub, was a British family planning adviser who in 1964 founded the Brook Advisory Centres with the primary aim of reducing the number of illegal abortions and "to ...
in 1964 offering contraceptive advice to young single people under the age of 25.
Brook was asked in 1958 by the
Eugenics Society
Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or ...
to run the birth control clinic they had just been bequeathed by
Marie Stopes
Marie Charlotte Carmichael Stopes (15 October 1880 – 2 October 1958) was a British author, palaeobotanist and campaigner for eugenics and women's rights. She made significant contributions to plant palaeontology and coal classification, ...
. This clinic, unlike the
Family Planning Association
FPA (Family Planning Association) was a UK registered charity (number 250187) working to enable people to make informed choices about sex and to enjoy sexual health. It was the national affiliate for the International Planned Parenthood Federat ...
where Brook had previously worked, was not required to confine its service to married women or women who could prove that they were very shortly to be married. The work of the Centres was facilitated by the National Health Service (Family Planning) Act 1967.
Brook, who had worked as a volunteer for the Family Planning Association, was Chairman of the organisation from 1964 to 1974 and President 1974–97. Until her death in 1997, despite severe eye problems in later life she retained an keen interest in, and supported, the activities of the centres that bear her name.
By 1969 the Centres were offering contraceptive advice to more than ten thousand unmarried people under 25, the majority were aged between 19 and 21 with around one in six being under 19.
[Professional Secrecy]
(20 March 1971), ''British Medical Journal-Supplement.'' By 1997 there were 18 branches, funded by local health authorities.
Brook established solid relationships with central and local government authorities; the Guest of Honour at its 25th anniversary in 1989 was the Princess Royal.
The organisation changed its name to Brook.
See also
*
Teenage pregnancy and sexual health in the United Kingdom
The rate of teenage pregnancy in the United Kingdom is relatively high, when compared with other developed countries; the only other Western countries with higher teenage pregnancy rates are the United States and New Zealand. The rate of teenage ...
References
External links
Brook
Birth control in the United Kingdom
Private providers of NHS services
{{sex-stub