
Barnardo's is a global charity headquartered in
Barkingside
Barkingside is an area in Ilford, in the London Borough of Redbridge. It includes the major road junction of Fullwell Cross, which also gives its name to the locality near that roundabout. The area is situated 10.6 miles (17km) north east of Ch ...
in the
London Borough of Redbridge
The London Borough of Redbridge is a London boroughs, London borough established in 1965.
The borough shares boundaries with the Epping Forest District and the ceremonial county of Essex to the north, with the London Borough of Waltham Forest t ...
. It was founded by
Thomas John Barnardo
Thomas John Barnardo (4 July 184519 September 1905) was an Irish, Christian philanthropist and founder and director of homes for poor and deprived children. From the foundation of the first Barnardo's home in 1867 to the date of Barnardo's dea ...
in 1866, to care for vulnerable children. As of 2013, it raised and spent around £200 million each year running around 900 local services, aimed at helping these same groups. It is the largest children's charity in the UK in terms of charitable expenditure.
History
The National Incorporated Association for the Reclamation of Destitute Waif Children otherwise known as Dr. Barnardo's Homes was founded by Irish born doctor Thomas Barnardo, who opened a school in the
East End of London to care for and educate children of the area left
orphan
An orphan is a child whose parents have died, are unknown, or have permanently abandoned them. It can also refer to a child who has lost only one parent, as the Hebrew language, Hebrew translation, for example, is "fatherless". In some languages ...
ed and destitute by a recent
cholera
Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...
outbreak. In 1870 he founded a boys'
orphanage
An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or abusi ...
at
18 Stepney Causeway and later opened a girls' home. By the time of his death in 1905, Barnardo's institutions cared for over 8,500 children in 96 locations. His work was carried on by his many supporters under the name Dr. Barnardo's Homes National Incorporated Association. Following societal changes in the mid-20th century, the charity changed its focus from the direct care of children to
fostering
Fosterage, the practice of a family bringing up a child not their own, differs from adoption in that the child's parents, not the foster-parents, remain the acknowledged parents. In many modern western societies foster care can be organised by t ...
and
adoption
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, fro ...
, renaming itself Dr. Barnardo's in 1965. Following the closure of its last traditional orphanage in 1988, it took the still simpler name of Barnardo's. The official mascot of Barnardo's is a bear called Barney. Its chief executive is
Javed Khan.
There was controversy early on with Barnardo's work. Specifically, he was accused of kidnapping children without parents' permission and of falsifying photographs of children to make the distinction between the period before they were rescued by Barnardo's and afterwards seem more dramatic. He openly confessed to the former of these charges, describing it as "philanthropic abduction" and basing his defence on the idea that the ends justified the means. In all, he was taken to court on 88 occasions, largely on the charge of kidnapping. However, being a charismatic speaker and popular figure, he rode through these scandals unscathed. Other charges brought against him included neglecting basic hygiene for the children under his care.
Between 1945 and 1974, Barnardo's supported and participated in schemes that saw around 150,000 children exported to imperial colonies where they were mostly abused, beaten and neglected.
In October 2022,
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...
announced that over 1,000
Paddington Bear
Paddington Bear (though his name is just Paddington; the "Bear" simply serves to confirm his species; and also known as Paddington Brown for some sources) is a fictional character in British children's literature. He first appeared on 13 October ...
s and
teddy bear
A teddy bear, or simply a teddy, is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. The teddy bear was named by Morris Michtom after the 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt; it was developed apparently simultaneously in the first deca ...
s left at royal sites after the death of
Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...
would be donated to Barnardo's.
Experience of mixed-race children
A "special problem" of the upbringing and socialisation of mixed-race children was noted in Barnardo's Annual Report of 1951.
Suzi Hamilton was sent to Barnardo's by her married mother in 1946. Her father was a black GI. She had a tough time at home and the two employees who ran her Barnardo cottage were not nice to her. She wrote her experience into her book which also described several unsuccessful attempts to adopt her. She also talked about the short vacations that she had with her "aunts" and "uncles" where on one vacation she experienced her first menstrual period and was told to be extra careful as she was not a white girl.
Susan Tomkins, born in Taunton, Somerset to a married mother, was being sent to Barnardos when she was around eight with her two brothers. She stayed at the Barnardo's for about a year. Her grandmother, who was protective of her in the face of any racism, took care of her once she went home.
Communications
Barnardo's has used advertising campaigns to raise public awareness of its work. A 2003 advert which featured a new-born baby with a cockroach crawling out of its mouth was banned by the
ASA
Asa may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Asa (given name), a given name, including a list of people and fictional characters so named
* Asa people, an ethnic group based in Tanzania
* Aṣa, Nigerian-French singer, songwriter, and reco ...
after a storm of public protest. In 2008 its ''Break the cycle'' TV advert featuring a girl being repeatedly hit around the head by her father prompted a number of complaints but was cleared by the ASA, which said the imagery was justified, given the context.
In 2009
Martin Narey
Sir Martin James Narey DL (born 5 August 1955, in Middlesbrough) is an advisor to the British Government, and a former civil servant and charity executive. He served as director general of the Prison Service of England and Wales between 1998 an ...
, then Chief Executive of Barnardo's, stated that he believed that more children should be taken into care. This statement caused considerable controversy, especially as historical references were made by journalists to Barnardo's original practice of "philanthropic abduction". By 2012, there was little opposition to Narey's claim, which was publicly supported by the
NSPCC
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a British child protection charity founded as the Liverpool Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (LSPCC) by Thomas Agnew on 19 April 1883. The NSPCC lobbies t ...
and Action For Children, who called for an overhaul of the law on neglect.
Criticism
Cedars controversy
In 2011, Barnardo's was criticised for its work in
Cedars, the name chosen by
UK Immigration Enforcement for what it describes as "pre-departure accommodation" (
detention facility) near Gatwick Airport used to hold families with children pending deportation. Barnardo's provides "welfare and social care facilities" at the detention centre, which is managed on behalf of
UK Visas and Immigration
UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) is a division of the Home Office responsible for the United Kingdom's visa system. It was formed in 2013 from the section of the UK Border Agency that had administered the visa system.
History
The then Home Secret ...
by private security company
G4S. Barnardo's has been criticised by Frances Webber of the
Institute of Race Relations for "legitimising child detention".
Anarchist extremists opposed to the detention of children, such as members of the
No Border network, have mounted a campaign against the charity's involvement in Cedars. This included actions such as occupying Barnardo's London head office in February 2012, and disrupting the "Barnardo's Young Supporters" choir concert at the
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272.
Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...
in April 2012.
In response to criticism, Anne Marie Carrie, then Chief Executive of Barnardo's, stated that the decision to provide welfare and social care services at Cedars is in the children's best interests, outlining Barnardo's "red lines" and the action it will take if the welfare and dignity of any asylum seeking families and children is at risk.
Child physical and sexual abuse
The 2014–2015
Northern Ireland Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry included
Barnardo's Sharonmore Project, Newtownabbey and Barnardo's Macedon, Newtownabbey among the institutions under investigation. The charity was aware of child abuse but did not retain the records, as the evidence could have been used in court. Barnardo's was also implicated in this inquiry for sending British children to Australia in the mid-20th century, where some were tortured, raped and enslaved.
Barnardo's acknowledges its role in this "well intentioned" but "deeply misguided" policy supported by the government of the time.
Barnardo's was further scrutinised in 2018, as investigations and inquiries into failures in NGO safeguarding expanded.
In 2020 the
Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry issued a report which included Barnardo's homes at Tyneholm, Balcary, Glasclune and Craigerne in Scotland. The Inquiry concluded that children in the care of these homes in the 1950s and 1960s suffered emotional, sexual and physical abuse.
Apology
Martin Crewe, the head of Barnardo's Scotland, said in 2020: "We absolutely apologise for what happened to those individuals. Any instance of abuse is absolutely unacceptable."
On 11 March 2022 ministers from the five main political parties in Northern Ireland and six abusing institutions made statements of apology in the
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly (; ), often referred to by the metonym ''Stormont'', is the devolved unicameral legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliam ...
.
The six institutions that apologised for carrying out abuse were De La Salle Brothers, represented by Br Francis Manning; the Sisters of Nazareth, represented by Sr Cornelia Walsh; the Sisters of St Louis represented by Sr Uainin Clarke; the Good Shepherd Sisters, represented by Sr Cait O'Leary; Barnardo's in Northern Ireland, represented by Michele Janes; and Irish Church Missions, represented by Rev Mark Jones.
[
In live reporting after the apology, BBC News reported that Jon McCourt from Survivors North West said "If what happened today was the best that the church could offer by way of an apology they failed miserably. There was no emotion, there was no ownership. ... I don't believe that the church and institutions atoned today." He called on the institutions to "do the right thing" and contribute to the redress fund for survivors, saying that institutions have done similar for people in Scotland.] McCourt praised the government ministers' apologies; they had "sat and thought out and listened to what it was we said", but said that the institutions had failed to do this, leading to some victims having to leave the room while they were speaking, "compound ngthe hurt."[
Others angry at the institutions' apologies included Caroline Farry, who attended St Joseph's Training School in Middletown from 1978 to 1981, overseen by nuns from the Sisters of St Louis,][ Pádraigín Drinan from Survivors of Abuse,][ and Alice Harper, whose brother, a victim of the De La Salle Brothers, had since died.][ Peter Murdock, from campaign group Savia, was at Nazareth Lodge Orphanage with his brother (who had recently died); he likened the institution to an "SS camp". He said "It's shocking to hear a nun from the institution apologising ... it comes 30 years too late ... people need to realise that it has to come from the heart. They say it came from the heart but why did they not apologise 30 years ago?"][
]
Music
During the 1950s children from the homes made recordings, including appearing on Petula Clark
Sally "Petula" Clark (born 15 November 1932) is a British singer, actress, and songwriter. She started her professional career as a child actor, child performer and has had the longest career of any British entertainer, spanning more than 85 y ...
's 1952 recording of "Where Did My Snowman Go?". They also made recordings as a vocal group for Polygon
In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure made up of line segments connected to form a closed polygonal chain.
The segments of a closed polygonal chain are called its '' edges'' or ''sides''. The points where two edges meet are the polygon ...
and Pye Nixa Records.
Barnardo's Barkingside regeneration programme
Barnardo's employs approximately 450 staff in Barkingside
Barkingside is an area in Ilford, in the London Borough of Redbridge. It includes the major road junction of Fullwell Cross, which also gives its name to the locality near that roundabout. The area is situated 10.6 miles (17km) north east of Ch ...
in Ilford
Ilford is a large List of areas of London, town in East London, England, northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Redbridge, Ilford is within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. It had a po ...
, eastern Greater London
Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...
, including secondments and visitors. Since September 2013 operations were consolidated in one, smaller, building on the Barkingside site. The new building was financed by housing developments undertaken after public consultation and discussions with local residents in Barkingside.
Affiliations
Barnardo's is a founding member of Fostering Through Social Enterprise (FtSE), a consortium of voluntary and non-profit fostering agencies that advocate for children in respect of regulation, as well as representing its membership at central government level.
In January 2016, it was announced that Barnardo's would be one of the chosen charities for Santander's The Discovery Project alongside Age UK. As well giving as financial donations to the charities on Track project, Santander will also allow staff to volunteer in their charity shops.
In the Commonwealth
Spinoff charities Barnados Australia and Barnardos New Zealand were set up in the 20th century (now spelt without an apostrophe, following local practice) with the same mission. Barnados Australia uses similar slogan to the UK organisation, "We believe in children," while Barnardos New Zealand uses "Do more for Kiwi kids."
See also
* Barnardo's Big Toddle
References
External links
Barnardo
Official website
childrenshomes.org.uk
Has details of every former Barnardo's Home
*
*
*
Barnardo's Child Sponsorship
{{authority control
Children's charities based in the United Kingdom
London Borough of Redbridge
Adoption, fostering, orphan care and displacement
Orphanages in the United Kingdom
Charities based in London
1866 establishments in England
Organizations established in 1866