CATHOLIC LIFE JUNE 2009,

article by Tony Galcius.

A CENTURY AND A HALF CARING FOR CHILDREN IN NEED

Many questions were asked of 18^th and 19^th century philanthropists about the horrendous living and social conditions of vast numbers of Londoners. To glean an idea of what they were like, I quote from the City’s Medical Officer of Health, John Simon, who in 1848 made this invitation to the Great and the Good: “Let the educated man devote an hour to visiting some poor area in the metropolis. Let him fancy what it would be to himself to live there, in that beastly degradation of stink, fed with such bread, drinking such water….Let him talk to the inmates, let him hear what is thought of the bone-boiler next door, or the slaughter house behind; what of the sewer-grating before the door; what of the Irish basket makers upstairs – twelve in a room; what of the artisan’s dead body, stretched on his widow’s one bed, beside her living children”.

Among those who responded to this situation were Thomas Coram, who opened the first Foundling hospital in 1741; Dr.Thomas Barnardo in 1867; the Methodists - Rev Thomas Bowman Stephenson and colleagues who founded the National Childrens’ Homes in 1869 and Benjamin Waugh, founder of the NSPCC in 1884 to prevent cruelty to children. But among the leaders, and rightly so, was the Catholic Church in the person of the first Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Wiseman. Even during the 18^th century, the Church had already begun its work for poor and destitute children, motivated primarily to ensure that they did not lose the Faith. Three charities with quaint and lengthy titles aiming to educate poor children, to apprentice the children of poor Catholic parents and to support Catholic orphans, founded in 1764, 1784 and 1796 respectively were amalgamated in 1811 under one title – the Associated Catholic Charities.

Out of these was born in 1859, the Crusade of Rescue, now known as the Catholic Childrens Society Westminster, which celebrates its 150^th anniversary this year. The trigger was the opening of St.Vincent’s Home, in Hammersmith, to take in twenty boys who had to be ‘orphans and destitute or in danger to their faith or morals’. It should be noted St.Vincent’s resulted from the initiative of five members of the SVP acting independently of the conference. Sixteen years later, Fr.(Lord) Archibald Douglas took charge of the Home, using his personal wealth to meet the debts and liabilities accrued. He and his two immediate successors became unofficial administrators of the Crusade. Its first official one was Fr. Emanuel Bans appointed in 1901.

It stands to reason that if the work was to be sustained and developed, funds were needed. When St.Vincent’s moved to Harrow Road, within walking distance of the present site of the Society’s Head Office, Fr.Douglas initiated fund raising ventures such as a bakery and a printing press. It was probably soon afterwards that a monthly journal was to start, entitled “Faith of our Fathers and the Net of St.Peter” which was eventually reduced to St.Peter’s Net. This kept everyone in the Diocese au fait with what was being done for poor children in their name. In 1866, soon after Cardinal Manning was appointed, he set up the Westminster Diocesan Education Fund, which was to be supported by subscriptions and annual appeals from the pulpit. Monies thus collected were to be for the benefit of all Parochial Schools but also for St.Vincent’s and the other Homes which began to appear. These include St.Charles’ School in Brentwood (at the time still part of the Westminster Diocese), and St.Joseph’s in Stepney which was to include girls, infants and young people approaching adulthood, and which re-opened in a larger property at Enfield in 1890.

Then in 1892, Cardinal Vaughan became archbishop, and announced the establishment of District Vigilance and Rescue Committees in the diocese, aimed at providing agents to attend Juvenile Police Courts, boarding provision for at least a 1000 more children, more working boys’ homes and other institutions. This was his ‘Crusade of Rescue’. His motto was: “No child really destitute and whose faith is in danger will be refused”. The Cardinal also started the existing custom of diocesan schools presenting their Lenten collections on Good Shepherd Sunday. The Cardinal soon discovered that his Crusade of Rescue committee could not effectively manage his various initiatives. He therefore, amalgamated it with all the diocesan work, that had been done since 1859, known as “Homes for Destitute Children”, at the time headed by Fr.Bans. As mentioned above he became the first administrator of the newly formed Crusade of Rescue in 1901.

Just before the first World War, Head Office was moved from Harrow Road to Compton Street, now called Tavistock Place. To raise badly needed funds, Fr.Bans had the foresight during the War to start a recycling scheme with waste collected in what became famous as ‘Bans Vans’. He had already introduced training in tailoring, shoe making, and carpentry. Fr.Bans – a legend in himself - was to be succeeded by the equally legendary Fr.George Craven, ultimately elevated to the bishopric. During his administration Mother and Baby Homes were opened In Highbury Hill and Highgate. More contentiously, the Crusade of Rescue was involved, together with other Catholic, Anglican and Government agencies in the migration of children to Australia, as happened with a similar venture in 1876 to Canada.

In 1955, Head Office moved to its present site in St.Charles’ Square, a large area in North Kensington which is totally taken up by Catholic properties, including schools, a Parish Church, a Carmelite Monastery and the former St.Charles’ Hospital now belonging to an NHS Trust. Other milestones between 1955 and the present day were the move from large residential institutions to family group homes. and eventually the establishment of a foster and adoption service. These substantive changes were overseen by Fr.Harvey(1963-77), later to become a bishop, and Fr..MacDonald(1977-83) the first administrator to receive the Home Office qualification in Child Care. In 1983, the Society changed its constitution to assist as many children in need as possible, irrespective of faith. Furthermore by 1985 the words ‘Crusade of Rescue’ became the subtitle to the new name of Catholic Children’s Society( Westminster ).

It also became clear that as the need for residential homes decreased, community based ventures would best replace them. So it was that in 1986, St.Francis Family Centre was opened in Poplar, an area of severe deprivation. Even today, 70% of the Borough’s children are eligible for free school meals. Unemployment and poor health are well above national averages. The Centre aims to help parents cope with stress and provides educational and developmental support for under 8’s, a nursery for twelve children and an After School Group for under 10’s. In 2007, Ofsted described this Family Centre as ‘outstanding’.

The long line of clerical administrators was broken in 1983 when a layman was appointed. Six years later, Mr.Jim Richards, another layman, took over, although in 2006, he was ordained a permanent deacon! Under his leadership, the work has flourished with new projects such as 1) the Bishop Harvey Family Service, operating in Muswell Hill and offering psychotherapeutic help to children, young people and families experiencing emotional or behavioural problems; 2) St.Vincent’s Family Centre in Hanwell, offering counselling to individuals, couples and families;

and 3) the Post Adoption and Care service which plays an extremely important role in helping adults, who were placed for adoption by the Society, to have access to information about their birth parents. In this regard, it also offers counselling and mediation services, and deals with no less than 400 enquiries per year. In 2007 this service was described as ‘excellent’ by the Social Care Inspectorate.

There has been a continued growth in the demand for the School Counselling service begun in 1987, which aims at helping young people with personal difficulties, ensuring a professional and utterly confidential approach. This is available to Catholic schools as well as to State schools within diocesan boundaries. Mention should also be made of the Westway Traveller project, situated under a slip road to the A40 at Shepherds Bush! The Society has co-operated with the travellers, in dealing with the local authority to ensure acceptable living standards.

The building at St.Charles’ Square not only houses the Head Office, but also St. Margaret’s Family Centre. Its catchment area of North Kensington is one of the highest concentrations of poverty in the UK, containing many single parents and unemployed households. Many refugees also live there. St.Margaret’s welcomes all comers, offering help, support and a range of activities for disadvantaged children up to eight years of age. In addition, in the same building, is sited the official Adoption agency of the two dioceses of Westminster and Brentwood, which carries the very apt name – Families for All. Some fifteen children are placed for adoption in any one year. Although this may not sound a lot, finding suitable adopters for very vulnerable children is extremely arduous and important. The Agency also helps birthparents, and prospective adopters. This service is now threatened due to recent Government legislation and the Society is still in negotiation with the Charity Commission. Whatever the outcome, we can be assured that the Society’s policy will continue to adhere to the Church’s teaching on marriage. Consequently only married couples will be considered as adopters. Also located at the Headquarters’ building is one of two School Counselling service teams.

This is a marvellous story of a diocesan agency, responding to the challenges that have come its way from 1859 to 2009. It has been apostolic in its mission to aid children in need, not only spiritually but materially. It has provided what have been considered the best means of dealing with them, always ready, however, to change those responses for the greater good of the child, who remains the primary focus of the work of the Catholic Children’s Society (Westminster).This magnificent achievement will be marked by the celebration of a thanksgiving Mass at Westminster Cathedral on June 10th, 2009 at 5.30pm. An exhibition, illustrating the history of the Society will also be displayed in St.Joseph’s chapel in the Cathedral. I commend both to the readers of this magazine.

(Further reading: ‘These my little ones’ by Rev.N.Waugh(1911) Sands and Co. and

‘Changing Times – Changing Needs’ by Jim Hyland (2009) to be published soon).

Click here to see related item about 150th Anniversary of COR