In 1867 Tom Barnardo, a flamboyant Irish medical student, launched a mission to the 'rough lads and lost girls' of outcast London. That mission has become a multi-million pound charity and part of English national heritage. Dr Barnardo's today cares for some of the most disadvantaged or handicapped children in our society and throughout the world the name Barnardo has become synonymous with children.
Through research into confidential records and a unique series of interviews with former Barnardo children the author has produced a record of one of the greatest charitable enterprises of the nineteenth century. She uncovers new and disquieting evidence of the effect of the mass emigration of children to Canada in the era preceding the 1914-18 war. She also reveals the gulf between Barnardo's present policy of caring for families within the community, and the enclosed world of charity children, expected to know their place, which prevailed until the 1960s.
For thousands of children Dr Barnardo's provided a secure childhood and a start in life.
The majority of the staff worked long hours for a pittance, and the idealism and devotion of both paid staff and the Council, the voluntary governing body, is seen in their endeavour to adapt to a changing world. The book gives a valuable insight into the attitudes and motives of those who sought to rescue the children and of the efforts needed to fund it. Above all, it provides a moving and compelling record of child life in the past 120 years.