Who will cry for the little girl Who was placed in children's care? Who will cry for the little girl Abused again in there? ISN Survivor: from poem 'Gift of Tears'
You, who worked for the authority
Took part in many of the distressing crimes, played around with young human minds
Never did you believe the time would come, when we would grow and move on;
With power to share, stories of time that has now gone.
The borough is aware of what happened and gave an apology as a whole.
They say if you worked in such a place, if you saw or heard of such disgrace,
Don’t be apprehensive. Come forward, speak out
Many of the voices telling the same story can only speak the truth.
ISN Survivor from his poem ‘Shameful Times’.
Full list of 42 Islington Children’s Homes
Click on each home’s link for further information – we are slowly covering every home from our research. This is not an exhaustive list and we do not have a great deal of detail on each home, at the moment. If you could supply further information or pictures please contact us.
The numbers of Islington Children’s Homes may change as work progresses and we learn more about individual homes. More survivors and witnesses are coming forward all the time which helps piece all the information together.
Angle Ways, Stevenage
17 Ardilaun Road, N5
Ashbrooke, 103 Park Avenue, Enfield, Middlesex
Ashley Road, London N19
Colgrain, 1 Dukes Avenue, Muswell Hill, N10 2PS
2 and 158 Collins Meadow, Hare Street, Harlow, Essex
14 Conewood Street / Park Place, Islington N5 1DL
Copthorne, 16-18 Village Road, Enfield, Middlesex
Dixton, Hadley Common, Barnet EN5 5QG
1 and 3 Elwood Street, Islington N5 1EB (demolished)
Gisburne House, 95 Gammons Lane, Watford, Hertfordshire (demolished)
Gorsefield House, Stansted, Essex
114 Grosvenor Avenue, Islington N5 2NY
60 Hare Street Springs, Hare Street, Harlow, Essex
71 Hemingford Road, Islington
11-12 Highbury Crescent, Islington N5 1RU
18 Highbury Grove, Islington N5 1HJ (known as the hostel)
29 Highbury New Park, Islington N5 2EN
80 Highbury New Park, Islington N5 2DJ
Holmleigh, 35 Solna Road, Winchmore Hill, N21
66 Hydean Way, Leaves Spring, Stevenage, Hertfordshire
44 Islington Park Street, Islington N1 1PX
75a Mildmay Park, Islington N1 4NB (known as Mac’s hostel)
35a Mildmay Park across the road from 75a Mildmay Park
132 Mildmay Road, Islington N1 4NE
17 and 28 The Muntings, Leaves Spring, Stevenage, Hertfordshire
New Park House, 1 Hanyards Lane, Cuffley, Hertfordshire
26-28 Northampton Park, Islington N1 2PJ
13 and 342 Northbrooks, Hare Street, Harlow, Essex
Oak Lodge, 32 Alexandra Rd, Wood Green, N8 0PN
26 and 39 Peartree Way, Leaves Spring, Stevenage, Hertfordshire
52-6 Ryecroft, Hare Street, Harlow, Essex
11 Sheringham Road, Islington N7 (demolished)
35 Solna Road, Winchmore Hill, N21
The Beeches, Suffolk (Islington and other Boroughs sent children here)
13 Torrington Park, North Finchley, London N12
Widbury House, Ware, Herts
Audit of children’s homes 1972-3 Council Minutes
Council Records on Numbers in LBI Care
1975: 562 children in and out of borough in residential placements. 33% in borough. 11 homes for 188 children in Islington (written on above map). 8 homes for 72 children in other London Boroughs. 14 homes for 144 children out of London. 158 children in voluntary sector homes. 219 foster homes in 9 Dec 1974). 9 adoptions between April 73 and March 74.
The above minutes record the number of children taken into care in 1978 as 376. The numbers who ran away is significant and supports survivor evidence of them running to escape abuse.
An Islington Council Newsletter dated 12.02.1981 stated that the number of children resident in children’s homes run by Islington had fallen from 270 to 240, which differs from the above.
12.3.81: A Guardian article ‘Children back strike by officers‘ reported 7 homes on strike and 23 not on strike – a total at that time of 30 Islington run homes.
1982-5: Council minutes stated, ‘the closure of our suburban out of London homes is now advanced’. The numbers in care had dropped from 788 (1982) to 547 (1985)
1982: LBI Residential children’s homes: 267, Private and Voluntary children’s homes: 39, Fostercare: 328, Home on Trial 39 TOTAL 788
1985: LBI Residential children’s homes: 145, Private and Voluntary children’s homes: ?, Fostercare: 293, Home on Trial 57 TOTAL 547
In 1990 Islington Council wrote that there were 100 children in residential care. It was said that this was half the number of a decade before (Islington Gazette 31.05.1990 ‘No place like home’).
In 1998, a report said there was no evidence of abuse of the “41 young residents” in Islington Council’s “seven children homes” (see article below). The authority had drastically reduced the number of children’s homes which they owned and managed.
Black and Ethnic Minority children in residential care.
Very little documentation is available other than the council minutes of 1986 which cite 50% of children in residential care as being of ‘black and other ethnic minority origin’. It is unlikely that this statistic includes foster care but it states that only 25% of ‘officer staff’ are from similar backgrounds. It is unclear who are ‘officer staff’. Survivors have consistently spoken to ISN about racism in all settings and their comments are included where they belong in the named homes and in foster placements.
The Black and In Care conference 1984 (see this link for more information about this conference) made the recommendations listed below. Young people from Islington children’s homes played a key role in that conference but their views went unheard.
All these points were relevant to Islington Social Services and the care system at the time. Racism by staff towards children was not addressed by management, children were disconnected from their history and cultural backgrounds, there were very few black staff working in the children’s homes, children were split from their families and especially from siblings and they were sent to placements in white rural communities where they were racially abused in the homes, schools and communities. As an exception (Point 3) some few children did receive funding to visit the countries of their origin.
POLICY
The use of TIME OUT between residential establishments: 1985
TIME OUT is often cited on files as a reason to move a child from one home to another following an incident and then they could remain in another home without returning to the home they had been in. This could be used when a child was disclosing abuse in one home to move them to another quickly to disorientate and confuse them.
Permitted sanctions in Islington children’s homes 25.2.92
Islington Survivors Network 