03.06.22. Islington Tribune. Abuse survivors ‘left out’ of support payments
by Anna Lamche
As the Town Hall opens its long-awaited support payment scheme for the survivors of Islington’s child abuse scandal, only some of those who suffered can breathe “a sigh of relief”.
Those who experienced abuse – be it emotional, sexual, physical abuse or neglect – in an Islington care home between 1966 and 1995 can now apply for a £10,000 “support payment” from the council. Survivors have two years to make their applications via an online form.
However, according to Megan*, an abuse survivor and co-ordinator of Islington Survivors Network (ISN), many people who were abused in the council’s care system have been “left out” of the payments. In 1970, Megan was just six months old when she was put into an Islington care home in Muswell Hill. Shortly after, she was moved to Harlow in Essex and split up from her siblings. “We never lived together again after that,” Megan said. “That was very common in those days.”
All three siblings experienced abuse at the hands of Islington’s care system. While Megan was placed into a care home, one of her sisters was put straight into a foster home and the other was placed in a hostel.
As the Town Hall launched its “support payment” scheme on Tuesday, Megan’s family story serves as a stark reminder of those who will miss out on the payment. Because she was placed in an Islington home, Megan can claim the payment – but her two siblings, who were placed in foster care and hostels respectively, cannot.
“They’re not entitled to the money,” Megan said. “You have to have lived in an Islington children’s home [to be eligible].
“But we can’t forget that Islington placed 15-year-olds in hostels with drug abusers and people coming out of prison. They won’t take responsibility for whatever happened in those hostels, even though Islington social workers placed those children there.
“The same goes for foster parents – they were trained by Islington, they were paid by Islington, they underwent regular reviews by Islington. And again, they’ve decided no: they’re not going to pay this money to children who were abused by their foster parents. “Islington Council took these children away from their parents, because they said it was the best thing. And they placed them with foster parents who abused them for 10 years. How is it possible that Islington isn’t taking responsibility for that?”
Megan has also said the £10,000 support payment will inspire “people that would never normally come forward to come forward now”. In this context, she hopes the council has “extra provisions” to give support to everyone who needs it.
Megan encourages anyone who would like to discuss the support scheme to “have a cup of tea” with ISN. The service is run by two survivors and Dr Liz Davies, who has “all of the historical context and all of the information that’s needed”.
Responding to Megan’s concerns, an Islington Council spokesperson said: “The Islington Support Payment Scheme was specifically designed for survivors who suffered abuse when placed by Islington in its children’s homes.
“The scheme is legally complex and it has taken significant legal, actuarial and financial input to get to the stage where we can launch it. “All abuse is absolutely and equally legitimate and valid. We are conscious of the length of time it has taken to create this very complex scheme, and do not want to delay it any longer for these survivors. Further work would have to be carried out to ascertain if a foster care scheme would be viable.
“As a minimum, the council’s wider support available for survivors – which includes trauma support – will be available over the duration of the payment scheme.
“We recognise that this may be the first time that people are making contact with our support team; the scheme has been designed to offer support at every stage of the process. Those working on the scheme are experienced in social care and support in Islington.”
Leader of Islington Council, Cllr Kaya Comer-Schwartz, said: “We’re deeply sorry for the council’s past failure to protect vulnerable children in its children’s homes, which was the worst chapter in this council’s history. “I’d like to thank the very many people, especially those directly affected by abuse and groups who support them, who have contacted us with questions and feedback throughout the development of the scheme, and who continue to help shape it.”
*Name has been changed
23.02.24. Islington Gazette.Islington: Man says he was abused in Northampton Park home
Exclusive by Charles Thomson, Investigations Reporter
‘Max’ says he was placed in Northampton Park children’s home, Canonbury – but Islington Council appears to have lost his care file (Image: Charles Thomson)
A man calling for support after he was left addicted to drugs after years of abuse in children’s homes found his care records had been lost.
Max – not his real name – says he was placed in two Islington Council children’s homes in the 1990s, where children and staff used drugs and he lived in fear of sexual assault. But when he applied for his care records to support his bid for a £10,000 payout, the council could not find them.“This is potentially very serious,” said Dr Liz Davies, of the Islington Survivors Network (ISN). Councils are supposed to keep the records of looked after children for 75 years.
Dr Davies said she had referred several people with missing or incomplete files to a lawyer to see whether a legal action could be brought. Islington Council would not comment on Max’s case, but said applicants to the support scheme did not necessarily need their care records. However, Dr Davies said other applicants whose records were missing or incomplete had been turned down.
‘Children smoked crack’
Max said he was taken into care in 1993 and placed in the former Northampton Park children’s home, near Canonbury station. He said some staff there openly smoked cannabis and permitted children in their care to smoke cigarettes and other substances.He was given hashish, he alleged, and witnessed other children using crack cocaine.
The former children’s home at Northampton Park, near Canonbury station, is now private residential building (Image: Charles Thomson)
He was neglected, he claimed, with nobody noticing conditions he was later diagnosed with disorders like dyslexia and ADHD, which impacted his education. He left school with no qualifications.
The home was also rife with rumours of sexual abuse, he said. “Other kids told me something bad was happening in the home,” said Max. “They said to keep away from certain people.” At night, he claims, he would put furniture against his door and was frightened to go to sleep.
Heroin addiction
Max said he was later moved to another children’s home and got no help finding accommodation after turning 18.His adulthood has been marred by heroin addition, which sabotaged his career in IT, and failed relationships. At one point, he lived in a hostel.
Only now he is clean and sober has he joined the dots between his childhood trauma and his destructive drug use.“I was trying to forget,” he said.
Max, now in his 40s, still lives in north London – but has had a chaotic adulthood, marred by heroin addiction and depression. He is now clean and sober, and wants Islington Council to offer redress for the impact of his alleged childhood abuse (Image: Charles Thomson)
He now has constant pain in the left side of his body, which he believes is linked to his past heroin use.
He also has depression – not helped, he said, by living in a rented studio flat so dilapidated that he can’t use his own bathroom. He has to visit a relative daily to use theirs. He is on the council’s bidding list for a one-bedroom flat, but several thousand places from the top.
Missing file
After admitting and apologising for decades of abuse in its former children’s homes, Islington Council set up the Support Payment Scheme, offering £10,000 to survivors.
Dr Davies helps survivors obtain their care records and file applications.The Arrangements for Placement of Children Regulations 1991 say case files should be kept until the looked-after child’s 75th birthday – but Max’s cannot be found.
“It’s important to note that we do not require a care file to be supplied as part of an application for the support payment scheme,” a council spokesperson said. “We don’t want potential applicants to be dissuaded from applying.”
But Dr Davies said some previous applicants have been rejected under similar circumstances.
Max returned to the former children’s home with the Islington Gazette. He said the £10,000 support payment would help get his life back on track (Image: Charles Thomson)
In January, the Gazette reported on Zara, also not her real name, who was rejected after receiving an incomplete care file.
Like Zara, Dr Davies said Max’s memories – the names of staff and children at Northampton Park, and his descriptions of what happened there – are corroborated by other survivors. But Zara was still turned down and told to apply to an appeal panel if she wanted to pursue payment.
The same happened to another applicant, Tony Darke, even with a care file.
Whistleblowing former Islington social worker Liz Davies said she had referred the cases of several people with missing files to a lawyer, to see whether legal action could be mounted over the apparent legal breaches (Image: Charles Thomson)
Max’s Dream
If Max received the £10,000, he said, he would first book some private therapy – something he started once before but could not really afford.“If you want it on the NHS you have to wait forever and you might die before you ever get treated,” he said.
He says he would then invest in some IT training to try to get his career back on track.“I think the main thing I need is to find a nine-to-five job,” he said. “The payment would definitely improve some things in my life. It’s not something that would go to waste.”
Once he is back on his feet, he said, he would like to help other recovering addicts get their lives back on track.
The payment scheme is open to applications until May. Visit www.islingtonsupportpayment.co.uk.
Islington Survivors Network 