Independent Social Work - A Risky Business 2006
Some reflections for the Independents Forum. A book written by myself and other independent social work colleagues.
Published by Venture Press and available from BASW.
Never to Return; The Harrowing True Story of a Stolen Childhood; By Sandy Reid
By Sandy Reid. Pub by Black & White Publishing (2008); £7.99
Many years ago I had the pleasure and privilege of working with a rather special family in Dundee who were offering to care for one of their distant nephews. As part of my work with the family, Sandy Reid, the child’s paternal uncle, told me he was writing a book about his own childhood, and that when he got it published he would send me a copy.
The subject of Sandy’s book was to be about how, as a baby, along with his older sister Maggie, they were removed by the ‘welfare’ from their 'Tinker' parents whilst they were living in the woods. The rationale for their removal was simply that the local authorities wanted to clear the countryside of ‘Tinker’ families and put an end to their nomadic and unconventional lifestyle.
After their removal, Sandy and his sister were denied any form of contact with their parents, other siblings and wider family, and were instead simply left to spend the rest of their childhoods being moved between a succession of various abusive foster and children's homes, before ultimately being separated from each other. Tragically, Sandy’s mother eventually died in the course of her selfless, but still fruitless, life long search around the country trying to locate her two ‘stolen’ children.
Suffice to say, Sandy did complete his book and had it published in October (2008). True to his word, Sandy kindly sent me a copy of his book.
By employing an engaging narrative, Sandy begins his book by explaining the rationale why as part of a wider local authority policy of trying to clear the countryside of ‘Tinker’ families, he and his sister, along with many other ‘Tinker’ children were removed by the ‘welfare’ from their parents, older siblings, and wider family.
Sandy then goes on to paint a graphic and timely reminder to all of us working with children who are 'Looked After' just how vulnerable such children and young people are, how devastating and long lasting broken attachments can be, how frequently the ‘authorities’ let children and young people down, how some people in power abuse their positions and others simply ignore such abuse, how unsubtle but powerful the grooming process can be, how important family contact is for children in helping them to develop their own sense of identity and self worth, (particularly when they are not placed within a permanent family), and how frequently professional aspirations of respect for diversity mask a structural agenda to impose dominant family norms and values on families who are not represented in mainstream.
From my own perspective, Sandy’s courage and willingness to share his story, no doubt helped by the ongoing love and support which he receives from his family; has the potential to inspire us all to renew our efforts to seek genuinely improved outcomes for all of the children and young people we have the privilege to be collectively responsible for.
Eddie O'Hara