So what about the residents...the children who lived side by side for years (XX & XX XXXXXXX Road) and then collectively when the local authority had the sense to join the homes together. At this point I would state that most of them seemed to be a common fixture, with only a handful moving on whilst I was there. What the reader must understand is that if you were in a children's home there are three avenues you could go down. The first, and this was the dream of most of us, would be to secure placements with foster carers. The second, and perhaps most unlikely, is that you return to your biological parents or other blood relatives. The final, and in my experience most common avenue, is that you remain in the children's home, perhaps being moved on to another home that specialises in looking after children until they could officially leave care. In my area this home was known as XXXXX, and eventually it became a home for my sister. This type of care yielded little prospects for those who were resident there...on many occasions I 'heard' of kids who had left there to commit crime, or wandered the streets without any accommodation or employment.
It did not take me long to settle at the home and make new friends. I was still at the same primary school and the stigma of not living with my parents had not kicked in at school. I gradually became used to the strict regime they operated, including set mealtimes, set bedtimes and rules that were enforced by the threat of punishment. We even had set bath nights, and favourite members of staff who would tuck us in at night!! There were in place set dormitories for the boys and girls, and I even remember the first person I shared a room with..Ian, or as we used to call him 'rubber lips.' Of course we used to crawl to the ends of our beds and chat until we fell asleep, sometimes getting caught out by the staff, but after a while he disappeared, and from what I remember he acquired a foster placement. He was to be replaced with someone whom I considered to be my best friend whilst I was in care, Jason.
I still have vivid memories of the first time Jason entered the home...a small brown haired boy (about eleven years old, I was about ten) who wore thick rimmed spectacles and had a bit of a squint. As he arrived he sat at the dinner table next to me. He was quite obviously scared and had not touched the food on his plate. In my best BA Barracus voice I picked up some food and uttered 'Hey sucker, take a bite.' His past is somewhat a grey area, we all knew we were there because of a broken family yet to this day I do not know the circumstances as to why he ended up at the home. For the two or so years we spent together we became the best of friends, in fact I would say we became inseparable, experiencing many highs and lows, and getting into a fair amount of trouble along the way!! I can even remember getting my first real punch of him. This occurred following a fall out. I walked to school on one side of the road and he, and another resident we called nosey parker, walked on the other. After much taunting Jason walked calmly across the road and punched me in the face, before continuing on his way. Later that day we had made up, yet a shift in power had quite obviously occurred.
I think that 'nosey parker' was about 14 years old and seemed to be biding his time until he could leave the home at sixteen. However it transpired that he didn't quite get his wish in that he managed to get a foster placement...never to be seen by me again. So what about the other residents? There was an older male whom I knew as Stubbsy, he must have been about fifteen or sixteen, yet I cannot remember when his care order expired and even how long he stayed at the home. I can remember him getting arrested, and being returned to the home after a spell in the local YOI . Indeed it was he who invented my nickname, the professor, due to the glasses I wore. It seemed that Stubbsy had come to terms with the fact that he would not be returning to his family, and had planned a life around offending, yet his attitude towards the rest of the children was a positive one in that he would encourage us to avoid offending and tell us to stick with school and do well. Another lad who sticks firmly in my mind was Kevin, a ginger haired diabetic who was often the butt of our jokes. He used to have two little lumps either side of his belly button where he injected his insulin, and spiked ginger hair. I recall Stubbsy often taking the Mick, uttering the words 'Bladsey show off' in his zippee voice (Rainbow) whilst emphatically spiking his hair. In fact one day I recall Kevin had experienced his first relationship and had written a song, that went something like... 'cos ive got a beautiful girlfriend, and her name is Amanda...and I'll never ever leave her...not even for a million..." He used to sing this whilst playing a few chords on a guitar..and we all used to take the Mick out of him. This was compounded by the fact that she dumped him after hearing his song...saying that he was too weird for her!
Another lad, who we will know as Chetwood, provided yet another amusing story. This guy was again older than myself, perhaps fifteen, and was being taught to fend for himself. Part of this involved the setting up of an enclosure for him in the dining room...a sort of mini flat consisting of a chair, television, table. It was his living quarters so to speak, yet for me the thing that stuck in my memory was the chair. Over a period of a month I can always remember looking at his armchair and discovering a great dirty greasemark where his head would have rested!!! He left shortly afterwards and I dread to think whether the skills he learned in our establishment actually benefited him!!! On the male side I can only recall few others...the skillen brothers and one Mr Huddlestone. This guy would sit in the garden and pick insects legs and wings, eat insects and generally do anything vulgar that was asked of him. These guys lived next door (XX) and by the time we joined as one Huddlestone had gone!!
There were of course females resident in the home, my sister being but one. My sister seemed to pal up with a girl roughly the same age, Sharon. These two were thick as thieves, yet this was a girl with whom I would experience my first relationship encounter with!!! The other resident girls tended to be a lot older, around the ages of fourteen and fifteen. My main memory was of three particular girls who hung around together, Suzanne, Tracey and Sam. They seemed to take on a mothering role, and comforted us when they were not getting into trouble themselves!! They were joined some time later by Stephanie, whom I took an immediate liking too. She was attractive, headstrong and had plenty of time for me. On one particular evening I was awoken by the closing of the security door in the boys dorm, and an opening of my door. Steph and Tracey burst in and kissed us goodnight...this was a raid on our dorm and than ran around the corridor until I heard the staff come running up the stairs. I remember pretending to be asleep when the staff walked in, but they knew and proceeded to strip our beds, and telling us to make them. This was of course another favourite punishment for them to dish out!!
One of the advantages of living in a children's home has to be Christmas. There are many families who cannot afford to lavish their children with gifts and trips out, yet for the local authority this was not a problem. Every year our Christmas would begin with a trip to the theatre to watch a pantomime, which we all loved. I remember my first Christmas well....we were asked by the staff to make our Christmas list of things that we wanted, and amongst many items I listed was an Everton Football kit. I was an avid Everton fan and mad on football, I had completed pannini sticker albums, scrap books and was a member of the official fan club. My walls were plastered with posters and autographs of the likes of Kevin Sheedy, Derek Mountfield, Gary Stevens, Trevor Steven and Neville Southall (to name but a few). My best friend, Jason, was an avid Liverpool supporter and he too had listed a Liverpool kit. Christmas eve was the only night of the year that we all wanted to go to bed before our set times, and the excitement was fever pitch. On reflection I feel that this was the only period of the year when none of us asked the question as to why we didn't have a family, and/or why we couldn't spend time with our own families. On this first particular Christmas I remember getting to sleep late and being woken up early by the staff. We all ran downstairs and were greeted by numerous bin liners stuffed with presents.
Within five minutes I had my Everton kit on....and Jason too was wearing his Liverpool kit. We stood opposed and I do remember that photographs were taken....I only wish that I had that photograph to include in this website. For those moments all of the resident children were extremely happy and very excited...yet the fun did not stop there. Many other organisations got themselves involved with the children's home, most notably the British Lions club and the local RAF base. At the time it was something I more or less took for granted. The lions provided us with presents and food, and the local RAF sent a group of its lads over to mix with the children. One year we were all taken to the local RAF base and I remember us all sat in a circle in a tent with the RAF guys, of which one was dressed as Santa Clause. We would take it in turns to sit on his knee and receive our presents, and if I remember rightly this was followed by a party. Looking back I feel that the involvement of the RAF was a great gesture, and those involved enjoyed the mix just as much as the kids!!! This local base must have come onto the scene about a year after I arrived, and whilst I am unaware as to how they linked up with my children's home, I have some great memories of contact with them.
There were of course great days out at the base, particularly on open days, when were literally treated like royalty. Myself and Jason formed a special bond with two of the guys, whom I knew as Stan and Tarmac. They were great individuals, and spent many an hour with us. This included taking us out on day trips, playing football with us, and even reading us bed time stories!! A particular favourite story came from a book I received from my grandparents which included a story entitled 'Ishun Bros...The insulin.' Whilst neither of us understood the title (I still don't) it was about a little boy named inculin, and we of course applied the character to Bladsey (one of the residents I mentioned earlier). The RAF guys must have thought we were mad, yet all me and Jason could do was laugh.
The new year gave way to new hopes. Im sure that it wasn't until the second year that I finally began thinking about mine and Joanne's chances of being fostered. The fact that my dad was living across the road from the home in a three bedroom house with his second wife and young daughter should have had a negative impact upon us. We rarely visited the house (despite the fact it was only yards away) yet I did not for one minute think that there was a possibility that our own father could accommodate us. As the year progressed I noticed for the first time that a process was ongoing...prospective foster parents would visit the home and take their chosen children away for a few hours. They would again visit and take the children again, and then overnight, and then permanently. I remember the Skillen brothers gaining a foster placement in late July, and that exact process occurring. I felt that me and my sister had little chance of gaining a foster family as we were two, yet seeing the skillen brothers gave me new hope.
In my final year at the home I left primary school (reluctantly) and prepared for my step up to 'big school.' My primary school years were happy ones, and on my last school year I recall being the captain of my house (The Romans), winning numerous medals at my school sports day and the overall award for best house team. In fact I remember that I had one rival whom I knew would beat me in the long distance race, and so I said to him that if we ran together and drew that race then we would both get a medal...and he agreed. As the race progressed we ran side by side, yet I kicked on wanting the glory for myself. Shaun (the guy) saw this move and just destroyed me....I was gutted. I suppose I wasn't that nervous about starting secondary school as I already knew a lot of people who were already there...those whom I lived with.
:From what I can remember I was barely four months into my first year at school when my keyworker at the time, Karen, told me that she had some news for me and my sister.....we had possibly been found some foster parents......