Home Depot

the other day. what someone else said.

When Thomas John Barnardo was born in Dublin in 1845 no one could

have predicted that he would become one of the most famous men in

Victorian Britain. At the age of 16, after converting to Protestant

evangelicalism he decided to become a medical missionary in China and

so set out for London to train as a doctor.

The London in which Thomas Barnardo arrived in

1866 was a city struggling to cope with the effects

of the Industrial Revolution. The population had

dramatically increased and much of this increase

was concentrated in the East End, where

overcrowding, bad housing, unemployment,

poverty and disease were rife. A few months after

Thomas Barnardo came to London an outbreak of

cholera swept through the East End killing more than 3,000 people and

leaving families destitute. Thousands of children slept on the streets and

many others were forced to beg after being maimed in factories.

In 1867, Thomas Barnardo set up a ragged school in the East End, where

poor children could get a basic education. One evening a boy at the

Mission, Jim Jarvis, took Thomas Barnardo around the East End showing

him children sleeping on roofs and in gutters. The encounter so affected

him he decided to devote himself to helping destitute children.

In 1870, Barnardo opened his first home for boys in Stepney Causeway.

He regularly went out at night into the slum district to find destitute boys.

One evening, an 11-year old boy, John Somers (nicknamed 'Carrots') was

turned away because the shelter was full. He was found dead two days

later from malnutrition and exposure and from then on the home bore the

sign 'No Destitute Child Ever Refused Admission'.

Victorians saw poverty as shameful as a result of laziness or vice.

However Thomas Barnardo accepted all children and stressed that every

child deserved the best possible start in life, whatever their background -

a philosophy that still inspires the charity today.

Barnardo later opened the Girls' Village Home in Barkingside, a collection

of cottages around a green, which housed 1,500 girls. By the time a child

left Barnardo's they were able to make their own way in the world - the

girls were equipped with domestic skills and the boys learnt a craft or

trade.

Thomas Barnardo strongly believed that families were the best place to

bring up children and he established the first fostering scheme when he

boarded out children to respectable families in the country. He also

introduced a scheme to board out babies of unmarried mothers. The

mother went into service nearby and could see her child during her time

off.

1905-1939 -- The charity after Thomas Barnardo's death

By the time Thomas Barnardo died in 1905, the

charity he founded ran 96 homes caring for

more than 8,500 children. Residential care

emphasised children's physical and moral

welfare rather than their emotional wellbeing.

Some homes housed hundreds of children and

staff were sometimes harsh and distant. Many

adults who grew up in the homes look back with

affection and believe the charity was a true

family. Others remember loneliness, bullying

and even abuse.

Child emigration was extended to Australia after the First World War as it

was still seen as an appropriate response to the social problems of the day,

even if by today's standards the practice seems cruel. These ideas

continued largely unchallenged until after the Second World War when the

emphasis shifted towards keeping children and their families together in

the community.

1945- 1960 -- The charity after the War

The war marked a turning point in Barnardo's development and the

history of childcare in the UK. Evacuation brought 'charity children' and

'ordinary' middle and upper class families into contact with each other and

they gained a greater understanding of their circumstances. The

disruption of war also improved understanding of the impact of family

break ups and effects on children brought up away from home.

Then in 1946, a national report (The Curtis Report) on children 'deprived

of a normal home life' was published, prompting a revolution in childcare.

For the first time, children were acknowledged as the nation's

responsibility. This report paved the way for the Children's Act of 1948,

which placed the duty of caring for homeless children and those in need

on local authorities.

So, during the 1940's and 1950's Barnardo's began working more closely

with families. The charity awarded grants to families in difficulties because

the breadwinner was unable to work due to illness or an accident. In the

mid 1950's it developed a scheme to house whole families affected by ill

health, housing problems, unemployment and crime. By the end of the

decade almost a quarter of the charity's work involved helping children to

stay with their own families.

1960-1999 -- Changing times

The 1960s were a time of radical change for Barnardo's. Single

parenthood was becoming more acceptable; greater use of contraception

meant that there were fewer unwanted children and improved social

security benefits meant that it was no longer necessary for parents to

hand over their children to Barnardo's because they could not afford to

care for them.

These developments and the changes in legislation

meant that the number of children received by

Barnardo's was decreasing and so a commitment was

made to cut down on residential services and develop

new work with disabled children and those with

emotional and behavioural problems. To reflect this,

the charity changed its name in 1966 from Dr

Barnardo's Homes to Dr Barnardo's. By the end of the

decade plans were made to close down large numbers

of homes and to convert them into specialist units.

In the 1990s, society became aware, through a number of high profile

criminal investigations and public enquiries, that a significant number of

children in residential care homes in the UK during the last century were

victims of physical and sexual abuse, neglect and discrimination. Some of

those children were among the 350,000 cared for in Barnardo's homes

between the 1870s and 1980s. Barnardo's deeply regrets the

maltreatment which some children suffered.

Where allegations of abuse are brought to our attention, Barnardo's

immediately informs the police and co-operates fully in any subsequent

investigation. Our Making Connections service specialises in providing

those who were in Barnardo's care with access to their records, and

offering support to those trying to come to terms with their past -

particularly those going through a process of disclosure of abuse.

Today we know how institutional care can rarely be a substitute for a

proper family life, hence our shift of focus to working with families and

communities. But, in the circumstances of the time, we believe that the

vast majority of those in Barnardo's care had a more positive experience

and received a better preparation for life than they would have done

without the part that Barnardo's played in their lives.

From the 1970s onwards, Barnardo's continued to expand its work in

fostering and adoption, and family centres were set up in communities to

support families in deprived areas. They set out to help families facing

problems such as unemployment, poor health, bad housing and poverty,

with the aim of defusing the stress and tension that might lead to family

breakdown and child abuse.

In 1988 the organisation changed its name from Dr Barnardo's to

Barnardo's to reflect the contrast with its Victorian past. The last

traditional-style home closed in 1989.

Barnardo's pioneered schemes for young juveniles and disabled children

and throughout the 1980s and 1990s developed new areas of work in

response to public concern over issues such as child sexual abuse,

homelessness and children affected by HIV/AIDS.

21

st Century -- What Barnardo's does now

Today we continue Thomas Barnardo's work

and Barnardo's is a leading children's charity

working directly with over 110,000 children,

young people and their families every year.

Today, we run 394 vital projects across the UK

to help some of the most vulnerable children

and young people believe in themselves.

Our projects work with lots of issues; from

family drug misuse to disability; from youth

crime to mental health; from sexual abuse to

domestic violence. Barnardo's believes we can

bring out the best in every child, and that all

children deserve the chance to fulfil their

potential.

We use our expertise and knowledge to campaign for better care for

children, and to champion the rights of every child. We also run award

winning advertising campaigns to help us spread the word about

vulnerable children.

Find out more at

barnardos.org.uk

Yes, there are 3 Home Depots in the immediate Charleston, SC area and many just a few miles down the road in Summerville, North Charleston, Hanahan, etc.

In Charleston the Home Depot is located on:

• Magwood Rd
• Northwood Blvd
• Sam Rittenberg Blvd