News
39 years in the life of Bill Brown
Tuesday 15 September 2009
.jpg "Bill Brown")
Reverend Bill Brown has given thirty nine years of his life to CHILDREN 1ST.
Bill is stepping down as Chairman at our AGM on 5 October - 39 years to the day from when he first joined CHILDREN 1ST (then the RSSPCC) as an inspector.
When talking to Bill it is obvious that he has many wonderful memories of the charity. In 1970, when he joined the organisation he was based at the High Street in Edinburgh, which had previously been a children's shelter.
One of the first stories he tells was of the Fringe events in Edinburgh. At first, it's hard to see the connection but Bill went onto explain: "During the festival the courtyard at the High Street office was used for Fringe events. The organisers would set up a stage and seats for the audience. During the performance it was not unusual for mothers with prams to walk through the middle as they were coming to ask for help from the Inspector."
Bill can clearly remember the shocking poverty and levels of deprivation that he saw on a daily basis.
"We would visit homes where there were concerns about a child's welfare. As well as checking on the child, we would also check on the conditions in the home. We always made sure that there was 'food and fire'. If there was open fire, we checked there was a fireguard. For many families the main problem was poverty and we would do our best to help them out. I can't tell you how many mattresses I humphed up flights of stairs. In 1971, I lived on Morrison Street in Edinburgh with my wife and new baby. A few of the neighbours were on 'my books'. I would get a call to say a young child had been left on their own. There were a few times, that my wife was in our house looking after our baby and I'd be in another house looking after someone else's child."
In 1972 Bill was to attend a course that would have a big impact on him and the charity. The course was about working with children. Bill explains what then happened: "The course made me think about what else we could be doing to help children. I have always enjoyed outdoor activities and so I decided to find out if I could develop an outdoor centre. I went to head office to ask about it. They said yes, as long as I did it in my own time and raised the money myself. That was the beginning of the Eddleston outdoor centre in the Borders."
"My parents and my wife's parents ran charity shops to raise the money and our first home was an old showman's caravan. So I was an Inspector during the week and ran the outdoor centre at the weekends." There were other big changes going on at this time with the introduction of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968. This was the beginning of the social work profession, as we know it today.
This meant that the local authorities took on the role that Inspectors had carried out and the work of the RSSPCC began to change. In 1976, Bill went to Moray House to train as a social worker and qualified in 1978. He came back to the RSSPCC as a project development officer. The International Year of the Child was in 1979 and it was in that year CHILDREN 1ST established other outdoors centres and family support centres.
Bill says of that time: "It was a period of new initiatives reflecting our new direction. It was no longer about rescuing children it was about trying to prevent harm and supporting families to care for their children".
In the 1980s, Bill became part of the Executive staff and had responsibility for securing the funding for services. That was when CHILDREN 1ST appointed two directors to explore new sources of funding. In 1983, Bill left CHILDREN 1ST to train as a Minister and study for his Bachelor of Divinity. Thankfully, CHILDREN 1ST wasn't about to lose his knowledge and expertise and he continued to work part time. And with a young family, this suited Bill. It was 1986 when Bill finished his degree and this was the same year that he first became involved in the committees of CHILDREN 1ST. In 2000, Bill became chairman.
Although no longer at the coalface, Bill worked closely with the then Chief Executive, Margaret McKay to get the charity on a better financial footing, ensuring transparent and strategic governance.
When asked about what he hopes for CHILDREN 1ST in the future, Bill went back to a familiar point: "We must continue to speak out on behalf of children. I believe that is what makes CHILDREN 1ST distinctive. When push comes to shove it is the voice of the children we will listen to and articulate their voice."
CHILDREN 1ST owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to the years of service that Bill has given to the charity.
Last updated: Thursday 17 September 2009
