Dr Barnardo 2

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 In 1867 Dr Barnardo went to a Missionary Conference .

At a Missionary conference people would talk about what Missionaries were doing to help the people in China and in Africa.

Dr Barnardo got up and made a speech. He said that as well as thinking about people in places like China and Africa it was important to remember that there were children in Britain who had no homes and did not have enought to eat.   They really must do something to help them. What he said was written in the times newspaper. 

Picture of Dr Barnardo making a speech                                                Picture of a boy selling newspapers.

                                                                                                                                                                                                  Picture of a man reading a newspaper.

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 One of the people who read the paper was Lord Shaftesbury and he was very upset. He sent a message to Dr Barnardo, "Please come to my home and have dinner with me."

He listened very carefully to what Dr Barnardo told him and then he said,"I will give you some money to help you to set up a home for some of these children."

Other rich people also gave money and on the 2nd March 1868 Dr Barnardo had enough money to open a home for some of these children but it took more than 2 years before the home was ready. It opened on the 8th of December 1870.

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At night Dr Barnardo would often go out to see if there were any boys who had nowhere to go. The home was full every night 

Picture of a children's home

 Above the doorway Dr Barnardo put this sign, "No destitute child ever refused admission." This means "If a child has no home he will always be allowed to come here."

Most of the children with no homes were boys but there were a few girls too. One day a little girl called Martha arrived at the home. " She spoke to the lady who was helping Dr Barnardo to look after the home. She said,"Please, do you take in little girls too?" The lady could see that the little girl had no shoes on her feet. Her feet were cut and bleeding. She said that Martha could stay the night. Later on they found someone who would look after her.

 

Later Dr Barnardo started a home specially for girls.

 

Pictures of a boy

On entering a home.    After a few months 

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He needed a lot of money to run these homes. He thought that if people knew that his homes were doing good work and helping the children, they would be happy to give more money so whenever a child came into one of his homes for the first time Dr Barnardo took his photograph.

After a few months the child's photograph was taken again. People could see that when children first came into the home they looked thin and hungry and their clothes were often torn and ragged.

In the photographs that were taken later the children were no longer thin and hungry-looking and they had good clothes.  

Dr Barnardo wanted to make sure that when the children grew up they would be able to get jobs. In Dr Barnardo's homes the girls were taught how to look after a house. This meant that they could get jobs in hotels or look after their own homes if they got married.

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  Each boy was taught a trade. Some learned to be wood cutters. Some learned to be carpenters and make things from wood. Sometimes a boy would be taken on as an apprentice. This meant that he went to work for someone who taught him his trade. A boy might be an apprentice for a carpenter. His job was to help the carpenter. At first he did not earn very much money but he gradually learned how to be a good carpenter himself. He would then earn much more and one day he might even have his own shop.

 

Picture of carpenters at work. 

 Dr Barnardo helped nearly 20 000 children.  There were Barnardo's homes open until the middle of the twentieth century.  Now children without homes are looked after by councils which have children's homes. Barnardo's is still going because they train young people so they can get jobs.

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