1980s: 'Safe houses' scheme for kids

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THE recent political row over sex offenders and whether they should be cleared to work with children brought back memories of a plan thought up two decades ago in Derbyshire which was intended to protect children from predators.

Back in January 1986, mother-of-two Kathleen Walker, of West Hallam, came up with her own pioneering scheme to help combat child abuse.

She wanted to set up “safe houses” around the area to which children in danger – for example, from strangers in the street – could run.

Seventy five people volunteered to make their homes “safe” havens, but it looked destined for failure when neither the police nor social workers were prepared to vet them.

Police Superintendent Keith Collett, of Ilkeston Police, went to her home to explain they could not get involved because it was not their role to act as watchdogs of society. The police, he said, could find themselves criticised if they disclosed people’s previous criminal records, but he welcomed Mrs Walker’s public-spirited idea.

But Kathleen Walker went ahead anyway, using people she knew had already been police-vetted, like childminders, and distinctive yellow stickers began to appear in the windows of the “safe houses” around West Hallam. But, sadly, they were not there long.

Twenty years on, she admits that it “fizzled out” when all sorts of niggly problems, like making sure stickers were returned when people moved away, began to occur.

“The technicalities were the problem,” said Kathleen (56). “It was a good idea, which I had seen work very well in Canada, and I felt sure that it would here. But it was just too much of a problem without the support of the local authority and the police.

“I was very sorry because I was sure children would feel more secure if they knew there was a safe place to go if they were approached by a stranger.”

She also felt that the publicity surrounding the scheme and the easily spotted yellow window stickers would act as a deterrent to anyone with criminal intentions.

As the years passed, Kathleen would occasionally think of what might have been but, she said, she couldn’t believe it when she heard about the row over a teacher’s name being removed from the sex offenders list so he could work in schools again.

“It’s all about the same thing as the Safe Houses scheme – the safety of children. After Soham, I thought things had been totally tightened up and, when this revelation came, I was shocked.

“I said to my husband ‘How can this sort of thing happen?’ Every parent must feel the same way. What point is there in having a list and then ignoring it?

“I know my scheme didn’t work out, but I do believe it was a good deterrent to anyone who might think of approaching children in the street. Everyone knew these houses were dotted about and it gave the local children some sense of security.”

Now, with her two sons grown up, she has two grandchildren and she says she feels even more strongly about the care of children.

“I just wouldn’t like to be bringing up children in today’s world. It is such a great responsibility in the type of world we all live in. Like many people of my generation, I worry a lot about the way children are brought up.”

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This article is from the Derby Evening Telegraph and is reproduced online here.