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Date Posted: 17:36:23 06/15/06 Thu
Author: John
Subject: Kneesworth Hall

I've just stumbled upon this board. I was sent to Kneesworth Hall in, I think, 1959 or 60, for being "in moral danger" after being sent to remand homes then placed in care of the local authority. I ran away from the childrens homes repeatedly, and I really think they didnt know what to do with me. I was really mentally ill, as a result of the abuse I'd received from paedophiles and from poor family circumstances, but in those days no-one seemd to care very much. I saw a child psychiatrist once, but it all seemed very much like an undesrved punishment to me.

I left Kneesworth (reluctantly) in 1962, and was sent back from whence I came, untreated. I had received some education. I wasn't very popular with the other boys, but remember the staff with affection. I was treated with respect and kindness by them, perhaps for the first time in my life.

I eventually got the treatment I needed, at the Home Office's expense, at Finchden Manor. Anyone interested in that place can find it via google.

When i left Finchden I was 20. I spent some time homeless in Birmingham and London then, through the generosity of friends, got a job, then a place of my own (a bed-sit) and began to build a life.

I've had minor problems with the law in later life, mainly in times of high stress, but nowadays I'm pushing 60 and a respectable member of society.

For me, being sent to approved school was a mixed blessing. I gained a general education, learnt many useful (and legal :)skills, and began to trust adults again. If I'd not have gone, there would have been no way that I could have gone to Finchden, and that saved my life.

If anyone else went to Kneesworth it would be good to compare notes.

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