The Story of Norwood Jewish Orphanage - Norma Brier's speech at our Annual Seminar on Thursday 9th November 2006.

There are only a handful of Jewish Organisations in existence today that go back as far as the 18th Century. Norwood is one of these, created out of desperate need and based on the principles of charity and concern.

The story begins in the 1790s, in the East End of London, when the influx of Jewish immigrants, increased London’s Jewish population to about 18,000 (under George III). There were sharp economic and social divisions at that time with at one end, incredible poverty and destitution amongst many families - many of whom, had little English and few employment skills- and at the other end, great wealth amongst the more established and influential Jewish members of the community.

Legend has it that a merchant called Abraham Goldschmid would drive his horse and cart through the streets selling pickles. At the end of the day he would load up his cart with children from the streets in Jewish areas and take them to well-off Jewish families for a meal and a bed for the night wherever possible.

News of this exceptional individual and his enormous benevolence spread and an approach was made to the established families (including the Rothschilds, and the Sebag Montefiores) to deal with this situation permanently. Through private donation, enough money was put together to build first of all the Jew’s Hospital for the Aged Poor and the Education and Employment of Youth, in Stepney’s Mile End.  In 1831, a Jewish Orphan Asylum was established and this then moved to Norwood in South London, hence the name. Ten years later, the institution amalgamated with the Jew’s Hospital and it was extended throughout the years in order to meet the needs of the growing numbers of children placed there.

The Orphanage continued to operate until the 1970s, having been renamed the Norwood Jewish Orphanage in 1928 and having had to evacuate all the children to the countryside in 1939 until 1945.

For good or ill, many hundreds of boys and girls were brought up and educated at Norwood as wars separated and killed Parents, Families broke up through poverty or divorce and because of other reasons including parental ill health, illegitimacy and death.

There are still a number of old Norwood ‘scholars’ left. Some will tell you that their experiences were largely positive and that without the help and care they received, they would not have achieved their goals in life. Others, some of whom we still have to support to this day, as they have bad memories of a life in a harsh institution, coupled with the rejection of their birth families, and it still adversely affects their lives today.

By the mid 20th Century, the Jewish community had changed significantly. The socio-political and economic changes led to a migration to more prosperous areas, away from the East End. Also, with more established communities, the need for long-term residential care for children no longer existed, but was sadly replaced by other childcare needs, resulting from the challenges of modern day life, including family breakdown.

In the 1970s, it was therefore decided that the Orphanage should be sold and the proceeds used to buy small houses for children who continued to need residential support, a Mother and Baby Home, and an adolescent unit. In the 1980s, most of these were also sold and non-residential, domiciliary services created to address the growing needs of children affected by disadvantage or disability. Today, only one house still remains for homeless Jewish young people. Other services to children include a registered Jewish fostering and adoption agency, children and family centres offering a wide range of support services to families and children, experiencing difficulties, specialist social work teams, special educational services (through Binoh) and respite care for children with severe disabilities.

Today’s Norwood is a hybrid organisation. It is a combination of several mergers that took place relatively recently, in order to protect services to the most vulnerable members of our community.

In 1996, Norwood merged with Ravenswood, an established and respected organisation caring for children and adults with learning disabilities. Ravenswood’s roots stretched back only as far as the 1950s. Before that, people who had what were then called ‘mental handicaps, were frequently sent to large Victorian hospitals or institutions, where they were kept largely out of sight and out of mind of the general population. In the early 1950s, a group of 4 Parents, 3 of whom were Jewish and 1 non-Jewish, got together to found a Village community in which to build a school and Homes where they could be assured that their disabled children would be properly educated and cared for. This later became known as Ravenswood Village. It is still a vibrant part of our services today and remains a specialist centre for more than 150 people with lds.

The merger between Norwood and Ravenswood was borne, not out of financial necessity, but out of strength. It was felt that by combining expertise and resources, more could be offered to both children and adults in need and it would avoid duplication of resources.

The inclusion of the special educational services of Binoh completed the triangle of services that today makes up the main parts of modern Norwood.

Today, we have continued to build on the 200-year tradition and believe that every individual has the right to determine and realise his or her goals in life. Norwood provides a lifeline of support through its special education, children and family services, fostering and adoption and learning disability services, reaching 7000 families each year and affecting 20,000 lives. We employ 1200 staff to provide these services together with the support of 800 wonderful volunteers.

Our budget is £34million, of which £26million comes from Local Authorities and Government bodies and the remaining £8 million has to be raised through voluntary donations in order to fund the many services that remain unfunded, most of which are for children.

Today, in a nutshell, I have tried to trace Norwood’s development from its roots in 1795, via the Orphanage through to the modern day when it is regarded both nationally and internationally as a leading children and families organisation. All our services, now as then, are provided in traditional, observant Jewish style.

 I cannot believe that the original pioneers of the 18th Century could have possibly envisaged the range of services that would be developed to meet the diverse needs of Jewish children, adults and families in the 21st Century. The name of Norwood is a continuing mark of respect, both for those who established the concept of caring for Jewish children in need and also because, since 1901 Norwood has attracted Royal Patronage and today Her Majesty the Queen remains our Patron, of which we are very proud.

It is always difficult in such a short space of time to do justice to those who worked so tirelessly for change and fought for the rights and improvements that we take for granted today, but we know that without such motivators, the Jewish community would not have become as strong and independent as it has done. Nowadays, Jewish families expect very high quality services from their Jewish organisations and their demands are more complex and the need greater still.

 It is a responsibility that we at Norwood cherish and take extremely seriously. We acknowledge that we are part of a long, proud heritage and our reputation is based on our established record of caring. Norwood’s future will be to continue to build services for the most vulnerable citizens in our community and to secure these in perpetuity for those who will continue to need them.