The front cover of the annual report of East Park Home for Infirm Children for 1900, showing children with aids that had been provided to help them overcome their disabilities.
In 1874 the "Association for Visiting and Aiding the Permanently Infirm and Imbecile Children brought under notice by the School Board Educational Inquiry" was founded, with Alexander Whitelaw MP as president and William Mitchell as secretary and treasurer. Mitchell was the driving force behind the setting up of the new Home that year, in a cottage in Maryhill Road purchased by the Association. By 1903 the number of children that could be accommodated there had risen from fifty to 130, after the erection of new buildings.
East Park Home attempted to meet the needs of children with different types of disabilities. Despite its name it was essentially a hospital, with special facilities such as a play room for younger children and school rooms for older children. Staff wore nursing uniforms. At the beginning of the 21st century the home is a registered charity and is still providing specialist care and education for children with special needs.
Reference: Heatherbank Museum of Social Work, print 948
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow Caledonian University, Research Collections, Heatherbank Museum of Social Work
Keywords:
artificial limbs, charities, children with special needs, children's charities, children's homes, disabled children, East Park Home for Infirm Children, hospitals, nurses, School Board Educational Inquiry, wheelchairs
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