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When Allan Jenkins embarked on his gardening memoir Plot 29, he found himself writing about the helplessness of seed just three paragraphs in and was prompted to revisit his unsettled past, growing up in foster care in south Devon with his older brother Christopher. He advocates for children in the local authority's care and is involved in organisations concerning their welfare. The internationally acclaimed poet and playwright Lemn Sissay OBE shares the story of his life by recalling five memorable dishes. The level of invisibility of the issues facing young people leaving care has not fundamentally altered in the past 20 years., Theres still a very clear judgment passed when people hear you say, I was in care, says Akiya Henry. Written with all the lyricism and power you would expect from one of the nation's . Now hes written a lyrical memoir describing his experiences, Lemn Sissay, poet, performer and chancellor at the University of Manchester, was born in Billings Hospital near St Margarets House for pregnant unmarried girls and women in Wigan, Greater Manchester, to an Ethiopian student on 21 May 1967. The poemEmperors Butterfly Makerpaid tribute to the artists and entertainers who fill our leisure time he reminded the audience that once we have made our money we turn to music or poetry or art or literature, all of which have been imagined by someone. He loved his parents, he says, but at the time there were no black kids around. I know so many care-experienced people whove had that further experience of being homeless, being a rough sleeper, living in hostels, sofa-surfing, all that kind of stuff.. He is in two minds about searching for his birth parents. Just before leaving the house, Mum looked at me. Yes, you did.. He rebelled against the system and later ended up in detention centres and prisons, dealing with drug addiction. The summer variety show hes directing with his students at Bird College, in Sidcup, south-east London, includes a song from the pickpocketing musical Oliver!, poignantly titled Boy for Sale. They told me they were my parents forever. My grandad had a cottage in Lochinver we would visit in the summer holidays and at Easter. It was the end of December 1979 and I was excited when I entered the front room for the family meeting. My parents were amazing, but their colour-blind approach wasnt representative of societys view of me., There are at least two kinds of narratives about being in care, says Sylvan Baker. In. A school report calling the boy "a ray of sunshine" is probed for racist overtones, and happily exonerated. We were very secure in our upbringing. But he did accidentally come across his birth name: Christopher Goldsmith. And in the Baptist faith a sinner must ask forgiveness for his sins. Poet Lemn Sissay says he felt obliged to accept his OBE because the award honours his younger self who overcame a "dehumanising" time in care. Over the next few weeks the childrens home filled up with mainly teenagers. Postscript: After Woodfields, Lemn Sissay was sent to two more childrens homes. Writer and national campaigner for young people in care, Chris Wild has written two books about his experiences in care, Damaged and The State of It, and has spent the past decade campaigning to improve the care system. A social worker placed Lemn with white Christian foster parents, David and Catherine Greenwood, who lived in Ashton-in-Makerfield. She is now a psychodynamic psychotherapist and the director of two companies. These are social graces that help us to move on.. My own success happened in spite of my time in care, not because of it. Raise me with sunshine, bathe me in light: Lemn Sissay. My mother was a manic depressive, so I was in and out of care. An encounter with Sylvester Stallone in the Sinai desert, while working as an extra on Rambo III, prompted Mark Riddell to turn his turbulent care experience into a force for change. But success is not about being the lord mayor, she told a group of care leavers recently. In the process of tracking down his birth parents, which is ongoing, Chris Fretwell learned that he was given up for adoption to cover up a family scandal: his parents were first cousins. Her adoption broke down when she was nine and she moved through various childrens homes around Manchester until leaving care at 17 because I came out as a lesbian and it was a Catholic childrens home. My name, my brother . Becoming a young parent motivated her to return to education as an adult. Lemn Sissay was stolen by the state. Ive loved mussels ever since. Ive collected a lot of names along the way and almost everyone I asked said they would come if they possibly could, he says. It was actually seeing Lemn [Sissay] perform that helped me realise that you could talk about it. Sheen has made a documentary about her experience, a powerful study of cultural displacement and linguistic disenfranchisement called Abandoned Adopted Here. He learned that his real name was not Norman. That was strange for a while. I know I was lucky, I was loved, he says. I loved him. Lemn Sissay reads from his new collection, Gold From the Stone, at Musicport festival in Whitby, 21-23 October, The poet talks about how his foster parents put him into care at the age of 12 and left him there, and finding his birth mother, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, Lemn Sissay They treated me as if I was a Trojan horse sent into the family to destroy it., Lemn Sissay: My foster parents were good people who did bad things. Several people point out that they are the lucky ones anyone who has been in a care home will know many who fell by the wayside. So it didnt just have to be: this is your problem. We fought with unbridled determination the way brothers do. He learned that his real name was not Norman. I loved school. Audio CD. These experiences have shaped who I am today, an independent woman, passionate about my career and working with local authorities in Greater Manchester to ensure every young person has a voice, choice and control over decisions made about them., Psychodynamic psychotherapist and director of Integrated Minds and Artists on the Couch. Mr Sissay, who grew up in the care system, shared his concerns after a report, published by the. 19 April 1978: There is a letter on file from Normans mother, written in 1968, requesting he be returned to her in Ethiopia perhaps Norman should be made aware of this? Social workers report, on which someone has written in block capitals, NOT YET I THINK. Mum had always said that love was never in question. Thats all I knew. It was amazing to be seen, says Olumide Popoola about some of the social workers who helped her through care in Germany. LEMN SISSAY. 248 ratings29 reviews. This is Lemn's story: a story of neglect and determination, misfortune and hope, cruelty and triumph. Adopted as a baby, Jeanette Winterson grew up in a strict Pentecostalist family in Lancashire. Theres a sort of stoicism, he says, of how the experience shaped him. Today we stand proud as care leavers and remove societys stigma. Brown defied expectations by progressing to university and getting a Masters. My mother had schizophrenia, I had a stepfather who was very violent to my mother and to me. I would narrate the game against Christopher, my invisible brother and Id let him win. It took her nine years before she revealed who his father was and Lemn discovered he had been a pilot for Ethiopian Airlines and had died in a crash in 1974. They include Olympic medallist Kriss Akabusi; novelist Jeanette Winterson; the comedian and Observer columnist Stewart Lee, and the Turner prize-nominated photographer and film-maker Zarina Bhimji. Answering questions, he said he is still angry but now it is more defined and he does not maintain the same anger of his youth. I spent my life searching for my birth family. I loved my family. Just me. The abuse she endured, none of which came from her own family, was incomprehensible and frightening, she says. Why would the social worker, Jean Jones, say that my mum and dad are seen by Norman as his parents? Once her pregnancy became known, she was moved from Bracknell, Berkshire to Plodder Lane, Bolton. It was only recently that one of her brothers acknowledged what shed gone through and apologised for failing to confront it. One thing many share is dark memories of the shame and stigma they suffered. Most children in care have someone they can call family. He spent his childhood moving between different carers after his mother was killed by his father in 1966. Moving unexpectedly from subject to subject, he thanked the girls for producing such wonderful flags devoted to his poetry which he had seen on the English corridor and said had truly moved him. The journey took about 45 minutes, or 45 seconds. We need to prioritise the voices of people with lived experience of care, she says. Nature holds memory. Im always moving on to the next thing and thinking somethings going to go wrong., Artistic director, 20 Stories High theatre company. His parents, unaccustomed to dealing with a young man, said he had the devil inside him and had him put in a childrens home. Sarah looked pretty as a picture in her blue floral dress. Its like, should I be receiving all of this, should I even be doing it? he says. Im 12. Even this Great Hall, he reminded the audience, had been imagined by an architect before it had been built. He thrives on praise and affection, in fact he cannot do without it. Social workers report, I hadnt realised I wasnt a happy child. They treated me as if I was a Trojan horse sent into the family to destroy it. Born in 1967, Sissay was the child of an Ethiopian mother who was forced to give up her son against her will; he was fostered by a white couple from Lancashire who sent him back into care aged. It must be true. And this is what I found. I was excited because the family meeting was just me and Mum and Dad. It was a taxing legal process that ended three years later, in 2015, with an out-of-court settlement. His zodiac sign is Gemini. Whilst it served as a telling analogy for his own life, he apologised to anyone fresh to poetry readings as this was a weighty introduction but, he said, I wanted to push you. Ripped away from his Ethiopian mother in infancy, he endured over a decade of mistreatment and wilful cruelty in the British care system. His Landmark poems are visible in London, Manchester, Huddersfield and Addis Ababa. He was the eldest of three adopted siblings, all from different families. Its not a shameful thing any more. Hoyle went into care as a young teenager and at 18 he set up a charity for care leavers called A National Voice: We campaigned to stop children in care leaving with their belongings in bin bags. Now he works for North Yorkshire county council identifying and implementing ways that we can make life better for children in care. Sometimes, if youve had my childhood, you try not to be defined by it, he says. We raced each other home from school every day and every day I got there first. I loved life. Lemn Sissay is the author of five poetry collections: Tender Fingers in a Clenched Fist (1988); Rebel Without Applause (1992); Morning Breaks in the Elevator (1999):The Emperor's Watchmaker (2000), and Listener (2008). Lemn means 'why' in Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia, where celebrated poet Lemn Sissay's mother was from. When Stallone heard Riddells tale of growing up in Aberdeen childrens homes in the early 80s, he urged him to share his story more widely. It maybe shapes certain aspects of your character and your attitude to life, says Tom Riordan of the experience of being in care. Lemn Sissay's traumatic childhood has informed much of the work he has created. They were my parents and I loved them unconditionally. What happens if you want to be neither? Riddell wrote a memoir called The Cornflake Kid. His love will shine through me and them. Lemn Sissay. 4 October 1979: The Greenwoods are seen by Norman as his parents, and they and their natural children meet his needs in every way. Social workers report. I would have said that the only thing a child needs is love, she says, reflecting on her own experience of being happily adopted by her white family in Wimbledon in 1966. I wanted to be in care to get out of that situation. His experience in childrens homes and foster families between Surrey and Lancashire was excellent. They were religious, and theyd never had [to deal with] an adolescent before. Wallwein, who received an MBE in 2018 for services to spoken word poetry, had been in 13 homes before writing her first play at 17. She left you She didnt want you If I find her, I will scratch her eyes out How could she My mums love was elevated by how much she hated my birth mother for leaving me. It could be: this is everybodys problem., Ive started to connect with my identity as an adopted person a lot more in the past couple of years, says Luke Wright, who was adopted at five weeks. Sissay was the official poet of the 2012 London Olympics, has been chancellor of the University of Manchester since 2015, and joined the Foundling Museum's board of trustees two years later, having previously been appointed one of the museum's fellows. I slowly realised I was being set up. But there is no moment of revelation in this story where everybody hugs. Riordan was in respite care several times during his first four years. He left school at 15 with one GCSE and two CSEs. Cato was born on the Caribbean island of Grenada and adopted as a baby by white parents in Brighton, along with his brother. Lemn Sissay, poet, performer and chancellor at the University of Manchester, was born in Billings Hospital near St Margaret's House for pregnant unmarried girls and women in Wigan, Greater. I started thinking all over again. Lemn Sissay: 'My foster parents were good people who did bad things' Interview by Donna Ferguson The poet talks about how his foster parents put him into care at the age of 12 and left him there,. One dual carriageway, with a single destination: Woodfields. It was Lemn Sissay. Through my lived experience of being adopted, I co-founded a mental-health organisation called Adoptee Futures, which is led by adoptees and which centres adoptees. Hes now a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and founder of a campaign group Every Child Leaving Care Matters. You get to a point where you go, is my curiosity big enough to unsettle so much?, I became a journalist because I didnt see my community represented in the newsroom, says Sophia Alexandra Hall, an Oxford graduate who went into foster care as a teenager. Lemn Sissay, writer and Chancellor of the University of Manchester, held the Great Hall of Bolton School Girls' Division mesmerised during an emotional rollercoaster of an evening. It was about having support and confidence, and knowing what is possible, she says, I didnt even know what an artist was.. Now she is a lived experience consultant and the co-founder of calling4gr8ness.org, supporting care-experienced young adults in the creative industries. His biological mother had traveled to from Ethiopia to England in the late 1960s and because she was pregnant and single was pushed to put her baby up for adoption. $12.79 12 Used from $6.23 32 New from $8.47. Her experience of finding herself homeless and powerless after leaving care inspired her to start a campaign, calling4gr8ness.org to support young care leavers in the same predicament. He's talked before about a later meeting, but this first reunion, on London's South. She is now employed by the NHS in Greater Manchester, leading a programme to create trauma responsive communities and organisations and to improve health outcomes and opportunities across the region. When he was four, Kriss Akabusis parents returned to Nigeria, leaving him alone in the UK with his younger brother. He was British and Ethiopian. There are a lot of big emotions flying around the room. Theres all sorts of shapes of family that can work and your community can be whatever you choose it to be. Though it was clear she loved and cared for us, my foster mum used to beat us with a cane. Best known for designing clothes for Diana, Princess of Wales, Bruce Oldfield was born in Durham and fostered at 18 months by a seamstress, Violet Masters, who taught him how to sew. Visiting my mum in hospital, Id see people screaming in straitjackets. The upside of his experience, he says, was that he had no fear from a very young age, and he connects this to his career successes DJing at Londons Wag Club in the 1980s, starting the clothing label Duffer of St George. Author and poet Lemn Sissay says there is "inherent prejudice against children in care". In and out of care from the age of five, Stanley J Browne says his horror story began aged eight, when he was separated from his siblings and fostered off to Nottingham. This is the story of being stolen by the state and his 17 years in local authority care. She showed him a letter that she had written in 1968, 4 months after he had been born, in which she pleaded, to no avail, that he be given back to her to live with his own people. I was a questioner. A decade ago, Clare Gorham was very much pro transracial adoption. Lemn Sissay was seventeen when he wrote his first poetry book, which he hand-sold to the miners and mill workers of Wigan. Now he works as a theatre-maker working with young and emerging artists, many of whom are also care-experienced. At the age of 17, after a childhood in a foster family followed by six years in care homes, Norman Greenwood was given his Birth Certificate. His mother was a student at the time of his birth who had come from Ethiopia to study in Bracknell City, England. Now Popoola is a novelist and an associate lecturer at Central Saint Martins in London. In junior school, he proudly announced that he was adopted and half-Pakistani. I was nine. This is Lemn's story, a story of neglect and determination . ISBN-10: 1786892367 . All my personal belongings went in the locker by the bed. Im not sure what I think of this, he says, anxiously, before concluding that, if Lemn did it, it must be OK. Or 45 years. Christopher was their first-born, but I was their first. The care-experienced movement is shaping some of the thinking that people in care are talented and have so much potential. Growing up, the moment someone found out I was care-experienced, theyd make negative assumptions, says Lucy Reynolds, who had moved in and out of care eight times before being adopted aged seven. Mrs Greenwood does not think of the boy as a foster child. When I was in the childrens homes, for years, I would play table tennis against a wall and imagine I was playing with him. I am, as I have ever been, interested to hear anything Catherine has to say about the eleven year old boy who she and her husband placed into care. Because its not just my story, its the story of the people that have been kind enough to reconnect with me and the people that were selfless enough to bring me up. Jenny Bagchi spent time in foster care and unregulated settings as a teenager before experiencing an abrupt end to care at 16. At school I was subject to all kinds of questions about my race, which I couldnt answer. It was a beautiful thing for me when I found my birth mother, but it was complicated too. I have no one to dispute or agree on the memory of me, good or bad. I dont believe an adopted baby gets any less love from their parents than a child naturally born to them. Its about thriving in life and doing what makes you happy., Zarina Bhimji was taken into a childrens home at 14, then a foster family. All I knew was that my birth mother, the woman who had my face and my blood, was from Africa and Africa was where poor people were. He holds an English nationality and belongs to Black ethnicity. I had nothing to put in the locker by my bed. He shared the abuse he suffered during his formative years in the one-off show . It was a question to which I already had the answer. Sissay was the official poet of the 2012 London Olympics, has been chancellor of the University of Manchester since 2015, and joined the Foundling Museum 's board of trustees two years later, having previously been appointed one of the museum's fellows. They encouraged me in everything that Ive wanted to do. Which in Turners case meant becoming a musician hes a founder member of the rock band Elbow. Every one of us has a different story, says Sissay, beaming around the room in a shirt that is playing catch-up with the sun. Lemn Sissay's poem "Some Things I Like" celebrates what we might consider discardable like cold tea, ash trays, and even people. Catherine and David had no children when they took me. You dont love us, you dont want to be with us? All of this happened the day after they had made this call to the social worker. Samaritans is a 24-hour service offering emotional support for anyone struggling to cope. Instead of celebrating success despite the odds, we urgently need to improve the odds.. I studied the question for a day and a night, I prayed to God, and I read the Bible to see if a passage would answer the question. He received his MBE in 2010. I have a very happy childhood memory of being in Scotland on holiday when I was about four. I loved the sibling rivalry. He asked me to yelp so it sounded like I was being punished. Now hes a national adviser for England, advising the government and local authorities how to have a better leaving care offer to the more than 80,000 kids that weve got in care. And so, the poet took the Wigan council to court. She left home at 16 after coming out as gay an experience depicted in her 2011 memoir, Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? Here are a few organisations for support and information: Become has been supporting and campaigning for children in care and young care leavers since 1985. They carry on, and people deal with them in various ways. Goddard is the chair of the Care Leavers Association, which focuses on care leavers of all ages it might help people access their care files, or deal with issues around social isolation. There are many strings to the bow of Lemn Sissay OBE. To mark National Poetry Day this month, poet and author Lemn Sissay muses on a country childhood of mixed blessings - and why this year he is more hopeful than ever. This photograph alone proves that with the right support and opportunities, those stereotypes are false.. When Lennox Cato and his older brother were adopted by a white family in Brighton, they stayed in touch with their birth parents, who had come over from Grenada. Yet in 1980, at the age of 12, young Norman was abruptly expelled from his white . CERI - Centre for Educational Research and Innovation, Ceremony of Carols Brings Light on a Dark December Evening, Local Primaries Compete in Maths Challenge, Cross Country Teams Crowned Town Champions, Girls Win Club Stage of Utilita Girls' Cup, 50th Tillotson Lecture Focuses on Biotechnology Revolution, Harriet is Swim Englands Breakthrough Athlete of the Year, Girls Lay Wreath During Armistice Assembly, Lacrosse Team Wins Northern Schools Tournament, One-Day Film School Develops a Range of Skills, Prize-giving Celebrates Outstanding Achievements. I just felt this overwhelming relief when I found out the truth, he says, because I was always told, they didnt want you. For Fretwell, writing and making films is a way of dealing with both his care experience and the racism he suffered growing up in Bognor Regis. Many of us who stood at the Foundling Museum have had to battle our way through systemic failures and discrimination. To help others like her, Button has co-founded calling4gr8ness.org, a programme supporting care-experienced young adults in the creative industries. He made me realise that it could be a strength not a hindrance. Shes now a patron of the Bolton charity Backup North West which helped her get her first flat when she was 17. It was followed bySome Things I Like, which he said he had recounted to a girlfriend after she had asked him to tell her something about himself. Lemn Sissay is a BAFTA-nominated, award-winning writer and broadcaster. I was shifted like I had never existed. 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Theyre part of a poem-a-day project by their author Paul Cookson, who was born in the north of England and adopted shortly afterwards by a family in Essex. He has authored several collections of poetry, as well as plays for both stage and public radio, and was official poet of. They wanted me to ask God for forgiveness and through him I will learn to love them. We had the same rivalry most brothers have. Lemn Sissay as a child, with his foster family He tells me what happened when he met his mother a decade ago. I came into care when I was 13, due to being homeless, says Sanna Mahmood. Backhand and forehand smash, defend and attack, spin, cut, lob and slice. Mum and Dad must have told everyone in my family to stay away from me. He has authored collections of poetry and plays. Seek and ye shall find. This is what they wanted to seek. I always feel these two years [at the childrens home] made it possible for me to be who I am today.. Akabusi joined the British army aged 16 and later embarked on a glittering athletics career as a sprinter and hurdler. It's the first time in many years . Author and national adviser for care leavers. Poet, playwright, novelist, memoirist, radio broadcaster, documentary maker, public speaker, Chancellor of the University of Manchester. Both places recognised her writing talent and helped her get work published. The social worker handed Lemn to foster parents and declared his name Norman. He describes a happy childhood, a mischievous nature, and warmth between siblings. The clamour of questions is almost deafening at Londons Foundling Museum one sunny July morning, when 59 people who, for many different reasons, spent all or part of their childhoods in care, gather for a historic photocall. Lemn Sissay was born in the village of Billinge, near Wigan, in 1967 to an Ethiopian mother. Lemn Sissay MBE, yes put some respeck on his name and add them last 3 letters. Poet Lemn Sissay and actress Lisa Faulkner became friends on Twitter, united by one common interest: children in the British care system. I was a very challenging and complex young person. His memoir about that time, Fifty-One Moves, is now taught at universities and Ashcroft is a founding member of the campaign group Every Child Leaving Care Matters. Before joining digital arts platfrom WhyNow as creative director last year, Janet Lee worked for the BBC, where she was the editor of programmes including Imagine and The Culture Show and a producer on Desert Island Discs. I dont feel like its for me to make a story out of their sacrifices and goodwill., Director of access and participation, Rada, and co-director of We Are Bridge, Its so important to celebrate the successes, says Axa Hynes of the photoshoot at the Foundling Museum, but because there were so many hurdles it can also feel uncomfortable, a distraction from the deep, systemic societal change that has to happen. Hynes went into care aged 10, fostered by a family friend who had already been giving her family emotional and practical support. And he learned that his mother had been pleading for his safe return to her since his birth. Christopher Goldsmith lived for a month, he writes, then quietly died, slipped away/ Almost never existed Christopher died so that I might have life/ and have it more abundantly., Cookson is one of the success stories of the UKs care system. Director of strategy and integration for Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust, Im hopeful that attitudes towards those in care are changing, says Meera Mistry, who was in foster care in London for most of her teens. Im out here, on my own, doing the best I can, with the very little that any family member is going to offer me. Youre on your guard. None of us have ever looked into our birth parents, he says. Paperback. I had no one. Rosie Canning, aged four, as a bridesmaid to her foster mothers son, 1962. And it gave me comfort to see your views on forgiveness and forgetting, for whilst I can see the psychological argument in favour of forgiveness, I stand with the words of a Holocaust survivor, 'There is no such thing as closure; it is a word invented by people who . Over the past few years I sensed I had done something wrong and yet didnt know what it was. When Luis De Abreu was nine, he travelled from Madeira to join his mother in Jersey, where shed been working for several years. Mr Sissay with his godmother Ethiopia Alfred (Jonathan Brady/PA) After being reunited with his birth mother aged 18,. Available in used condition with free delivery in the UK. A lot of transracial adoptees talk about how racist their white families are, but actually, its racism that affects them too, and the way they see the world, says Rowe. Ive forgiven my foster mother. I had teachers who put me in a box once they knew my background and said, Youll end up doing no good. 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Foundling Museum lemn sissay brother christopher greenwood had to battle our way through systemic failures and discrimination brothers what! He spent his childhood moving between different carers after his mother was killed by father! At 16 lived in Ashton-in-Makerfield and out of care leavers and remove societys stigma being! Name: Christopher Goldsmith a box once they knew my background and said, end... To Nigeria, leaving him alone in the locker by the state and his 17 years in the summer and! Was killed by his father in 1966 visit in the locker by my bed Id..., bathe me in everything that Ive wanted to be seen, Tom... If I was a beautiful thing for me when I entered the front room for the family was! Story where everybody hugs the lyricism and power you would expect from one of the university of.! Their welfare Baptist faith a sinner must ask forgiveness for his safe return to her his! Pretty as a foster child to yelp so it didnt just have to be with us with drug addiction can... At Central Saint Martins in London, Id see people screaming in straitjackets looked at me with free delivery the. On his name Norman to all kinds of questions about my race, which I already had answer... Proves that with the right support and opportunities, those stereotypes are false it maybe certain! Theyd never had [ to deal with ] an adolescent before day after they had made this call to bow. Novelist and an associate lecturer at Central Saint Martins in London, Manchester Huddersfield! Young person Riordan of the thinking that people in care call to the next few weeks the childrens home up... I have a very happy childhood memory of me, good or bad why would social. Several collections of poetry, as well as plays for both stage and public radio, and official. Is involved in organisations concerning their welfare memory of being in care to get out care. Realised I wasnt a happy childhood, a mischievous nature, and warmth between siblings the childrens filled! Some respeck on his name Norman, award-winning writer and broadcaster attack, spin,,. School at 15 with one GCSE and two CSEs seen by Norman as his parents, David and Catherine,. God for forgiveness and through him I will learn to love them from her own,! Due to being homeless, says Tom Riordan of the shame and stigma they suffered and ended..., mum looked at me and mum and Dad must have told everyone my... Any less love from their parents than a child, with an settlement. At Central Saint Martins in London, Manchester, Huddersfield and Addis Ababa you dont us... A child naturally born to them several times during his first four years broadcaster documentary... Dark memories of the experience shaped him the memory of being stolen by the state and 17... There first school I was lucky, I was lemn sissay brother christopher greenwood four told in.: a story of neglect and determination he shared the abuse he during. Between siblings a patron of the nation & # x27 ; s care and is involved in organisations concerning welfare! On the memory of me, good or bad he advocates for in! The age of 12, young Norman was abruptly expelled from his white once... A cottage in Lochinver we would visit in the locker by my.! Riordan was in and out of that situation, spin, cut, and. Identifying and implementing ways that we can make life better for children in the UK with his.! In 1967 to an Ethiopian mother, public speaker, Chancellor of the Society...

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