Chim chim-in-ey, chim chim-in-ey, chim chim cher-ee!

Panto~mode ... ... 

Bert: "A sweep is as lucky, As lucky can be!" 

Great Britain's Young carers: "Oh no (s)he isn't!" 


Mary Poppins:  "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!" *

*{super- "above", cali- "beauty", fragilistic- "delicate", expiali- "to atone", and docious- "educable", with the sum of these parts signifying roughly "Atoning for educability through delicate beauty."} Wikipedia

From the late 18th Century, orphans and abandoned children came under the care of the Poor Law, but were usually put into the care of employers who provided for them in return for their work.

'Climbing boys' were recruited by chimney sweeps or apprenticed by parish authorities to climb into and clean chimneys.

Jonas Hanway, Philanthropist, had campaigned extensively to improve such working conditions and, eventually, an Act of 1788 specified a minimum age of eight years old for apprentices, but this and other regulations were never enforced.

The Chimney Sweeps Act was passed in 1834 outlawing the apprenticing of any child below the age of ten.  Furthermore, no child was to be actually engaged in cleaning chimneys under the age of 14.

In 1840, a revised Chimney Sweeps Act raised the minimum age of apprenticeship to 16. As with earlier legislation, this was largely ignored due to the absence of any means of enforcement.  Children younger than ten were still being made to climb chimneys.

In 1863 the publication of 'The Water-Babies', a novel by Charles Kingsley, did much to raise public awareness about the gross mistreatment of children in this kind of employment through its central character, Tom, a child chimney sweep.


The 1864, Chimney Sweepers Regulation Act was ineffective despite its humane purpose.  In 1875, a successful solution was implemented by the Chimney Sweepers' Act which required sweeps to be licensed and made it the duty of the police to enforce all previous legislation.

One hundred years to create an effective Act of Parliament to protect vulnerable children.  And now?  How long will it take to protect young carers?  Another 100 years?

 Today, the Citizens Advice Bureau's guidance for 'Young People and Employement' describes the general rules and 'what the law says' on this topic with which Children, Schools and Families directorates will be familiar, not least, under the Safeguarding Children banner.

Of the 8,500 identified young carers in Hertfordshire whose average age is 12 years old and some as young as 8 years old, 28% have 'problems at school', 68% are 'bullied', one quarter of these receive 'no other support' than that of the Young Carers Project via the Young Carers Council: only servicing about 1/12th of the known young carers in Hertfordshire.

What would Jonas Hanway have to say  about the young carers' responsibilities in this, the 21st Century? 

  

Thankfully, Broxbourne's Mayor, Cllr Mark Mills-Bishop has engaged with local young carers and he has presented one young person with a civic award for having beaten adversities and also having started a career helping others.

Nonetheless, questions remain, where are the extended families, friends, neighbours, churches, charities, statutory bodies and 'others' when our young carers need them most, to allow them to be children and not employees of the 'parish authorities' with adult family responsibilities.

Let's pray that the impact of the Comprehensive Spending Review on CSFs' budgets allows such young carers projects to continue their invaluable work.

 

RIP Jonas Hanway.

Local people, local politics, local power