Dr Raymond Stevenson on the abuse at Sandyridge
Dr Raymond Stevenson, from the Shirley Oaks Survivors Group, on the abuse at Sandyridge children's home in Greatstone, Kent
Transcript
00:00It started 10 years ago. We received claims of child abuse in Lambeth children's homes,
00:05but some of the people who came forward were saying they were also sent to a children's home
00:09in Kent called Sandy Ridge. And even though we were investigating abuse in Lambeth, we decided
00:15to investigate this case. And within a couple of years, we've had numerous people come forward,
00:21all given independent accounts of sexual abuse at the home. We've interviewed and take statements
00:27from, as I said, hundreds of people. And the impact is the same. Some people bury it,
00:34but it affects their life still. Some people live it every single day. And hence the reason they
00:41consume drugs to try to nullify the effects of the abuse. Some people are angry, forever angry.
00:48That means they go on to damage the wider community. So the psychological damage affects
00:54everyone. And even the people who come forward, we rang everyone. Before the piece come out,
01:00we've rung them after the piece has gone out and we look after them all the way through the process.
01:06But the most recognisable feeling that coming off the phone with them is at last,
01:13at last we got our bit out.