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![]() Quarriers logo [1] | |
Formation | Late 19th century [1] |
---|---|
Founder | William Quarrier [1] |
Founded at | Quarrier's Village [1] |
Type | Charity |
Legal status | Operational [1] |
Purpose | Social care [1] |
Headquarters | Quarrier's Village, Remfewshire [1] |
Region | Scotland |
Services | Care and support for people with a disability, children and families, young people, young homeless people, people with epilepsy and carers |
Board Chair | Alan Frizzell |
CEO | Dr Ronald Culley |
Staff | 2,000+ |
Website | quarriers |
Quarriers is a Scottish social care charity based in Quarrier's Village, Inverclyde. It provides care and support for people with a disability, children and families, young people, young homeless people, people with epilepsy and carers. In February 2008 Quarriers was the largest non-church social care charity in Scotland.
The charity was founded in the late 19th century by William Quarrier, a shoe retailer from Glasgow. In the 1890s he built the Orphan Homes of Scotland in Bridge of Weir, which were home to up to 1500 children at a time.
Changes in UK childcare practice and legislation in the 1970s and 80s led to a modernisation process, through which the organisation developed the services it delivers today and became known as Quarriers.
Quarriers’ work covers the whole of Scotland and the organisation is also involved in several international projects.
The charity was founded in the late 19th century by the philanthropist William Quarrier, a shoe retailer from Glasgow. Quarrier began looking after homeless children in the 1870s, opening a night refuge for homeless children in Renfrew Street, Glasgow in 1871. [2]
He then expanded his operations, using charitable donations to buy a piece of land near Bridge of Weir, on which the Orphan Homes of Scotland were built. Both the village, originally founded as the Orphan Homes of Scotland in 1876, and the orphanage homes relating to him were part of William Quarrier's Christian vision on helping the less fortunate. [1] The village was built on the former Nittingshill Farm. By the 1890s this included 34 cottages, a school, a church and a fire station – a complete working village that became known, and is still known, as Quarrier's Village.
More than 800 children at a time lived at Quarrier's Village during the 1890s and as the charity expanded, up to 1500 children were accommodated at a time. In total more than 30,000 children have been cared for at Quarrier's Village. [3]
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It adapted to changes in British childcare practice and legislation in the 1970s and 80s. It led to a modernisation process, through which the organisation developed the services it now delivers today and became known by the new name of "Quarriers".
![]() | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2021) |
In 2004, Quarriers won both 'Fundraiser of the Year' and the Communications Award from the Institute of Fundraising Scotland. [4]
In 2020 the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry issued a report which included Quarriers Homes. [5] [6] The report concluded that children in the care of these institutions suffered physical, emotional and sexual abuse, "scant regard was paid to their dignity." and that they lived in "harsh, rigid regimes.". [7]
The chief executive of Quarriers, Alice Harper, apologised for their former policy of sending children abroad and said it was both "misguided and wrong." She also said that "Vulnerable children were sent away and we recognise that some also suffered physical and emotional abuse, including sexual abuse." [8]
From 1872 to 1938, the Orphan Homes of Scotland participated in an overseas emigration programme that sent more than 7,000 young people primarily to Canada and some to Australia.
The homes were listed as the Orphan and Destitute Children's Emigration Homes in 1872 and had close connections with their receiving centre, Fairknowe, in Brockville, Ontario. Quarriers apologised for this practice in 2019, acknowledging that while the scheme was seen to have "offered the chance of a better life", "it was misguided and wrong". The charity further acknowledged that a number of children had suffered cruelty and abuse. [9]
Quarriers is still based at Quarrier's Village in the civil parish of Kilmacolm, Inverclyde. Its services now cover the whole of Scotland.
In February 2008 Quarriers was the largest non-church social care charity in Scotland, as measured by annual income. [10]
The charity provides care and support services for:
The charity is also involved in several international projects, including the Taganka Children's Fund in Russia [12] and Saathi, an organisation supporting women and children across Nepal. [13]
In 2004, Quarriers won both 'Fundraiser of the Year' and the Communications Award from the Institute of Fundraising Scotland. [4]
An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or abusive. There may be substance abuse or mental illness in the biological home, or the parent may simply be unwilling to care for the child. The legal responsibility for the support of abandoned children differs from country to country, and within countries. Government-run orphanages have been phased out in most developed countries during the latter half of the 20th century but continue to operate in many other regions internationally. It is now generally accepted that orphanages are detrimental to the emotional wellbeing of children, and government support goes instead towards supporting the family unit.
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The Company of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul, commonly called the Daughters of Charity or Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent De Paul, is a Society of Apostolic Life for women within the Catholic Church. Its members make annual vows throughout their life, which leaves them always free to leave, without the need of ecclesiastical permission. They were founded in 1633 by Vincent de Paul and state that they are devoted to serving the poor through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.
The Children's Society, formally the Church of England Children's Society, is a United Kingdom national children's charity allied to the Church of England.
Residential care refers to long-term care given to adults or children who stay in a residential setting rather than in their own home or family home.
Quarrier's Village or Quarriers Village is a small settlement in the civil parish of Kilmacolm in Inverclyde council area and the historic county of Renfrewshire, in the west Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies within the Gryffe Valley between the villages of Kilmacolm and Bridge of Weir, falling on the boundary between the modern Inverclyde and Renfrewshire council areas.
William Quarrier was a shoe retailer and philanthropist from Glasgow, Scotland. He was founder of the Orphan Homes of Scotland in Renfrewshire, which later evolved into the social care charity Quarriers.
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