Old Scholar Phillip Chancellor was born in 1946. He entered Spurgeons in 1950 at the age of 4 and left in 1961 at 15. He started at Birchington Hall in Stamford and then in Twynham. Ms Rutland was the Matron…
Tag: Archives
Spurgeons gave me the chance of a good start in life
Peter Szewcuzk arrived at Spurgeons Children’s Home Birchington Hall in 1958 aged 4, the only child of a Ukrainian mother, and was there until 1966. He shares a few of his memories. “I was in Mr and Mrs MacPherson’s house,…
Memories from Old Scholar John Christopher Jones
Our parents came to London from Wales in the late 1940s, looking for work. Dad was a bricklayer so there was plenty of bomb damage in London that needed repairing. But sadly, Dad died in January 1951. Mum struggled to…
Peter, Robert and Colin
In January 1960, three brothers were admitted to Spurgeons Homes at Birchington. Peter, Robert and Colin Shew were placed in Charlesworth House under Mr Willicome, where strict discipline was maintained, except for the one day of the Christmas party when…
Remembering Old Scholar Martin Lambie-Nairn
We were sad to learn of the passing of Martin Lambie-Nairn, a former Old Scholar, in December 2020, at the age of 75. Martin became a talented brand and graphic designer and was responsible, among other things, for designing the…
Cowboy outfits and Cod Liver Oil
Old Scholar Paul Board shares a slice of life, in poetry and prose, from his brief sojourn at Spurgeons former Children’s Home in Birchington. ”I grew up in the early sixties – I had two brothers and two sisters (and…
Fond memories help piece together historical records of Spurgeons Stockwell Staff
Spurgeons was contacted recently by David Allen, son of Henry Edward Allen, who was a pupil at the Spurgeons homes at Stockwell and Birchington between 1930 and 1939 along with his brother Oliver. ”He has many happy memories of his…
Fond summer memories of bat on ball and afternoon teas
Spurgeons was contacted recently by Martin Kelly, one of our Old Scholars. With his 80th Birthday just around the corner, it would be an understatement to say Martin has lived a full and interesting life. Born on the Lancashire coast…
Who will remember you when forget-me-knots have withered?
In the second of our blog series on the importance of dads to children’s development, Spurgeons Chief Executive Ross Hendry presents our founder, renowned Victorian Baptist preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon, as a timeless role model, ‘Father to the Fatherless’ Last…
The ‘ordinary’ Christian woman who left an extraordinary legacy of love
Sara Willcocks, head of marketing and communications, gives an account of how one ‘ordinary’ woman left an enduring mark on the world: The story of Spurgeons Children’s Charity began in 1867; and was initially started as an orphanage for ‘fatherless’…