barrholm childrens home, largs

[bubbles62]

Hi me and my brother was at a home in Largs I think it was Barholm I think from 1970 -1974  ish
Did it have a big hall where it had little cupboards where you clothes were and a bench round it ?

[Jock Nixon]

hi there

can you remember where it was or do you's have an address for barrholm.

[Jock Nixon]

I was in Barr Holme from 74-78 last time I went down there it had been turned into a dentist and believe there was doctors down stairs it flooded me with good and terrible memories

[Sharon1968]

I lived in Barrholm children’s home from 1976 till it closed in the 80’s I was the last child to leave it before it closed I was the only child in there for months Vi Cameron was the matron during my time there but I despised the place some really horrible people there

[Tommy G]

Hi Sharon 1968 I remember you and your brothers. I was a resident in Barrholm with my older sister from March 1975 after it reopened after the fire, I was there until June 1982 when I was moved along the road to Clark House before being mover multiple times until I ended up in Redheugh in Kilbirnie.
I have been doing some research on my history and the town house in Irvine has been great for accessing items especially the stuff from the largs and Millport weekly news

[Tommy G]

Barrholm was built by the Clark family who owned the Mills, they built more than one home in Largs where they retired to. Barrholm was for children from the paisley area and opened in 1908 or there abouts. Lately it housed up to 26 young people and the matorn in charge was Vi Cameron who passed away years ago. In October 1974 there was a fire in the attic and closed for 6 months while repairs were completed. It reopened in March 1975 and filled up quickly. Most young people from the last group did not experience good quality of care, it closed late 1982 and was initially used as a holiday home for other residential units before it became and old folks home in the early 90s. In June 2023 it announced that it would close after 2 inspections concluded serious ussues

[TC2475]

The Town House at Irvine has lots of pictures and information about Barrholm. The staff wanted to show how great a place it was, and there were regular updates about the unit in the Largs and Milport weekly news.
Barrholm is one of the residential units being reviewed by the Care Review that Lady Smith is charging. Someone on the thread mentioned that it closed due to less demand for residential units. There may be an element of truth in that, but it was closed due to the poor standard of care offered to Scotland's most vulnerable children. In the 1980s, there was a push to assess children, which was done at assessment centres; at least 6 of the final group of children in Barrholm ended up in the assessment centre at Johnstone before being moved to longer-term units.
As a former resident and having spoken to many more since the unit closed, child care was not a priority in Barrholm, and there were a lot of negative experiences for many, including physical and emotional abuse.

[Pinjarra1929]

hi did Barry Holme have any link to Barnardo's Homes? My elderly friend knows her dead auntie was at Kent Barnardos  hime until they shipped her all the way to Toronto Canada in 1922 ish.  However in 1929 she was made pregnant unconsenually and Barnardo's shipped her ti England then the Girl Guides took her to stay in Scotland.  we want to find out where in Scotland she went as she gave birth to a boy in August 1930 and was sent back to Canada to work as a maid with no freedoms.  please dies anyone know anything

[Neale1961]

we want to find out where in Scotland she went as she gave birth to a boy in August 1930 and was sent back to Canada.

The birth certificate of the boy will give you an address, and possibly other information.
You can look for it, and purchase it from Scotlands People.
https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/