Does it feel being here for the first
time?
>> Oh, very eerie.
>> Alan Stroton is searching for his
missing sister, Anne. This is the site
of a former institution for unmarried
mothers in Newcastle. Anne was born here
in the 1960s and then the trace goes
cold.
>> So, your search for your sister Anne
starts and finishes here in some ways.
>> We don't know where to turn to next.
There's no trace ever after this. I've
uh we've tried uh we've we've gone to
people but there's nobody I mean I've
asked family uh about an and nobody
knows.
>> Hope Dean was run by the Salvation Army.
Unmarried pregnant women were sent here
to give birth in secret and then some
were pressured to have their children
adopted.
It was a practice repeated across
Britain affecting a quarter of a million
women in the 1950s60s
and 70s. This is uh me and my mom.
>> Alan's mom, Muriel, was in her 20ies
when she was sent from Cumbria to Hope
Dean in Newcastle to give birth to Anne.
>> All he has is Anne's birth certificate.
What do you think happened to an
>> There's only two possibilities really.
Uh she was adopted out or she was one of
the babies that was uh that died for
some reason. That's the only two you can
you can put it down to.
And our investigation has uncovered Hope
Dean's dark history, allegations of
cruelty, concerns about high infant
death rates, and babies buried in
unmarked graves. The truth only emerged
after a family contacted me searching
for the grave of their brother. Andrew
died at Hope Dean aged just a few days
old and the family was told by the
council that he was buried with other
babies in an unmarked plot in this
cemetery.
An ITV News freedom of information
request then found he is one of 67
infants buried in mass unmarked graves.
Baby Andrew's sister told me she will
never forget his existence. Even though
others thought his life was not worthy
of acknowledgement,
others have described Hope Dean as a
place of pain. It was like a prison, one
survivor said. While a woman born there
said her mother recalled how cries for
help in labor were ignored, no one came.
Moms weren't allowed to touch their own
babies even when they cried.
>> They're meeting here. These are the
latest grim discoveries in our year-long
investigation in Cumbria. We exposed
mass baby graves linked to another
institution leading to the first
memorial of its kind.
>> It became a place of pain and rejection
and heartache.
>> And then last month, survivors gathered
outside parliament demanding action and
an apology. Say sorry.
>> Now there is a significant intervention
from a former Labour prime minister.
While in office, Gordon Brown issued
national apologies for past social
injustices.
>> We are truly sorry.
>> He says it's time K Starmmer did the
same. Why then do you think successive
governments have been so reluctant
to apologize for the state's role in
this cruel policy and to provide some
form of compensation?
>> It it's time to make the apology. And
while it wasn't this government's fault,
I think it's really important that we
admit something went wrong. I know the
Scottish and Welsh governments have done
so. And I think it's time that we made
that apology. And I know that the
government has said that it understands
the plight, that it wants to do
something about it. I think the next
stage is a minister standing up in the
House of Commons and making that public
apology.
>> So you think Karma should make that
apology personally?
>> I think the government should make the
apology and I think that ministers are
aware that this was something that
should never have happened.
>> An apology that Carmon says is long
overdue. She was born in a church
institution for unmarried women in
Cumbria and only recently got access to
her adoption files. Reading some of it,
it's quite harrowing. You probably know
that the child is very dark and that the
chances of adoption are almost
negligible. It shows that I was thought
of as a problem and they knew that I
would very likely spend a long long time
in an institution.
>> It's a racism from the start. Really?
>> Absolutely. She spent two years in an
orphanage before being adopted. Her
childhood was happy and loving, but
questions of identity loomed over her.
This silver heart was all she had of her
mother.
>> And I have it still.
And to me, it means that um she did feel
something for me at one point.
>> What would an official government
apology mean to you?
>> It's been a lifetime of trauma for them,
for the mothers. Some of the guilt they
must feel that they're racked with. I
think it's important to let them know
that they did nothing wrong, that they
were wronged by society, by churches, by
um you know, state actors.
And by speaking out, families hope their
suffering will be recognized and the
government acknowledges this shameful
chapter in our recent history.
Sarah joins us from Leeds now. Sarah,
what response have you had to those
fresh allegations there?
>> Well, the government described what
happened as abhorrent and said it
continues to provide support for those
affected. But those words are wearing
pretty thin with campaigners. They say
that successive governments have failed
to do anything to alleviate their
suffering. And remember, many of these
institutions got some level of state
funding. And for the last year, we've
been asking ministers for an interview
on this issue. They have rejected all of
those requests. Make of that what you
will. And in response to the allegations
regarding Hope Dean and the unmarked
graves, the Salvation Army said it
acknowledges some people did not always
receive the support they needed and
deserve, for which we are deeply sorry.
It said it would have been terrifying to
have to choose between entering a mother
and baby home or face destitution. But
in Salvation Army homes, the focus was
on keeping families together. But one
final point, this is an important
intervention by Gordon Brown. He is a
big figure within Labor and when he
speaks out about an issue, ministers
tend to listen.
All right, Sarah in Leeds. Thanks very
much.