Good can come from Bad?

A little over a week ago VFC were the first to break the story of  "The Grouville Home For Girls" and of the horrendous abuse that was alleged to have taken place there.

Abuse Survivor Jean submitted a Guest Posting where she told us her experiences of being lashed with stinging nettles and put into ice cold baths with her head held under the water until she gasped for air. This treatment allegedly carried out by her "carers."

Jean, we are told, contacted Jersey's only "news"paper the Jersey Evening Post before coming over to Jersey for her book signing in order to relate her story and publicise her book. Our only "news"paper got back to her saying that they weren't interested in running a story but Jean could "pay for an advert." Shortly after VFC broke the story Jean was again contacted by the JEP telling her they have had "a change of heart" and they now  WILL run the story. Not sure if they have run the story because for moral and ethical reasons we refuse to buy it. But suspect if the Blogs (Jersey's only independent media) hadn't of run the story then NONE of the State Media would have.

BBC State Radio also run the story (after we broke it) and had Jean in as a live guest. Presenters of the show "Carrie and Sarah" asked listeners to contact the show with information about the little known Grouville Home For Girls. We did this by e-mailing a link to a wealth of information concerning the home, including photographs and public records, but the good old BBC wanted it kept a secret and refused to read the e-mail (below) out.

from: voiceforchildren voiceforchildren
to: bbc radio jersey
date: 26 April 2012 10:21
subject: Grouville girls home.


Carrie/Sarah.

Your listeners might be interested to know there is plenty of information concerning the Grouville Home For Girls here. http://voiceforchildren.blogspot.com/2012/04/chair-borne-to-heaven-borne-guest.html where we were the first to break the story.

Team Voice.(end)

One can only speculate as to why they refused to read out the e-mail containing a link to a wealth of information concerning the Home but one chain of thought is that the BBC view the Jersey Bloggers as a threat.......and so they should (some might say).

As a follow-up to Jean's Guest posting we were able to conduct a short interview with her (below) to briefly discuss her book "Chair Borne To Heaven Borne" her reasons for writing it and so forth.

Amazingly Jean is not bitter about her childhood experiences and has been able to come out the other end relatively unscarred due to, in part, writing this book, and sharing her experiences. She wants to convey a positive message that good can come from bad and there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Although Jean believes the light at the end of the tunnel is Jesus there are those of us who believe a Committee Of Inquiry with a fit for purpose Terms Of Reference and outside intervention would suffice. 

Chair Borne To Heaven Borne (A Guest Posting)

My name is Jean and I am a survivor of the Jersey Child Abuse. The Abuse that I, members of my family, and friends suffered took place in an institution many of you won't have heard of.


After coming across a publication by VFC which was a guest posting from TOM PERRY I have made contact with VFC and he has agreed to publish a short guest posting from myself which I hope will bring attention to, or make people aware of, the abuse and suffering concerning those who were in other Jersey Institutions not reported in the media.

I have written a book about the trials and abuse that happened in the "Grouville Girl`s Home" in Jersey. It appears some people that live in Jersey say that they did not know of this Girls Home existing. I can assure you it did, as I was in that home from the age of 6years old until I was 15. My older sisters were in the same home. The staff would routinely beat us with a number of different implements, objects or weapons these would include "stinging nettles". This would happen if we wet the bed or any similar "crime." The staff also put us in ice cold baths of water and would keep our heads under the water until we gasped for breath. There was also sexual abuse.

This kind of Abuse and Paedophilia gets described as HISTORIC as mentioned in the Tom Perry submission. How can people talk about these things being historical, utter rubbish, these things stay with you and affect you for the rest of your life specially when someone brings up these subjects, It all comes back to mind as if it were today, it has a big effect on you for the rest of your life. These things do not go away over night, in fact I have had to have counselling only recently because of the effect it had on me. I have NOT seen a psychiatrist over the abuse and have no reason to see one, as it seems some people think you, or all Abuse Survivors, do if they want compensation. I wonder how they would deal with such abuse if they went through it and then told they needed to see such a person. It seems to me the decades of abuse was covered up over the years by those who should have been protecting us and I for one am glad it has come out and made public.

Asked why we did not report it at the time we were threatened we would have our tongues cut out or our throats cut with a pair of scissors if we did, we lived in fear of the staff the whole time. My book is called Chair borne To Heaven Borne and goes on to happier times as I got married and left Jersey for the UK. I suffered lots of illnesses even a broken spine ending up in a wheelchair. Then a healing miracle takes place in my life I go around now helping other people. This does not take away the memories of my childhood and the abuse I suffered in fact the older you get the harder it gets to erase it from your mind.

The Jersey homes I was in still stay in my memory, I could do a complete drawing of both buildings even to this day. Was the Girls Home demolished to hide another Haut de la Garenne scenario? What secrets lay buried with the Girls Home? I will be signing and selling my book at the Christian book shop in the Central Market St Helier on Wednesday from 10am  12. 30. I hope the book will help people to come forward and talk about it rather than suppress it as some have done for so long.

What was done to us as children was done by a small minority of people. I do not blame everyone in Jersey and I regard jersey as a nice place to holiday.