I WRITE with regard to the group in Endmoor who expressed such negative views towards the proposed placement of a home for only four ‘looked after’ female children in their midst (Gazette, June 8, 'Give us our say over new care home plans').

The residents objected that they had no opportunity to represent their views to planning which, if true, is a reasonable point.

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However they also objected to the home itself on the grounds of ‘that children of this kind are extremely difficult and likely to cause a great deal of noise’. They placed the word ‘vulnerable’ in inverted commas, claiming to be knowledgeable about this type of child, but using language many would see as stigmatising, and proposing they be placed in a community with more ‘amenities’.

Firstly, private foster families in Milnthorpe or Kendal are already looking after such children; they go nearly unnoticed, participating in local sports teams and schools.

Secondly, we all bring children up in this area and the ‘amenities’ their professional carers will expose them to: fresh air, trips to local lakes, open water swimming, walking, biking, exercise, great schools and overall what used to be called ‘the healing power of nature’ are considerable. If this is good for our children, why isn’t it good for others?

Finally, the claim to know from experience what these children are like did not ring true. Do the objectors in the picture really know what it is like to be brought up in an area where you are vulnerable to drug dealers or sexual predators and have rarely seen a bird, a lake or a field? I venture they do not. There are areas within 100 miles from here where children’s lives are like this. The girls will only benefit from being placed away.

Disadvantaged children have always been placed in rural environments, and I know from recent family experience that the chance to see beauty and experience kindness has often transformed their lives.

My childless cousin, who cared professionally for vulnerable children for 30 years, was then ‘adopted’ herself, and looked after until the end of her life last year with utter dedication by one of her brood.

Drusilla Pickthall

Milnthorpe