Crossroads Caring For Carers - ATV soap's charity

The first soap with a real social awareness was the ATV Midland production of Crossroads.

The crew helped many good causes over the years by highlighting issues within the series, although in some cases this also went on to help in the real world directly through ATV's production crew. The only soap that has changed the world, and it's mainly thanks to the Crossroads Caring For Carers scheme.

In 1974 ATV, and the Crossroads cast and crew, helped found what would become the biggest leading voluntary sector provider of home based breaks for carers in the world.

The needs of carers first came to the attention of the Crossroads production team as a result of the storyline involving the character Sandy Richardson, who was paraplegic after a car accident.

Many hours of research were carried out by the Crossroads production team at the Robert Jones And Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital at Oswestry to make sure Roger's performance as Sandy was as authentic as possible.

Noel Crane, who was confined to a wheelchair after a swimming accident in 1970, telephoned ATV to offer more advice after seeing an episode of the programme. Reg Watson, producer of Crossroads met Noel, and took on board many more ideas because of the discussions they had.

Reg devised another part, Tony Scott was to be a friend of Sandy, who would be, just like Noel, disabled from the neck downwards. The part was played by Peter Graham, who worked with Noel on perfecting the role.

The idea was to show viewers that 'Handicapped people value their independence and also the devoted care given to them by their relatives.'

When Noele Gordon, the actress playing Sandy's mother and carer, was due to take a months holiday, the story writers were faced with the dilemma of who would look after Sandy! This they soon realised was, and indeed still is, an issue faced by many carers who may be looking for a break from looking after someone dependent on their help.

Usually soaps reflect real-life, but in this case Crossroads turned fiction into reality! Dr. Richard Hudson-Evans was the medical adviser for ATV Midlands' programmes and he wanted to see a scheme set up which would help relatives be able to take a break from caring for their loved ones. Dr Richard and Reg Watson approached ATV's Midlands Senior Director, Leonard Mathews who agreed to fund a pilot scheme which would run for two years in Rugby, Warwickshire from 1974 onwards.

ATV donated the original £10,000 to establish the service to give carers a break - the Crossroads caring for carers scheme was launched. In the first year of operation, Crossroads supported just 28 families. Miss Sankey, the then District Nurse Tutor for Warwickshire, was given the task of co-ordinating the Rugby scheme and Leonard Mathews became the Chairman of the Trust.

Adverts were placed in the local press, and interviews took place to find carers. Only five were selected from the first round. These would be the first 'Care Attenders.' They were taught how to use basic nursing techniques and how to deal with various situations and scenarios when working with the handicapped. During the first two ATV-funded years over three thousand visits by the Care Attenders were made.

The Crossroads Care Attendant Scheme became a national organisation in April 1977. In the same year the EEC made a grant of £100,000 for a research project into housing for disabled people. This project was undertaken by the Crossroads Trust, with a contract being issued by The Department For Enviroment.

Over 30 years later and Crossroads: Caring for Carers now supports around 200 member schemes throughout England and Wales. There are over 33,000 Carers and they spend over four million hours a year caring.

Crossroads in Scotland began in 1978 and was renamed more recently to Crossroads-Moray in 1990. Many schemes provide additional services including Young Carers projects, holiday play schemes for disabled children and care for people who are terminally ill.

The Crossroads Association is the umbrella body of Crossroads-Caring for Carers. All of the Crossroads schemes are actually independent charities who work within the association branding, but each 'Caring for Carers' region individually raise their own funds within their area.

It is quite ironic that Ivor Jay, the newspaper reporter who originally proposed the 'boarding house' soap to ATV, and later went on to become script editor for Crossroads should in his final years be cared for by the organisation that through his scripts he helped create.

Crossroads and the Caring for Carers are still closely connected, Jane Rossington visited 'Crossroads-Moray' during their 21st Anniversary to film a TV appeal and at the 1989 25th anniversary of the soap the proceeds from the Fan Club event went to the charity. Also a speaker from Caring for Carers attended the celebrations to talk about the work of the organisation.

Although the series has sadly gone, part of its legacy will live on with the Caring for Carers and Moray schemes. Further reading can be found HERE in a 1986 report on the scheme by the TV Times.

Crossroads Association, 10 Regent Place, Rugby, Warwickshire, CV21 2PN

Telephone: 0845 450 0350, Fax: 0845 450 6556

The Crossroads Appreciation Society also continue to support Crossroads Caring For Carers.