Description
'We were just sacks of flesh existing as punchbags for their rage, or toys for their entertainment'
Chris Wild lost his dad aged 11, leaving him to grow up in the care system. There, he witnessed the incessant physical and sexual abuse of children, with the only escape leading to the streets. So many others like him, failed by the systems put in place to protect them, ended up with nothing but drink, drugs, prostitution and crime as their normality.
Later, working in a care home himself became the only way Chris could help, but he was shocked to discover little had changed and vulnerable children were still being failed. In Damaged, he shares heartbreaking memories of the care system along with the stories of all the boys, girls, men and women he met along the way - exposing why we must take action now to protect all of Britain's forgotten children.
AN EXPOSING ACCOUNT OF THE REALITIES OF GROWING UP IN CARE AND WHY WE STILL NEED TO TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT BRITAIN'S MOST VULNERABLE CHILDREN.
About the Author
Chris Wild is an author, care home consultant, government advisor, national youth advisor for young people and a charity patron for twenty charities. He is a passionate advocate and campaigner, appearing on the BBC and Newsnight. His first book, Damaged, told the story of his life and those of the other young children in care he met along the way.
You can find him on Twitter at /ccwild79, where he would love to hear from you.
Reviews
A powerful book that pulls on your heartstrings * Denise Welch *
Chris Wild's searing expose of life in and around the children's care system in the early 1990s... this no-holds-barred, often distressingly graphic depiction of young lives lost to neglect and abuse in the north of England. The reader is at once moved, outraged and ashamed. Moved, because you would need a granite heart not to weep at the brutal destruction of innocence; outraged at how the perpetrators could get away with so much for so long, and how the system's indifference facilitated such horrors, and ashamed because chances are that you and I have, at some point, walked past and ignored these lost souls on the high street or in our local park...
Read the book, get angry, and do anything and everything to ensure that, even in times of austerity and budget cuts, that those charged with caring for our nation's children remain scrutinised and accountable to the public.
Book Information
ISBN 9781911600640
Author Chris Wild
Format Paperback
Page Count 336
Imprint BLINK Publishing
Publisher Bonnier Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 230g
Dimensions(mm) 195mm * 130mm * 20mm
