BFI: Disabled Britain on Film

In January the British Film Institute brought together a collection celebrating the representation of people with disabilities in film via their video streaming service (BFI Player). Revealing films from 1911 to the present day, the Disabled Britain on Film portal showcases the work of disability-led film makers, and documentaries focusing on those living with disabilities and the charities which provide support to them, to highlight an often overlooked part of the lives of many individuals and families across Britain.

Residents of the Bethesda Home c. 1890

We are pleased that our work and heritage has not gone unnoticed by the BFI — a 1937 promotional video for the Boys’ and Girls’ Refuges has been added to the Disabled Britain on Film list. The film was digitised by the North West Film Archive which is managed by the Manchester Metropolitan University. The film includes our very own Bethesda and Belmont Homes, our Seaside Convalescent Home at Old Colwyn, and the Birkdale Summer Camp. Whilst the film largely concentrates on the care of orphans, the footage from the Bethesda Home gives an insight into the care that was provided to young people with disabilities in this period.

Disability by no means defines a person, however, recognising and celebrating our differences is important in empowering the individual. Reflecting on how society’s attitudes and behaviour toward people with differences and disabilities has changed over time is also important, as it enables us to understand an individual’s experiences and measure what has been (and has yet to be) done to gain greater equality for all. Indeed, such changes are evident in our own history as a charity. The Bethesda Home founded in 1890 on George Street, Cheetham Hill (which later moved to the Cheadle site), provided care to the increasing number of children with disabilities who were destitute or orphaned across Manchester and Salford. The home was originally named ‘Bethesda Home for Crippled and Incurable Children’, the terminology of which sits uncomfortably with the modern reader. For those contemporaries who gave the home this name the terms were not used in the pejorative sense that we would recognise them as today; for them, the name was descriptive, yet also emotive in that they hoped to evoke sympathy from the readers of the Charity’s publications. Emotive language would be used in promotional material to encourage donations: there would be references to “little suffering ones” and “poor afflicted children”. A further example of the language used at the time is evident in the following passage take from the Charity’s 1890 annual report:

When the Committee realised how few homes there were in existence for these children, who, in addition to their poverty, had the added affliction of maimed, crippled, or incurable bodies, they longed to brighten the lives of those whose lot is so sad.

The home was also termed a “House of Mercy”. However, incongruous the title may now be, the Bethesda Home provided a clean and safe environment in which children could recuperate and receive education — the only one of its kind, or so it was claimed, in the North West in 1890. Until its closure in 1999, Bethesda established itself as a prominent figure in the provision of specialist education and care, taking in admissions from across the country.

Behind the Scenes at the Boy’s and Girl’s Refuges (Est 1870) can be viewed here.