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Family Advice Centre Devonshire St.

mikejee

mikejee

Super Moderator
Staff member
This picture from 1972 shows the then family advice centre in Devonshire St. As far as i can see , the angle of the houses at the corner must mean it is either the corner of Devonshire st.-Lodge road or Devonnshire St Lees St. I have a 1950s picture with the lodge road junction in the background, so by elimination it must be the Lees St junction. an anyone confirm that?
Mike

Family_advice_centere_devonshire_st__kent_st_north_1972A.jpg
 
I used to do voluntary work there Mike, in the early 1970s. It was on the corner of Devonshire Street and - I thought - Kent Street North. The pub was on the opposite corner anyway, that I DO remember!;)
"Robbo" Robinson was the chief social worker there in the 70s.
 
Thanks Charlie .The article i got the picture from was about Arthur Robinson resigning in disgust at the city council. I thought the corner looked sharper than it was on the picture, but, looking again at the map , the kent St corner was fairly sharp.
mike
 
He must have resigned shortly after I left, I was still there in the early months of 1972 - what does that tell you :(. The Devonshire Arms was on the corner opposite, that's for sure ~ hic ~
I've sent you an IM, Mike.
 
Robbo, Phil, Rose,Dot and Kate ..... Shirley at the typewriter .... originally we were based in a hut on Musgrave Park
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...that became the Disco Centre with DJ 'Junior' on a Fri night, moved on to a house in Devonshire St, just up from the Park.... finally we moved to the corner shop as listed in image above. We had regular weekends at the Forest of Dean,Cooper's Mill Nr Bewdley....Ogwen Cottage in Snowdonia...... Pike was a 70ft Narrowboat provided by The Lions ..... I was the 'detached' Youth Worker ...Alan Evans...as part of the team .... we were attached to Area 7, Social Services Team......but were badly let down by poor funding allocations.... A great community.
 
Charlie said:
I used to do voluntary work there Mike, in the early 1970s. It was on the corner of Devonshire Street and - I thought - Kent Street North. The pub was on the opposite corner anyway, that I DO remember!;)
"Robbo" Robinson was the chief social worker there in the 70s.
Click to expand...
Charlie I've just noticed this post , this chap Robbo . Did he ever have dealings with St Chrysostoms on Park Rd . Only I'll never forget that church for one reason
 
Hi, I can confirm 'Robbo' was involved in acquiring the Church as a Youth Club.....but not for many months...lead was removed from the roof went crashing through the floor into the cellar.A quantity of used wood ...beams etc was then stored in the disused building.......and the Church suffered an arson attack. I believe Robbo was involved with work in Highfields prior to working for Social Services Dept.....prior to that he had worked in South Africa. Phil Bashford &myself Alan Evans were involved with the Youth Work.We also had a 72ft Canal Boat that was moored at Fazeley St ..........
 
templartyler said:
Hi, I can confirm 'Robbo' was involved in acquiring the Church as a Youth Club.....but not for many months...lead was removed from the roof went crashing through the floor into the cellar.A quantity of used wood ...beams etc was then stored in the disused building.......and the Church suffered an arson attack. I believe Robbo was involved with work in Highfields prior to working for Social Services Dept.....prior to that he had worked in South Africa. Phil Bashford &myself Alan Evans were involved with the Youth Work.We also had a 72ft Canal Boat that was moored at Fazeley St ..........
Click to expand...

Toward the late 60's , I tried to start of in business as an electrician I quoted Mr Robinson a price , which was accepted . The job was to put new lighting into a hall I think so the kids could play football at night . So myself with the help of a couple of chaps began , after a week I decided to knock a day off from my day job to go and try to get a purge on with this church hall . I turned up about 10.oo am only to find my tools had disappeared , knocked off . No one knew or had seen anything , Mr Robinson was kind enough to keep me waiting for payment , and not as much as a how much were your tools worth . There is a saying among tradesmen , if you take a mans tools , you might just as well have taken his trade from him . So Mr Robinson and St Chrysostoms are imbedded in my brain
 
++So sorry to hear that... totally sympathise....and to a point am able to empathise....I used to park my car in Devonshire St...came back one Friday evening, from the Disco in the Hut on Musgrave Rec'...only to find my tyres slashed.As an Advice Centre...we were employed by the then Children's Dept.....funding was always an issue. That does not reduce the impact that this theft had on you, just setting up a business venture.Break ins at the office were frequent....typewriters stolen.....paint cans opened..contents all over floor....after 18 months I resigned, the issue being inadequate funding ... feel free it message me if you want further contact. Cheers.
 
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