Heswall Boys Camp - A Short History

In 1960 the late George Eustance of West Kirby, a leading member of the Christian Toc H movement, whilst visiting his brother-in-law, who was recovering from poliomyelitis at Fazakerley Hospital, Liverpool, came across a large group of polio disabled children who were obviously in need of outside help in their battles sought to regain their independence.
George asked the late Alastair Shaw (1929-2002), who contracted polio upon leaving Oundle, and before he could take up a place at the Royal Agricultural College, to help him arrange a holiday for some of these children and so it was that Alastair, the late Frank Lamb, a classics master at Calday Grange Grammar School, educated at Caius College, Cambridge, and the late Councilor Arthur Norman Conway (1901-1991) helped George Eustance to arrange a camp under canvas for children from the British Polio Fellowship in Liverpool.

This Camp was held on the playing fields of Calday Grange Grammar School, West Kirby. Toc H being a men’s organisation did not find it easy coping with the very active behavior of a Camp for both boys and girls, and so it was decided that for 1962 a Boys’ Camp would be held at Liverpool Boys’ Association Camp at Heswall. A Camp leader was sought and the late Harold E "Waddy" Waddington (1917-1994), a boys’ club leader from Liverpool, was invited to fill this role, which he willingly undertook for 20 years until eventually handing over to Martin Crossley Evans in 1982, who in turn was succeeded by William Brown in the summer of 2005.

When Toc H disbanded it was left to Alastair Shaw to form a new committee of interested persons under the Chairmanship of his father-in-law, Frank Vaughan Needham, a wellknown Heswall interior furnisher, Rotarian and member of the Heswall URC. Laurie Pearce, a bank manager, was Secretary, and the new committee included Alastair Shaw, Frank Lamb, Charles and Alastair Kameen, Mike Byrne, Sheila Shaw, Graham Baldock and others, and was registered as a charity.

Vaughan Needham died in 1985, but some years before that he had handed over the chairmanship to Mike Byrne who, fortunately for the charity, continues to hold that office to the present time, ably supported by Meriel Balshaw, as Secretary and Graham Baldock, as Treasurer.

On the 3rd December, 1999, the European Day of the Disabled People, our Charity was greatly honoured to be presented with The Wirral Challenge Award for the Youth Category. We are proud to have been recognised in this way.

The Camp was held at the Liverpool Boys’ Association Camp in Broad Lane, Lower Heswall, until 1984, when it was transferred to Kingsmead School, Hoylake.

It was decided that the 2000 Camp should be held at The Barnstondale Centre, Barnston, Wirral, after a lottery grant had been used to make this venue wheelchair friendly and therefore very suitable for our purposes.

Such is the strength of friendship and support between all those who raise the money, arrange the Camps and commit themselves year after year to caring for the children.

In 2011 the camp underwent the registration process for Ofsted, and is please to have been approved for registration as a children's home. You can download our registration certificate here.