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The first soap with a real social awareness was the ATV Midland production of Crossroads.
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 Orthopedic 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 independenc
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, it was Noele herself who started the wheels rolling for ATV to 'do something about it'.
Usually soaps reflect real-life, but in this case Crossroads turned fiction into reality! Noele spoke with Dr. Richard Hudson-Evans, who was the medical adviser for ATV Midlands' programmes, and he backed her idea for a scheme to be set up which would help relatives to take a break from caring for their loved ones. Noele and Dr Richard along with the soaps producer, 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 coordinating the Rugby scheme and Leonard Mathews became the Chairman of the Trust.
To start up the venture ATV placed adverts in the regional newspapers, and on the local news programme ATV Today coverage of the new scheme was broadcast. Over the following weeks many interviews were held to find suitable candidates to become part of the caring team. At the end of that first round only five care attenders were hired - who went on to be trained in basic nursing and care skills. In the first two ATV funded years over three thousand visits were made by the carers.
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 providing their services to the venture. Many schemes have grown to 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 Scotland in 1999 to film a TV appeal to mark their 21st anniversary. We also played our part as a fan club to support the cause; In 1989 we held a special celebration to mark the 25th anniversary of the soap - of which all the profit from the society gathering was donated 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 Appreciation Society 1988-present
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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.
e and also the devoted care given to them by their relatives.'
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 Environment. The first scheme began in Scotland in 1978.