Sandra Brown (campaigner)
Encyclopedia
Sandra Brown, OBE, is a Scottish
campaigner and leading expert on child protection issues. She has also achieved wide recognition as a writer
, broadcaster
and actress.
, Lanarkshire
, Scotland
.
Brown was educated at Coatbridge High School, Hamilton College
and the Open University
which awarded her an Honours degree in 1978 and a Masters in Education in 1996. She has worked as a Primary Deputy Headteacher and as a Senior Lecturer. Now she runs her own business, Potential Plus, providing personnel training for companies and organisations. She has been married to her husband, Ronnie, for many years. They live in Edinburgh
and have a son, a daughter and two grandchildren.
As well as campaigning against child sexual abuse
, Brown has run a helpline
for victims of workplace bullying
in Scotland
.
of a missing local schoolchild, Moira McCall Anderson.
She campaign
ed to bring her father to justice, but her efforts were thwarted, in 2006, when he died.
Since its inception the Foundation has assisted more than 500 families who have been afflicted by child sexual abuse
, violence
, bullying and related problems. Despite research by Brown and others, Moira McCall Anderson's disappearance
remains unsolved.
On 23 February 2007, the fiftieth anniversary of her disappearance, a memorial service was held for Moira at Airdrie
Baptist Church, Lanarkshire
. The service also commemorated other missing people and victims of child sexual abuse
.
. Notable broadcasts on BBC
Radio Four include The Choice (radio series) (interviewed by Michael Buerk
) and Woman's Hour
(interviewed by Martha Kearney
).
The unsolved case of Moira McCall Anderson has been the subject of three television documentaries - Cutting Edge and Unsolved
, and the Zone Reality
Show Psychic Private Eyes.
, recounting her childhood and the unexplained disappearance
of the schoolchild - One Of Our Ain. This one-woman show, presented by Brown herself, met with wide acclaim and has been staged at the Soho Theatre
, London
, Oran Mor Theatre, Glasgow
and during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2006.
childhood and the mystery of the schoolchild's disappearance - Where There Is Evil (Pan Macmillan Ltd, ISBN 0-330-44871-4). The book has sold over 100,000 copies internationally, and ensures that the missing child's memory remains vivid in the public imagination. It also highlights the need for on-going vigilance and wider awareness of child protection issues.
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
campaigner and leading expert on child protection issues. She has also achieved wide recognition as a writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, broadcaster
Presenter
A presenter, or host , is a person or organization responsible for running an event. A museum or university, for example, may be the presenter or host of an exhibit. Likewise, a master of ceremonies is a person that hosts or presents a show...
and actress.
Biography
The daughter of the late Alexander and Mary Gartshore, Sandra Brown was brought up in CoatbridgeCoatbridge
Coatbridge is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. The town, with neighbouring Airdrie, is part of the Greater Glasgow urban area. The first settlement of the area stretches back to the Stone Age era...
, Lanarkshire
Lanarkshire
Lanarkshire or the County of Lanark ) is a Lieutenancy area, registration county and former local government county in the central Lowlands of Scotland...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
Brown was educated at Coatbridge High School, Hamilton College
Hamilton College (Scotland)
Hamilton College is a Co-educational Private School located in Hamilton South Lanarkshire, Scotland, it provides education from Nursery age through the full 7 years of primary education and 6 years of high school...
and the Open University
Open University
The Open University is a distance learning and research university founded by Royal Charter in the United Kingdom...
which awarded her an Honours degree in 1978 and a Masters in Education in 1996. She has worked as a Primary Deputy Headteacher and as a Senior Lecturer. Now she runs her own business, Potential Plus, providing personnel training for companies and organisations. She has been married to her husband, Ronnie, for many years. They live in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
and have a son, a daughter and two grandchildren.
As well as campaigning against child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities , indecent exposure with intent to gratify their own sexual desires or to...
, Brown has run a helpline
Helpline
A helpline was originally a telephone service which offers help to those who call. Many helpline services now offer more than telephone support - offering access to information, advice or customer service via telephone, email, web or SMS....
for victims of workplace bullying
Workplace bullying
Workplace bullying, like childhood bullying, is the tendency of individuals or groups to use persistent aggressive or unreasonable behaviour against a co-worker or subordinate. Workplace bullying can include such tactics as verbal, nonverbal, psychological, physical abuse and humiliation...
in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
Moira McCall Anderson
Brown has believed, for many years, that, in February 1957, her bus-driver father, a known philanderer and paedophile, participated in the abduction and murderMurder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
of a missing local schoolchild, Moira McCall Anderson.
She campaign
Political campaign
A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making process within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, wherein representatives are chosen or referendums are decided...
ed to bring her father to justice, but her efforts were thwarted, in 2006, when he died.
Moira Anderson Foundation
In memory of the missing child, she spearheaded in 2000 the founding of a charitable organisation, the Moira Anderson Foundation (MAF).Since its inception the Foundation has assisted more than 500 families who have been afflicted by child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities , indecent exposure with intent to gratify their own sexual desires or to...
, violence
Violence
Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...
, bullying and related problems. Despite research by Brown and others, Moira McCall Anderson's disappearance
Disappearance
Disappearance may refer to:* Forced disappearance, when an organization forces a person to vanish from public view* Unexplained disappearances, the disappearance of objects, animals or people without apparent reason or cause...
remains unsolved.
On 23 February 2007, the fiftieth anniversary of her disappearance, a memorial service was held for Moira at Airdrie
Airdrie, North Lanarkshire
Airdrie is a town within North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It lies on a plateau roughly 400 ft above sea level, and is approximately 12 miles east of Glasgow city centre. Airdrie forms part of a conurbation with its neighbour Coatbridge, in the former district known as the Monklands. As of 2006,...
Baptist Church, Lanarkshire
Lanarkshire
Lanarkshire or the County of Lanark ) is a Lieutenancy area, registration county and former local government county in the central Lowlands of Scotland...
. The service also commemorated other missing people and victims of child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities , indecent exposure with intent to gratify their own sexual desires or to...
.
Media appearances
Now prominent as a spokesperson on child protection issues, Brown makes frequent appearances in the Scottish newspapers and in the UK mediaMedia of the United Kingdom
Media of the United Kingdom consist of several different types of communications media: television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and Internet-based Web sites. The UK also has a strong music industry. The UK has a diverse range of providers, the most prominent being principle public service...
. Notable broadcasts on BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
Radio Four include The Choice (radio series) (interviewed by Michael Buerk
Michael Buerk
Michael Duncan Buerk is a BBC journalist and newsreader, most famous for his reporting of the Ethiopian famine on 23 October 1984, which inspired the Band Aid charity record.-Early life:...
) and Woman's Hour
Woman's Hour
Woman's Hour is a radio magazine programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in the United Kingdom.-History:Created by Norman Collins and originally presented by Alan Ivimey the programme was first broadcast on 7 October 1946 on the BBC's Light Programme . It was transferred to its current home in 1973...
(interviewed by Martha Kearney
Martha Kearney
Martha Catherine Kearney is an Irish-born British broadcaster and journalist. She is the main presenter of BBC Radio 4's lunchtime news programme The World at One.-Early life:...
).
The unsolved case of Moira McCall Anderson has been the subject of three television documentaries - Cutting Edge and Unsolved
Unsolved (TV series)
Unsolved was a regional television documentary series produced by Grampian Television...
, and the Zone Reality
Zone Reality
Zone Reality is a European reality television channel.Zone Reality broadcasts in both analogue and digital to over 120 million viewers throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America....
Show Psychic Private Eyes.
One Of Our Ain
Brown has written a theatre playPlay (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
, recounting her childhood and the unexplained disappearance
Disappearance
Disappearance may refer to:* Forced disappearance, when an organization forces a person to vanish from public view* Unexplained disappearances, the disappearance of objects, animals or people without apparent reason or cause...
of the schoolchild - One Of Our Ain. This one-woman show, presented by Brown herself, met with wide acclaim and has been staged at the Soho Theatre
Soho Theatre
Soho Theatre is a theatre in the eponymous Soho district of the City of Westminster. It presents new works of theatre, together with comedy and cabaret....
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Oran Mor Theatre, Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
and during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2006.
Where There Is Evil
Brown has written a best-selling book about her LanarkshireLanarkshire
Lanarkshire or the County of Lanark ) is a Lieutenancy area, registration county and former local government county in the central Lowlands of Scotland...
childhood and the mystery of the schoolchild's disappearance - Where There Is Evil (Pan Macmillan Ltd, ISBN 0-330-44871-4). The book has sold over 100,000 copies internationally, and ensures that the missing child's memory remains vivid in the public imagination. It also highlights the need for on-going vigilance and wider awareness of child protection issues.
Awards
- In 2002, Brown was voted runner-up Scottish Citizen of the Year, by readers of The ScotsmanThe ScotsmanThe Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
newspaper.
- In 2005, Brown was voted Scotswoman of the Year by readers of the Glasgow Evening Times.
- In December 2006, Brown was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), for services to child protection. The award was conferred by HRH The Prince of Wales, at an investiture at Buckingham PalaceBuckingham PalaceBuckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
.
Press coverage
- Has confession solved a murder?
- Sins of the father
- Scotswoman of the Year 2005
- Sandra Brown interviewed on BBC Woman's Hour
- Family and friends in special tribute to murdered Moira