Holding the Baby

Hear the story of the First Neighbourhood Co-operative Nursery: a unique, parent-led childcare project based in Walthamstow from the late 1970s to early 1990s. We speak to Eva Turner, who recorded the history of the nursery in 2019, and play clips of oral history interviews with parents and workers from the nursery. All the sounds of children playing and singing are taken from film footage of the nursery in the 1980s.

John chose to stay at home and look after his baby son Joe in the early 1990s, when you didn’t see many other dads looking after babies. John and Joe talk together about what that decision meant to their relationship.Get more stories on holdingthebaby.orgCredits:Narrators: John Newman and Joe NewmanInterviews and editing: Rosa SchlingMusic: Luke ChristiePhotograph: Sophie PolyviouKindly funded by the Gilda Street Trust in memory of historian and author Gilda O'Neill.

Eva and Norah met at Stepney City Farm when they were both new parents in the mid-1980s and formed a friendship that lasts to this day. They discuss their different paths: Eva returned to work outside the home while Norah became her childminder.Get more stories on holdingthebaby.orgCredits:Narrators: Eva Turner and Norah ParkinInterviews and editing: Rosa SchlingMusic: Luke ChristiePhotograph: Sophie PolyviouKindly funded by the Gilda Street Trust in memory of historian and author Gilda O'Neill.  

Brenda unexpectedly became a single mum in the 1970s, after moving back home to the East End. She describes the ups and downs of bringing up her son with his grandparents living next door.Get more stories on holdingthebaby.orgCredits:Narrator: Brenda CrewInterviews and editing: Rosa SchlingMusic: Luke ChristiePhotograph: Sophie PolyviouKindly funded by the Gilda Street Trust in memory of historian and author Gilda O'Neill.

From toddlerhood onwards, Shirley was raised by her ‘beautiful’ grandmother in Dominica while her parents worked abroad. She talks about the values her grandmother gave her and the decisions she made about childcare when she had her own children in the UK.Get more stories on holdingthebaby.orgCredits:Narrator: Shirley PetersInterviews and editing: Rosa SchlingMusic: Luke ChristiePhotograph: Sophie PolyviouKindly funded by the Gilda Street Trust in memory of historian and author Gilda O'Neill.

Sylvia was brought back from evacuation during the war as a ten-year-old to be the main carer for her baby brother while her mother was unwell.Get more stories on holdingthebaby.orgCredits:Narrator: Sylvia ClarkeInterviews and editing: Rosa SchlingMusic: Luke ChristiePhotography: Sophie PolyviouKindly funded by the Gilda Street Trust in memory of historian and author Gilda O'Neill.

Joyce was brought up by ‘a lovely, lovely mum’ who had sadly lost her first two children. Now a great-grandmother, Joyce describes her worries and love for her own babies.Get more stories on holdingthebaby.orgCredits:Narrator: JoyceInterviews and editing: Rosa SchlingMusic: Luke ChristiePhotograph: Sophie PolyviouKindly funded by the Gilda Street Trust in memory of historian and author Gilda O'Neill.