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Down and Up: Staying Positive and Never Losing Hope
Survivors of institutionalised childcare are the exception. We expect them to be losers. Today, 60% of British children in care grow up to be either criminals, homeless, or suicidal. Yet Tommy is a survivor. His story provides an uplifting demonstration of the power of perseverance. Starting life on the lowest rung, he saw only one way to go...
It was in 1739 that Britain's first childcare provider, the Foundling Hospital – led by its almost saintly founder, Captain Thomas Coram – began its pioneering work. Tommy passed into its care exactly two centuries later as a weeks old baby in its last intake of institutionalised children. His particular misfortune was to be born to a mother who was not married.
Leaving the Foundling Hospital at 15 with no qualifications and no family, Tommy had to make his own way. After a shaky start, his life became a rollercoaster of great successes and heartbreaking disasters, ranging from the founding of South West England’s first health club and the country’s largest artificial ski slope to the ordeal of bankruptcy and the tragedies of losing a much-loved wife and child.
The incredible breadth of experiences that led Tommy on his odyssey can surely have few parallels. His story mixes pathos with drama; tragedy with success; humour with terrible risks. Even the political and historic backdrops of the times described are told with acute insight. Crowning this unique work are three powerful love stories. At times it will make you cry.
It was in 1739 that Britain's first childcare provider, the Foundling Hospital – led by its almost saintly founder, Captain Thomas Coram – began its pioneering work. Tommy passed into its care exactly two centuries later as a weeks old baby in its last intake of institutionalised children. His particular misfortune was to be born to a mother who was not married.
Leaving the Foundling Hospital at 15 with no qualifications and no family, Tommy had to make his own way. After a shaky start, his life became a rollercoaster of great successes and heartbreaking disasters, ranging from the founding of South West England’s first health club and the country’s largest artificial ski slope to the ordeal of bankruptcy and the tragedies of losing a much-loved wife and child.
The incredible breadth of experiences that led Tommy on his odyssey can surely have few parallels. His story mixes pathos with drama; tragedy with success; humour with terrible risks. Even the political and historic backdrops of the times described are told with acute insight. Crowning this unique work are three powerful love stories. At times it will make you cry.
402 pages
Published September 29, 2012
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