Latest news with #SistersofNazareth
Leader Live
24-06-2025
- General
- Leader Live
Wrexham care staff honoured for nearly 90 years of service
Ellen Griffith and Cindy Clutton received special recognition during a celebration at Hillbury Care Home, where they were presented with awards and bouquets by Lesley Griffiths, Wrexham MS. The event marked a double anniversary, with Hillbury celebrating its 60th year and its owners, Pendine Park, marking 40 years in the care sector. Ms Griffiths said: "It's a great pleasure to be here today on such a special day, to say thank you to two very special people. "Between them, Ellen and Cindy have clocked up nearly 90 years of looking after people which I think deserves a big round of applause. "I have visited many care homes across Wales in different guises and I can honestly say that I have never been anywhere that comes close to Pendine. "That's down to the magic instilled by the owners Mario and Gill Kreft and the wonderful staff here and today we are celebrating the contribution of two very special people in Cindy and Ellen." READ MORE: Coleg Cambria students celebrated at learner and apprentice awards Hillbury Care Home was founded in 1965 by the Sisters of Nazareth and operated by the nuns for 37 years before being taken over by Pendine Park in 2003. Pendine Park already owned the neighbouring Gwern Alyn care home, and Cindy Clutton now manages both sites. Ms Griffith, who has worked at Hillbury since 1979, said: "I left school at 16 and came here in 1979 for an interview on a Friday and started work on the following Monday. "I came here in the first place to work as a carer on a YTS scheme – it was only for six months but they extended it for another six months. "After that ended I went to work at another home but I got a call saying there was a permanent job for me here and I've been here ever since. "The time has just flown by. "I don't know where the years have gone. "I just love every minute of it. "If you're happy in your work you don't need to look elsewhere." Ms Clutton started at Hillbury in 1982 as a Saturday worker. She said: "I started in Hillbury in 1982. "My mum worked here, I was looking for something during school holiday and weekends. "She got me a job and I haven't looked back. "Ellen took me under her wing and I helped her, working in the kitchen upstairs and folding clothes." She later joined Pendine Park in 2000, eventually becoming manager of both Hillbury and Gwern Alyn. Mario Kreft, who co-founded Pendine Park with his wife Gill, said: "Hillbury has been a very special place for 60 years, providing care in the community since 1965 and we are continuing to do that today in large measure. "The Sisters of Nazareth left a very good template for us and Cindy and Ellen epitomise what Pendine is all about. "You couldn't pick two better people – they have the milk of human kindness flowing through their veins. "Ellen and Cindy are real-life heroines." Pendine Park was founded in 1985 after the Krefts were unable to find suitable care for their own grandparents. The group now operates nine care homes across Wrexham and Caernarfon, offering 440 beds and employing more than 860 staff.
Scotsman
20-06-2025
- Scotsman
Three nuns in dock at Edinburgh Sheriff Court charged with abuse at children's homes
Three nuns have appeared in court accused of carrying out historical campaigns of torture and abuse at two Scots children's homes - including allegations of forcing children to eat their own vomit and drink washing up liquid. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Carol Buirds, Dorothy Kane and Eileen McElhinney are alleged to have assaulted and used cruel and unnatural treatment towards at least 27 children at the two homes run by the Catholic congregation the Sisters of Nazareth. Buirds, 75, Kane, 67, and McElhinney, 78, appeared in the dock at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Thursday, where they pleaded not guilty to a total of 29 allegations on indictment. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Edinburgh Sheriff Court (Photo: TSPL) Buirds is facing 11 charges of cruel and unnatural treatment and eight of assault allegedly committed at Nazareth House in Lasswade, Midlothian, and Nazareth House in Kilmarnock. The pensioner is claimed to have tortured and assaulted children under her care including rubbing urine-soaked bedding into their heads, forcing soap into their mouths and making another to chew on cigarettes. Buirds, from Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, is facing allegations of making youngsters to take cold showers, forcing food into one child's mouth causing them to vomit and then ordering them eat the sick. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Prosecutors allege on one occasion the nun made a female child stand naked with her hands above her head while she was menstruating, remove bloodied sheets from her bed and throw them out of a window while other children watched on. She is also said to have assaulted children at the two homes in Lasswade and Kilmarnock by striking and kicking them to the head and body and hitting them with a hairbrush and a slipper. The abuse allegedly carried out by Buirds is said to have involved 18 victims, who cannot be identified, and been committed between September 1975 and May 1981. Kane, from Lasswade, Midlothian, is facing three charges of cruel and unnatural treatment and one of assault allegedly carried out against four children between March 1980 and August 1981. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad She is alleged to have reported one child to staff members after supplying him with cigarettes in the knowledge he would be punished 'with the result he was forced to drink washing up liquid and slapped on the head'. The indictment also claims Kane dragged one child along a corridor and after kneeling on his chest she 'failed to provide him access to medical attention' when he said was in pain. McElhinney from Bishopbriggs, East Dunbartonshire, is alleged to have carried out four offences of cruel and unnatural treatment and two of assault against five children between November 1972 and May 1975. The OAP is claimed to have caused children unnecessary suffering and injury to their health by committing acts including forcing youngsters to sit in a cold bath and striking them to their body. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad McElhinney is also facing one charge that she tied the hands of one boy behind his back and 'putting him to bed thereby restricting his movement and placing him in discomfort and potential danger throughout the night'. Sheriff Iain Nicol was told some evidence relating to the case is still to be released to the defence teams and set down a date in October this year for a trial that is expected to last around six weeks.
