Headway Cambridgeshire at the Ida Darwin Site

Headway Cambridgeshire moved from Brookfields to the Ida Darwin site at the beginning of December 2012. Some people have wondered how the site got its name. So, who was Ida Darwin and why is the site named after her?

Emma Cecilia Farrer (1854 – 1946) became known as Ida while still a child, nick-named after her favourite story ‘Little Ida’s Flowers’ by Hans Christian Anderson. Ida married Horace Darwin (son of Charles Darwin) in 1880 and they lived in Cambridge

Ida was well educated and socially aware. Like many well to do ladies of the time, she took an interest in charitable ventures. She was particularly interested in the plight of vulnerable women and was an active member of The Cambridge Association for the Care of Girls. She noticed that a lot of young women who got into trouble were labelled as being ‘feeble-minded’.

Ida wanted to do more to help less vulnerable and less fortunate members of society and she began to take an interest in mental health issues. She worked for reforms in legislature and improved services. She helped to found The Cambridge Association for the Feeble Minded in 1908 which later became Cambridgeshire Voluntary Association for the Care of the Mentally Defective in 1913.

In 1915 the County Council became partly responsible for providing these services but Ida continued her work throughout her lifetime and even donated the substantial sum of £600 when the association became short of funds in 1935.

Ida was instrumental in raising awareness of the needs of vulnerable or mentally disabled people and she campaigned for their protection and care. Although the ideas and attitudes considered pioneering in her time may now seem out-dated and some of the terminology inappropriate nowadays, Ida helped start a change in attitudes on the care of vulnerable.

A hospital site providing for the care and support of mentally disabled people just outside Cambridge was established in the 1960s by the East Anglian Regional Hospital Board and it was suggested by prominent mental health worker Lady Hester Adrian that the site be named after Ida Darwin.

Attitudes and terminology have changed a great deal over the years, as well as the way services are delivered and the needs and rights of service users are much better understood and better protected today. For the beginnings of developing but necessary changes in attitudes and services, we can thank Ida Darwin.