Holly Alex's gripping story of life as a child in care is brave, inspirational - and horrifying

Child safeguarding failures show the urgent need for an independent whistleblowers office and for politicians to not look away. As published in Scotsman on 21/2/26...

Some books stay with you, or at least they should. I know that Holly’s will be one of them and I hope that Edinburgh’s councillors will read it thoroughly and choose not to look away.

I read the aptly named ‘I Thought You Cared’ in one sitting. It’s the brave and inspirational story of a child abuse survivor and what she endured while in Edinburgh’s care and the wider children’s services system.

With each chapter, there were tears but also rage at the system’s failure to deliver what it said on the tin – care. And, not just for Holly Alex but for the other young people, as shocking words like “they saw the cars waiting outside” – cars they failed to recognise as those of groomers and traffickers – and “no one followed it up” jumped off the page.

Not a ‘mistake’ or ‘hard to love’

As a former Edinburgh councillor and vice-convener of education, children and families who supported whistleblowers and survivors in their raising of child safeguarding concerns, I can’t stress enough to elected members the importance of not looking away when it comes to scrutinising the protection of children. Or worse, using such concerns to score political points. We only fail children if we do.

Holly walked through the doors of Edinburgh’s residential services already traumatised by her childhood and the abuse experienced in the family home. She desperately needed to be shown that she wasn’t “a mistake” or “hard to love” through the care and protection of a new family unit and she needed time to heal from the addictions that had numbed her pain.

Instead, she was shown coldness and anger and told that she and the other young people “weren’t wanted, weren’t worthy” and “would never amount to anything”.

Think now if this were your child. Think what you’d do if they went missing only to be groomed, trafficked and sexually exploited – often just around the corner. Wouldn’t you hunt the streets until they were found and ensure the perpetrators were held to account? Why did those looking after Holly not?

It’s complex yes, but Holly deserved much better than the social work labels of being “a problem” and “a prostitute”. As she notes: “… even the police used language where the young people were described as ‘child prostitutes’ – a term that stripped us of childhood altogether and placed the blame squarely on us.”

And, if that wasn’t more than any child should ever have to endure, she was groomed and sexually abused by Gordon Collins, a now deceased secure ‘care’ worker. Further still, she was not believed by staff whilst a later case review described how he had been regarded as a “good worker”, “trusted” and “visible”. One other survivor was labelled as “attention seeking”.

Cover-ups and collusive networks

I labour on Holly’s story because I’m familiar with Edinburgh’s groundhog day of safeguarding failures, partially implemented action plans and endless inquiries that never appear to deliver any real justice, accountability or change. Now, as one of four child-safeguarding petitioners to the Scottish Parliament, I know that this could be replicated across the country.

Missing records, doctored reports, collusive networks, child abuse cover-ups, the misuse of public money, protecting alleged perpetrators and silencing survivors and whistleblowers through non-disclosure agreements and the use of labels that discredit their reputation and their accounts of what has happened. The list is endless.

After resigning from my party group on Edinburgh council to speak more freely on the subject and before standing down in May 2022, I was also one of the few councillors who read the secure-care whistleblowing report that Holly references in her book. Apart from our ‘controlled environment’ reading, this report has never seen the light of day.

Even a discussion of the monitoring officer’s summary of its findings by the full council was denied due to the inconvenience of lengthy proceedings and a teatime cut-off rule! This report shocked me but I know now it was likely only a shadow of the truth about child safeguarding.

Independent investigation

We’re now three-plus years into the Scottish Parliament’s petitions process and those child-safeguarding concerns have been magnified by the number of whistleblowers and survivors who have come to us for support and to offer further evidence about mishandling of child abuse cases and safeguarding issues.

It’s why we continue to call for independent investigation into the allegations and the creation of an independent national whistleblowing office for education and children’s services.

We’ve highlighted that the allegations include serious and organised abuse, links across cases and alleged perpetrators being moved around to work with other vulnerable children – as has been well-raised by caring members of staff, past and present, who’ve been in contact with us. We must remember there are many such staff, including the two cited as lights in Holly’s life.

And yet, despite revelations about grooming gangs and the Jeffrey Epstein case, we still need to say to some elected members: “Don’t look away. Help us to empower voices and establish the fullest child safeguarding truth to better keep children safe.”

As I write, I’m reminded of the film, Don’t Look Up, where astronomers attempt to warn humanity that a comet is about to destroy human civilisation… and the world does everything bar look up. In this case, child safeguarding warnings are everywhere, and never has there been a more pressing need for elected members to not look away.

Doing so might not involve the destruction of human civilisation but it will determine who we are and what we are willing to accept when it comes to the future protection of our children.

On February 25, our petition will be considered by the petitions committee. Support its progress and read Holly’s book. She deserves nothing less.

Alison Dickie is a teacher with her own ‘Comms for Kids’ consultancy business. She was an Edinburgh councillor and vice-convener of education, children and families from 2017-22 and previously a Scottish Parliament official.