FIFTEEN TEENAGERS PRESENT A PROBLEM FOR FATHER . .

Wanted : Ten Uncles
THIS FAMILY JUST GREW AND GREW
IATORRIED about those "meant-to-shock" exploits of your one or two teenage children ? Then lake a look at a little corner of Kent where Mr. Sebastian Rhodes and his wife Margaret are planning now and looking ahead to the day When they will have not one but fifteen teenagers on their hands
Prevention is better than cure is the resolve of Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes who live at Broadetairs. And they are helping to tackle their portion of a national problem in the right way.
FIVE of their fifteen children are their own, the other ten they
AFTER ALL. A CHAP'S GOT TO EA1 EVEN IF THERE IS A PHOTOGRAPHER AT THE TABLE. have either adopted or are fostering for the local authority.
It all started a few years ago when Mr. Rhodes was working as a gardener and his wife looked after some children during the holidays. As his own family grew they moved to Kent where Mr. Rhodes took a job as a foreman manager for a nursery to earn more money.
Mrs. Rhodes minded children and came in contact with the local child care officer who, seeing their success, suggested that they might like to apply for a job as house parents, ef'HEN came the obstacles-they I had too many children of their own to be allowed to mind other children and there was lack of accommodation.
But Mr. Rhodes. carrying on steadily with his job found that he had to work so hard and so long that he never saw his children. A further suggestion came from the Child Care Officer-vvhy not start a children's home?
This was under discussion when a loan from a family friend made
PICTURE STORY by BERNARD COCKSHUTT
the dream a reality and two years ago they moved into a house in the country just outside Broadstairsan ideal place for children.
All the children are from Catholic parents. Are they happy? Of this there is no doubt-although it takes some time for a new arrival to settle down and overcome resentments.
But to walk through Orchard House and garden to-day means listening to humming voices, an occasional companion complete with sticky hand, the offer of sweets from a birthday box, and a small band of "helpers" for whatever job one might try to undertake.
MR. RHODES now has all his time taken up helping to run the house, decorating and gardening. Mrs. Rhodes is the hub of the immense household and manages everything with an occasional ready hand from the older children and one helper, Anne. soon to lease and take a course as an assistant house mother.
The children attend the local Catholic schools and the Rhodes' eldest three have all obtained grammar school places. Some of the children have music lessons, two girls are learning ballet and another is so expert at riding that she gives lessons to visitors from the Continent.
The problem at the moment is that although the house is big enough for eating and sleeping, there is no room big enough for recreation. And that's the rub Mr. Rhodes is looking to the day when he has fifteen teenagers on his hands. The idea is to build an extension on the side of the house to .make a 21ft. recreation room and two more bedrooms.
He has the plans. He has permission. Ile knows the cost-nearly £11.000-all the children need is ten generous uncles or aunts to fill the money box!