Draft:Edinburgh Academy Survivors

• Comment: E.g., the long quotes from a report are not appropriate for an article MarcGarver (talk) 10:18, 29 October 2024 (UTC)Dealt with. Thanks. Hopefully have addressed your other comments? Thanks

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Edinburgh Academy Surviors is a support and campaign group formed by former pupils of the Edinburgh Academy, a private school in Scotland, who were victims of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse.

History and background

The group was formed in September 2022. The catalyst was a podcast by BBC broadcaster and former pupil Nicky Campbell.

In that podcast Nicky Campbell disclosed abuse suffered at the hands of a teacher called Iain Wares. Wares is called "Edgar" in the podcast as his name was under a General Restriction Order from the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry. This was subsequently lifted thanks to BBC lawyers and a Fettes College survivor, George Scott.

Journalist and historical child abuse campaigner, Alex Renton, has also spoken about Iain Wares in an earlier podcast.

The awareness created by the podcasts led many survivors to make contact with them both. Wares is the subject of allegations from former pupils of the Edinburgh Academy, Fettes College, and a third school in South Africa.

The group grew rapidly in size, from 3 founding members to 120+. Approximately half of those are Edinburgh Academy pupils, the rest formerly of Fettes College, plus a growing number of other schools:

• Dollar Academy (Scotland)
• Strathallan (Scotland)
• Cargilfield (Scotland)
• Glasgow Academy (Scotland)
• Wellington College Ayr (Scotland)
• Blairmore (Scotland)
• Horris Hill (England)
• Ashdown House (England)
• St Christophers (England)
• Christ's Hospital (England)

Activities and support

The group helps survivors of ACE (adverse childhood experiences) and abuse at school. It offers peer-to-peer emotional support, but its main focus is campaigning for justice. In order of priority, the group's mission and purpose is:

• To ensure that any survivor who wants to be heard properly gets to tell their personal story in full, through the relevant authorities and media channels
• To ensure that perpetrators of abuse are exposed and ideally prosecuted
• To help other survivors and survivor groups from any background get the recognition and justice they need and deserve

EA Survivors in the media

UK and international media outlets have covered the group's work.

Coverage reported on the following topics:

1. Alleged abusers and convictions
2. The group's engagement with the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry
3. The group's fundraising efforts for child protection
4. The extradition campaign in South Africa

News reports can be found online: BBC, STV, The Times, The Guardian, The Scotsman, Daily Record, Daily Mail,The Herald, Evening Standard, The Independent, and media in South Africa.

A number of the survivors were interviewed for a BBC Documentary which was broadcast on the 30th of November 2023.

Alleged and known abusers

Hamish Dawson - EA upper school

Dawson was a history teacher and housemaster at Edinburgh Academy. He died in 2009.

Hamish Dawson was specifically mentioned by Lady Smith who chairs the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry hearings, on account of the number of times his name came up in victims’ statements.

According to the testimony survivors gave, he was capable of being witty and charming, especially with parents, and in the classroom and boarding houses he was seen as eccentric and theatrical.

In reality he drew on his many skills and interests to create a façade behind which he was able to indulge in abuse of young boys.

His daughter Jenny has spoken publicly about her distress when his actions came to light.

John Brownlee - EA prep school

According to over 40 witnesses John Brownlee was one of the most malevolent men ever to teach in Scotland. A Scottish court agreed in March 2024 that he was a criminal, a sadist, a racistwho ruined countless lives.

Unable to stand trial due to Dementia, Brownlee was found in an Examination of Facts at the Sheriff Court in Edinburgh, to have abused young boys sadistically and violently throughout his career.

All 31 charges were upheld. No sentence could be imposed because of Brownlee's Dementia.

Iain Wares - EA prep and Fettes Junior School

A South African, Iain Wares' teaching career started in Cape Town. He moved to the UK after being asked to leave his first teaching post.

In Scotland, he was treated for 'homesexuality' and 'paedophilia' by Professor Henry Walton at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital.

With Walton's encouragement, Wares took up a post at Edinburgh Academy, from which dozens of former pupils have alleged sexual and physical abuse.

Dismissed following a complaint of abuse at EA, he moved to Fettes College, where he abused again and was given time off by the school for further treatment at the Royal Edinburgh.

Wares was the main subject of the BBC Panorama documentary.

As of October 2024 Wares is currently on trial in South Africa for similar offences, and is the subject of an Extradition Order which will be enforced pending the outcome of the South African trial.

Other allegations and proceedings

In December 2023, Police in Scotland and England made 5 arrests of former members of staff at Edinburgh Academy in connection with new allegations.

The school has acknowledged much of the abuse.

Safeguarding and Child Protection

Some members of the survivor group now campaign voluntarily for child protection.

The group is an official fundraising partner of the NSPCC, the UK's largest child protection charity, and undertook an expedition to Mt Everest in May 2024, raising funds for vulnerable children.

In 2025 they will run the London Marathon to raise more funds, and in 2026 some of the survivors are planning to trek to the North Pole.

The group is in discussions with BSA (the Boarding Schools Association) and SCIS (the Scottish Council of Independent Schools) with the aim of improving relations between survivors and institutions and preventing harm in schools today.

Some survivors have given presentations to teams at the NSPCC, conferences oganised by child protection charities and member organisations advising schools worldwide.