When Noele Gordon, the actress playing Sandy's mother and carer, was due to take a months holiday the scriptwriters were faced with the dilemma of who would look after Sandy. This they soon realised was, and indeed still is, an issue faced by many carers who have no other help with their caring duties. It was Noele herself who started the wheels rolling for ATV to 'do something about it'. At the time of the story there was no government funded help or any charity offering support.
Usually soaps reflect real-life, but in this case Crossroads turned fiction into reality. Noele spoke with Dr. Richard Hudson-Evans, who was the medical adviser for ATV Midlands' programmes and he backed her idea for a scheme to be set up which would help relatives to take a break from caring for their loved ones. Noele and Dr Richard along with the soaps producer, Reg Watson, approached ATV's Midlands Senior Director, Leonard Mathews, who agreed to fund a pilot scheme which would run for two years in Rugby, Warwickshire, from 1974 onwards.
ATV donated the original £10,000 to establish the service to give carers a break - the Crossroads caring for carers scheme was launched. In the first year of operation Crossroads supported just 28 families. Miss Sankey the then District Nurse Tutor for Warwickshire was given the task of coordinating the Rugby scheme and Leonard Mathews became the Chairman of the Trust.
To start up the venture ATV placed adverts in the regional newspapers and on the local news programme ATV Today coverage of the new scheme was broadcast. Over the following weeks many interviews were held to find suitable candidates to become part of the caring team. At the end of that first round only five care attenders were hired - who went on to be trained in basic nursing and care skills. In the first two ATV funded years over three thousand visits were made by the carers.
The Crossroads Care Attendant Scheme became a national organisation in April 1977. In the same year the EEC made a grant of £100,000 for a research project into housing for disabled people. This project was undertaken by the Crossroads Trust, with a contract being issued by The Department For Environment. The first scheme began in Scotland in 1978.
Sandy continued to be seen in Crossroads up until the actors death in 1981. Roger Tonge's on-screen persona proved popular with young disabled people, many hundreds writing to him every week to thank him for portraying a 'normal' disabled person on-screen. Sandy wasn't a token wheelchair user. His disability was rarely, after the inital caring sceme plot, an "issue" within the show. Instead Crossroads producers showed Sandy leading an everyday life - as assistant manager of the motel, various romances and even joining a charity to help others 'less fortunate' than himself. In 1986 a disabled writer paid tribute to Noele and Roger in the TV Times magazine, but now 30 years on its time to really celebrate the legacy left behind.
The story may have long ended on-screen but it's real-life work goes on. Crossroads Caring for Carers, as of 2010, supported around 200 member schemes throughout England and Wales. There were over 33,000 carers and they spent over four million hours a year providing their services to the venture. Many schemes have grown to provide additional services including Young Carers projects, holiday play schemes for disabled children and care for people who are terminally ill.
Crossroads Care is now the biggest respite organisation in the world.
