Sandra Brown,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(born 7 January 1949) is a Scottish campaigner and leading expert on

child protection Child protection (also called child welfare) is the safeguarding of children from violence, exploitation, abuse, abandonment, and neglect. It involves identifying signs of potential harm. This includes responding to allegations or suspicions ...

issues. She has also achieved wide recognition as a writer, broadcaster and actress.

Biography

The daughter of Mary and Alexander Gartshore, Brown was brought up in

Coatbridge Coatbridge (, ) is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. Along with neighbouring town Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Airdrie, Coatbridge forms the area known as the Monklands (popula ...

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark (; ), is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the Central Lowlands and Southern Uplands of Scotland. The county is no l ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Brown was educated at Coatbridge High School,

Hamilton College Hamilton College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York, Clinton, New York. It was established as the Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and received its c ...

and the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

which awarded her an

Honours degree Honours degree has various meanings in the context of different degrees and education systems. Most commonly it refers to a variant of the undergraduate bachelor's degree containing a larger volume of material or a higher standard of study, ...

in 1978 and a Masters in Education in 1996. She has worked as a primary school deputy

headteacher A headmaster/headmistress, head teacher, head, school administrator, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. Role While s ...

and as a senior lecturer. She now runs her own business, ''Potential Plus'', providing personnel training for companies and organisations. She has been married to her husband, Ronnie, for many years. They live in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

and have a son, a daughter and three grandchildren. As well as campaigning against

child sexual abuse Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in Human sexual activity, sexual activit ...

, Brown has run a

helpline A helpline, or switchboard, is a telephone service which offers help to those who call. Many helpline services now offer more than telephone support - offering access to information, advice or customer service via telephone, email, web or SMS. ...

for victims of

workplace bullying Workplace bullying is a persistent pattern of mistreatment from others in the workplace that causes physical and/or emotional harm. It includes verbal, nonverbal Nonverbal communication is the transmission of messages or signals through a non ...

Moira McCall Anderson

Brown has believed, for many years, that, in February 1957, her bus driver father, an alleged

philanderer Promiscuity is the practice of engaging in sexual activity frequently with different partners or being indiscriminate in the choice of sexual partners. The term can carry a moral judgment. A common example of behavior viewed as promiscuous by man ...

and

paedophile Pedophilia ( alternatively spelled paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of pube ...

, participated in the abduction and

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

of a missing local schoolchild, Moira McCall Anderson. She campaigned to bring her father to justice, but her efforts were thwarted in 2006, when he died.

Moira Anderson Foundation

In memory of the missing child, she spearheaded in 2000 the founding of a

charitable organisation A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

, the Moira Anderson Foundation (MAF). Since its inception the Foundation has assisted more than 500 families who have been afflicted by

violence Violence is characterized as the use of physical force by humans to cause harm to other living beings, or property, such as pain, injury, disablement, death, damage and destruction. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines violence a ...

bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, Suffering, hurtful teasing, comments, or threats, in order to abuse, aggression, aggressively wikt:domination, dominate, or intimidate one or more others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. On ...

and related problems. Despite research by Brown and others, Moira McCall Anderson's disappearance remains unsolved. On 23 February 2007, the fiftieth anniversary of her disappearance, a memorial service was held for Moira at Airdrie

Baptist Church Baptists are a denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers ( believer's baptism) and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches generally subscribe to the doctrines of ...

. The service also commemorated other

missing people Missing People (previously known as National Missing Persons Helpline) is a national organisation in the United Kingdom that offers assistance to people who run away and/or go missing and their families. It is a registered charity under Englis ...

and victims of

Media appearances

Now prominent as a

spokesperson A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

issues, Brown makes frequent appearances in the

Scottish newspapers This is a list of newspapers in Scotland. Daily newspapers : Traditionally newspapers could be divided into 'quality', serious-minded newspapers (usually referred to as 'broadsheets' due to their large size) and 'tabloids', or less serious news ...

and in the

UK media There are several different types of mass media in the United Kingdom: television, radio, newspapers, magazines and websites. The United Kingdom is known for its large music industry, along with its new and upcoming artists. The country also has ...

. Notable broadcasts on

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Radio Four BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasting ...

include

The Choice (radio series) ''The Choice'' may refer to: Books * ''The Choice'' (novel), a novel by Nicholas Sparks * ''The Choice'', 1984 novel by Og Mandino * ''The Choice'', a non-fiction book about Bill Clinton's 1996 presidential campaign by Bob Woodward * ''The Choice ...

(interviewed by

Michael Buerk Michael Duncan Buerk (; born 18 February 1946) is a British journalist and newsreader. He presented BBC News from 1973 to 2002 and has been the host of BBC Radio 4's '' Moral Maze'' since 1990. He was also the presenter of BBC One's docudrama ...

) and

Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History The first BBC programme for women was the programme cal ...

(interviewed by

Martha Kearney Martha Catherine Kearney (born 8 October 1957) is a British-Irish journalist and broadcaster. She was the main presenter of BBC Radio 4's lunchtime news programme '' The World at One'' for 11 years. In April 2018, Kearney joined the presenting ...

). The unsolved case of Moira McCall Anderson has been the subject of three television documentaries - Cutting Edge and Unsolved, and the

Zone Reality CBS Reality is a European pay television channel specializing in reality-based programming, including true crime documentaries and factual entertainment. It is operated by AMC Networks International in partnership with Paramount Networks EMEAA ...

Show Psychic Private Eyes.

Writings

''One Of Our Ain''

Brown has written a theatre

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

, recounting her childhood and the unexplained disappearance of the schoolchild - ''One Of Our Ain''. This one-woman show, presented by Brown herself, has been staged at the

Soho Theatre Soho Theatre is a theatre and registered charity in the Soho district of the City of Westminster, and Soho Theatre Walthamstow in north-east London. It produces and presents new works of theatre, together with comedy and cabaret, across three pe ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Oran Mor Theatre Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

and during the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

2006.

''Where There Is Evil''

Brown has written a

best-selling A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties (novel, nonfiction book, coo ...

book about her

childhood and the mystery of the schoolchild's disappearance - ''Where There Is Evil'' (

Pan Macmillan Pan Books is a British publishing imprint that first became active in the 1940s and is now part of the British-based Macmillan Publishers, owned by the Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group of Germany. History Pan Books began as an indepe ...

Ltd, ). The book has sold over 100,000 copies internationally, and ensures that the missing child's memory remains vivid in the public imagination. It also highlights the need for on-going vigilance and wider awareness of

issues. As of June 2013, Brown is co-writing a feature film screenplay adaptation of her life story & book, Where There Is Evil, with London screenwriter, Amanda Duke.

Awards

* In 2002, Brown was voted runner-up

Scottish Citizen of the Year Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

, by readers of ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...

'' newspaper. * In 2005, Brown was voted

Scotswoman of the Year Scottish people or Scots (; ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded the Kingdom of Scotland (or ...

by readers of the ''

Glasgow Evening Times The ''Glasgow Times'' is an evening tabloid newspaper published Monday to Saturday in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Called ''The Evening Times'' from 1876, it was rebranded as the ''Glasgow Times'' on 4 December 2019.Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(

), for services to child protection. The award was conferred by

The Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

, at an investiture at

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

References

Press coverage

''Has confession solved a murder?''

''Sins of the father''

''Scotswoman of the Year 2005''

''Sandra Brown interviewed on BBC Woman's Hour''

''Family and friends in special tribute to murdered Moira''

Sandra Brown reveals movie based on life of Moira Anderson in works

External links

Moira Anderson Foundation website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Sandra 1949 births Living people Officers of the Order of the British Empire Scottish activists People associated with Edinburgh Alumni of the Open University People educated at Coatbridge High School