London Greek Radio

Two sisters are hoping to find their biological father – more than 50 years after he disappeared.

Charlotte and Natalie Innes are looking for a man they only know as ”Andreas”, who lived with his family on Bourne estate, in Holborn, in the 1960s. Their mother, Pauline Innes, suffered a breakdown and put her two children into care after Andreas was forced to return to his Cyprus homeland for national service.

Natalie, who had just been born at the time, said she had been told that when her father returned from Cyprus he was told he was no longer welcome – and was never seen again.

”I think she was just absolutely heartbroken that he had to leave,” she said of her mother. ”There probably would have been some help for her had it been now. They probably would have given her some anti-depressants or something – but in the mid-1960s there was nothing like that. ”She had to put us two into care. We were living in a children’s home close to Bourne estate.”

Natalie, 53, said that after three years the two girls were taken out of care by their mother when her mental health improved. She settled down with another man, who for most of their lives they thought was their father. ”We were always one big family but we did always look quite a lot different to the other four children,” said Natalie. ”We have dark eyes, darker skin.”

She discovered what her real father looked like only after her adoptive father showed her a photo found in her mother’s belongings after her death.

Natalie said: ”When I was in my 20s I just thought: ‘What’s the point in knowing anything about him. Your father is the man that brings you up.’ ”I also didn’t want to upset his family. He would have started a new life and it could be upsetting for his family if two women appeared out of nowhere saying they were his daughters. It could be tough on his children. But it’s been so long now… Then the other day, my grandchildren were doing the family tree. It was wrong, of course, because they had us down as coming from the same father. So we told them what had happened. It really got us thinking that we should make an effort to find him now.”

She added: ”It’s quite likely he’s still in London. He would be 70 or 80 now. I think I’d just like to sit there, across from him and listen to him speak. I would just like to ask him for his side of things, to find out what happened.”