This is the story of one children’s charity and its work over 150 years, making the lives of young people a heap better.
It began in 1870 as a response to the children who could be found living on the streets in the twin cities of Manchester and Salford offering a bed and breakfast to homeless boys in the charity’s Refuge.
Within a decade it had expanded to provide homes for boys and girls, offered vocational training, along with migrating some to Canada.
It also intervened on the behalf of neglected and abused children seeking recourse from the courts to protect these young people and campaigned for legislation for those who worked the streets selling matches, newspapers and shining shoes.
A logical extension of that activity was to work with children who were on remand for committing a crime. That aspect of its work is amply covered in the new book on the history of the charity which has been published to coincide with the charity’s 150th anniversary.*
Most people had long recognized that to incarcerate young offenders awaiting trial was not a good idea, and the charity had opened a centre where such youngsters could be accommodated.
And in 1931 the centre featured in an article in the journal of the Co-operative Guildswomen, under the title “The Boy who ‘Steals’ Eggs for Fun – Is he to be condemned as a Criminal?”**
The article reflected on the fact that “Hundreds of boys and girls pass daily through British juvenile courts [and] between the charge and the actual pronouncement of judgement there is a period of remand while cases are investigated”. And went on to ask what happened to children who were on remand, arguing that “to send children to prison while awaiting trial is repugnant; [while sending ] them home is undesirable”.
So, “anxious to know the provision Manchester made for remanded Juvenile cases, we set out on a ‘voyage of discovery”, which led to “Chatham House, Piccadilly, (Manchester) and the Boys’ and Girls’ Refuges and Homes” which ran a Remand Home.
The delegation “found comfort and cleanliness” and was surprised that the centre served “not only the Manchester courts, but other Lancashire and Cheshire courts [with] children coming from Morecombe, Wigan, Stockport, Bacup and other smaller townships. Girls up to eighteen years of age, as well as boys, are received and the staff consists of a matron, a superintendent and a maid”.
But more than the physical appearance of the centre or the number of young people in the home what struck the visitors was the social conditions which had led some of the youngsters to slide into crime.
One sixteen year old confessed that he was on remand for stealing eggs. His mother had recently died and he, his father and brother were all unemployed.
This was after all the height of the Depression, when unemployment reached three million, and those seeking assistance had to undergo the Means Test.
The delegation concluded their tour with a visit to the roof playground “which had high spiked railings”, and views across the city and “down to the busy streets below”. Not that the location of the playground at the top of the building or those high spiked railings acted as a deterrent to some youngsters,
They climbed over the railings , slid down the building by way of the drain pipes but such audacious escapes always ended in failure.
The article is an interesting, one not only because of the detail it offers up of what the centre was like but of the work of the charity at helping young people in remand.
Picture; the roof top playground, courtesy of the Together Trust
*The Ever Open Door, 150 years of the Together Trust, Andrew Simpson, The Together Trust, 2020, You can obtain copies of the book from, books@togethertrust.org.uk But given the current circumstances there may be a delay in getting books out in the post to people.
**The Boy who ‘Steals’ Eggs for Fun, Women’s Outlook, May 2nd, 1931
Within a decade it had expanded to provide homes for boys and girls, offered vocational training, along with migrating some to Canada.
It also intervened on the behalf of neglected and abused children seeking recourse from the courts to protect these young people and campaigned for legislation for those who worked the streets selling matches, newspapers and shining shoes.
A logical extension of that activity was to work with children who were on remand for committing a crime. That aspect of its work is amply covered in the new book on the history of the charity which has been published to coincide with the charity’s 150th anniversary.*
Most people had long recognized that to incarcerate young offenders awaiting trial was not a good idea, and the charity had opened a centre where such youngsters could be accommodated.
And in 1931 the centre featured in an article in the journal of the Co-operative Guildswomen, under the title “The Boy who ‘Steals’ Eggs for Fun – Is he to be condemned as a Criminal?”**
The article reflected on the fact that “Hundreds of boys and girls pass daily through British juvenile courts [and] between the charge and the actual pronouncement of judgement there is a period of remand while cases are investigated”. And went on to ask what happened to children who were on remand, arguing that “to send children to prison while awaiting trial is repugnant; [while sending ] them home is undesirable”.
So, “anxious to know the provision Manchester made for remanded Juvenile cases, we set out on a ‘voyage of discovery”, which led to “Chatham House, Piccadilly, (Manchester) and the Boys’ and Girls’ Refuges and Homes” which ran a Remand Home.
The delegation “found comfort and cleanliness” and was surprised that the centre served “not only the Manchester courts, but other Lancashire and Cheshire courts [with] children coming from Morecombe, Wigan, Stockport, Bacup and other smaller townships. Girls up to eighteen years of age, as well as boys, are received and the staff consists of a matron, a superintendent and a maid”.
One sixteen year old confessed that he was on remand for stealing eggs. His mother had recently died and he, his father and brother were all unemployed.
This was after all the height of the Depression, when unemployment reached three million, and those seeking assistance had to undergo the Means Test.
The delegation concluded their tour with a visit to the roof playground “which had high spiked railings”, and views across the city and “down to the busy streets below”. Not that the location of the playground at the top of the building or those high spiked railings acted as a deterrent to some youngsters,
They climbed over the railings , slid down the building by way of the drain pipes but such audacious escapes always ended in failure.
The article is an interesting, one not only because of the detail it offers up of what the centre was like but of the work of the charity at helping young people in remand.
Picture; the roof top playground, courtesy of the Together Trust
*The Ever Open Door, 150 years of the Together Trust, Andrew Simpson, The Together Trust, 2020, You can obtain copies of the book from, books@togethertrust.org.uk But given the current circumstances there may be a delay in getting books out in the post to people.
**The Boy who ‘Steals’ Eggs for Fun, Women’s Outlook, May 2nd, 1931
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