Thursday 5 November 2020

Getting the story out ….. in uncertain times

As we enter another period of lockdown, finding the most effective way of promoting the story of one children’s charity commemorating its 150th anniversary has been challenging.


The book, The Ever Open Door was commissioned by the Together Trust just over two years ago and told the story of the charity from its early days in 1870 offering a bed for destitute boys to a huge organization, offering homes, help, and industrial training for young people as well as an after care service for released prisoners.

Of course advertising and selling the book, will always come second to caring for the young people at the heart of the work of the Together Trust.

But the proud story of its 150 years remains an important piece of social history, and with book shops closing and opportunities for book launches disappearing, the Trust has become inventive.

The book came out in early 2020, just as the first lockdown forced the cancellation of two book launches, and now as we enter a second shut down which sits on the back of Tier Three, the charity has found new ways to getting  its history out.

And they have now launched a new online way of offering the book for sale, and for those interested in the book, they just have to follow the link.*

All of which just leaves me to lift the notes from the back of the book for anyone who wants to know more, before they purchase.

“In 1870 a ‘Night Refuge for Homeless Boys’ was opened on Quay Street in Manchester. Founded by Dublin born Leonard Kilbee Shaw and Manchester businessman Richard Bramwell Taylor, it saw the beginning of a charity that has gone on to help thousands of children across Manchester, Salford and beyond.

Over the years the charity has adapted to the changing needs of young people in our society, with its names reflecting these changes: the ‘Manchester and Salford Boys and Girls Refuges and Homes’, as it was first known, then ‘The Boys and Girls Welfare Society’, and now ‘The Together Trust’. Celebrating the charity’s 150th anniversary, the book recounts the stories and achievements of a pioneering organisation that has been instrumental in improving child welfare”. 

The Ever Open Door, Author: Andrew Simpson / Together Trust

Paperback – March 2020

The Together Trust, https://shop.togethertrust.org.uk/


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