Celebrating 150 years ……. The Together Trust 1870-2020

The plan was a simple one.

After 150 years of caring for young people the Together Trust would mount a series of events, which described the history of the charity, explored its many and different activities over a century and a half and a look to the future.

The charity had begun in 1870 with the modest aim of providing a bed and a meal for some destitute young people found on the streets of Manchester and Salford.

Within a decade its work had expanded to include girls, maintained a series of homes, and training centres, offered holidays by the seaside, settled some children in Canada, and even operated a scheme to help newly released prisoners.

My involvement in collaboration with Liz Sykes who was the Trust’s archivist was to write the book.*

All was set fair, but things happen which as we all know was Covid, which meant celebrations were put on hold, and were revisited with a mix of virtual events including the traditional December festival.

But for an organization which had started with a handful of volunteers and access to a building which could provide bed and breakfast for just 6 destitute boys, weathered two world wars a Depression and sought a new caring role with the coming of the Welfare State, the Covid lock down was a mere inconvenience. 

And with relaxing of restrictions the charity staged the very successful unveiling of a plaque recording the first night shelter on Quay Street in July of last year.

This was followed up with an event in April at Centra Ref in St Peter’s Square with an exhibition of the Trust’s story which showcased some of the work and achievements of young people.

The event was a success and led to a renewed interest in the book, The Ever Open Door: 150 years of the Together Trust, by Andrew Simpson.*

The book is divided into three sections, which focus on the early work of the charity, describes its changing role as a partner of the agencies that made up the Welfare State, and looks forward to the challenges of the 21st century.

And if you want more on the story of the Trust and the book just follow the link*

So that is it ...... a good night was held by all with some pretty inspiring stories, a rich vein of history and an exciting look into the future.

Location; Manchester

Pictures; 150 Years of the Together Trust’ exhibition! April 27th, 202 Central Ref, courtesy of the Trust, https://www.togethertrust.org.uk/

* The Ever Open Door: 150 years of the Together Trust, Andrew Simpson, The Together Trust, 2020, 140p, £14-99. ISBN 978-1-5272-5671-2. Available from, The Together Trust, https://shop.togethertrust.org.uk/

**A new book on the Together Trust, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/A%20new%20book%20on%20the%20Together%20Trust

The Band of Kindness ........ another story of child care from the 19th century

Now I doubt that many will know of the Band of Kindness & Children’s Help Society which was established in 1882, reorganised in 1897 and went through a number of changes to its name which reflected the changes to the focus of its activities.

Band of Kindness, 1897

It is still active today under the title of Disabled Living with its headquarters in Greater Manchester.*

As such it perfectly reflects the way many children’s charities have changed, adapting to the changing needs of society.

I came across it in a box of archive material in Central Ref belonging to the Together Trust which is the subject of the new book.**

The book which I am writing with Liz Sykes who is the archivist of the Trust will describe the work of this children’s charity from 1870 to the present and aims to chronicle the way it has adapted to the changes and philosophy in child care over the last 150 years.

The presence of the Band of Kindness material in the archive owes much to the fact that one of its leading supporters and chairman was a Mr Gilbert R. Kirlew who was involved in the Together Trust and because the two charities worked together.

Letter from the Band of Kindness, 1897

What is interesting is the way that the Band of Kindness developed.

Back in 1897 it worked for “the happiness and blessing of those in our homes and of all we meet.  

The rescue and help of poor City Children and the savour of God’s little ones everywhere  [which] includes the support of destitute children in public and private homes, their emigration to the Colonies, or their temporary stay in the country or at the at the sea side.”

And “the promotion of kindness to dumb animals, as for instance, - our Annual Parade of Working 
Donkeys, when we off prizes for the animals best cared for.”***

By 1903 the Band of Kindness had become The Crippled Children’s Help Society distributing Christmas hampers to disabled children, and in the following year rented a property in Marple with seven rooms offering respite facilities.

Through the rest of the 20th century with minor name changes it continued working with disabled children and families.

Band of Kindness pledge, date unknown

And if like me you are of a certain age you will remember those saving boxes which were placed outside shops and had an almost life size figure of two disabled children holding the collecting box.

It also ran a hospital, a holiday home in north Wales, expanded its work to include adults and broadened its services to include training, occupational therapy and craft classes.

In 1985 it became the Disabled Living Services “as the previous name became offensive and was no longer politically correct”  and finally adopted the title Disabled Living because the “charity was being confused with health and social care services.“*****

Band of Kindness, 1897

Its present offices suffered a fire in 2009 and all its older archive material was lost.

Happily some of it has been retrieved after a chance find of a number of boxes photographs and memorabilia relating to Disabled Living which had been saved buy a former employer.

Which only leaves me to wonder if they know of the Trust’s box and of an interesting piece on Mr Gilbert Kirlew in Getting Down and Dusty which is the blog of the Together Trust.***

So what was lost is found and along the way yet another bit of the story of child care in the 19th and 20th centuries has been revealed.

Location; Manchester


Pictures;  The Band of Kindness & Children’s Help Society, courtesy of the Together Trust******

*Disabled Living, http://www.disabledliving.co.uk/

**A new book on the Together Trust, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/A%20new%20book%20on%20the%20Together%20Trust

*** The Band of Kindness & Children’s Help Society, 1897, Together Trust Archive, M189/1/6/5

**** Disabled Living, http://www.disabledliving.co.uk/about-us/history/

***** Photographs from Canada, 1894, Getting Down and Dusty, http://togethertrustarchive.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/photographs-fom-canada-1894.html

******The Together Trust, http://togethertrustarchive.blogspot.co.uk/p/about-together-trust.html

Listening to the story of the Together Trust ..... on YouTube

Now the impact of Covid precautions has made all of us more innovative in how we communicate with each other.

And so it was with the planned launch of the book The Ever Open Door, which tells the story of the Together Trust, which first started work in 1870, offering a bed and a meal to destitute children living in Manchester and Salford.*

It had been commissioned by the Trust to coincide with the 150th anniversary of its founding, and was to be launched at a series of events during 2020.

Of course the events never happened and as the year drew to a close, the decision was taken to record some chapters of the book which would form part of the annual Christmas Concert, along with an item at the end of the charity’s AGM.

Both readings would be part of a power point display featuring images from the work of the Trust over the last 150 years.

And today the first of those readings has been released on YouTube.**

The obvious choice for a reader was me, given that I wrote the book  in collaboration with the Trust’s archivist Liz Sykes.

I make no claims to be the Richard Burton or Lawrence Oliver of the 21st century, but it was fun to do and sits as an Andrew first with the first walk and talk I did back in 2008, and the first power point presentation a year later.

Leaving aside all of that, the audio piece is an extract from chapter one, with pictures from from the Trust’s archives.

And that is it.

The Ever Open Door: 150 years of the Together Trust, Andrew Simpson, The Together Trust, 2020, 140p, £14-99. ISBN 978-1-5272-5671-2. Available from, The Together Trust, https://shop.togethertrust.org.uk/

Picture; courtesy of the Together Trust, https://www.togethertrust.org.uk/

*A Beginning, Chapter One, The Ever Open Door, 150 years of the Together Trust Andrew Simpson, 2020, The Together Trust

** A Beginning, Chapter One, Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADLsibEJP1w

 

Another excellent blog on BHC from the Together Trust

History is as I always say messy and I am never surprised when one piece of research leads to another.

So back many years ago when I first started on the journey of discovery about my own British Home Child I came across the Together Trust.

It was one of those random shots in the dark.  My great uncle was migrated by Middlemore on behalf of the Derby Union which is nowhere near Manchester which was the original home for the Together Trust.

But I now live in Manchester and curious to know how other cities dealt with child care  I came across the Manchester and Salford Boys’ and Girls’ Refuges which began in 1870 and is now the Together Trust.

The rest as they say is a shed load of blog stories about the Trust and a new book on the story of this children’s charity by me and their archivist Liz Sykes which will be published to commemorate their 150th anniversary in 2020.*

And in the course of the research for the book I have learnt lots more about the state of child care, and the migration of young people in the late 19th century.

Liz publishes a regular blog which is always informative, fascinating and sends me off in all sorts of enquiries.**

The latest is on Marchmont, and the records of the visits made on behalf of the charity to youngsters placed in the surrounding area.***

“The charity retains books on all of the young people who were emigrated across to Canada and provides a service to close relatives, who want to discover more about their ancestor. Interested individuals can find out more by contacting the Together Trust.”***

Now given that some people have had some difficulties in tracking relatives via other agencies I am always impressed by the efforts made by Liz to help descendants of children migrated by the Trust, and there are those who have told me hoe helpful she has been.

So that just leaves me to look over the blog story again and suggest you do too.

Pictures; courtesy of the Together Trust; 

*A new book on the Together Trust 

**Getting Down and Dusty, 

***Records at Marchmont


****Contacting the Trust 

Deep Pockets and Dirty Faces ............ today at Central Ref .... telling the story of the Together Trust

Now here is one not to miss ......... from the Together Trust

The Together Trust was once the Manchester & Salford Boys' & Girls' Refuges and from 1870 worked to help the lives of children in the twin cities.

Young People from the Together Trust will  be performing at the Manchester Histories Festival on Tuesday 7th June as part of their ‘Deep Pockets and Dirty Faces’ project.

The Heritage Lottery funded project - Deep Pockets and Dirty Faces - is enabling our young people to discover the origins and explore the history of the Together Trust in a fun and creative way.

An important organisation in the history of childcare within the North West, this project aims to increase awareness in the local community through the creative output of the young people who use our services today.

As part of the project, young people will be  interpreting their findings in a variety of different formats including a digital film, 4D theatre performances, website material, exhibitions – and of course, at the Manchester Histories Festival.

During the performance on Tuesday  June 7, the audience will hear the tale of a young orphan's life in one of the charity’s Manchester homes and their trip across the sea to a new home in Canada.

The event centres around an oral account of the orphan’s journey, recorded by our young people and set to visual images taken from the Together Trust archive.

This event is a fascinating account of our organisation’s place in the history of Manchester, told by young people receiving services from our charity 146 years later.

Join us from 11-12pm at Manchester Central Library, St. Peter's Square, Manchester, M2 5PD.

Tickets are free but they should be booked in advance. Call 0161 306 1982 or click here to book your tickets online.

Picture; and story courtesy of the Together Trust

*Getting Down and Dusty, the Together Trust,  https://www.togethertrust.org.uk/news/free-young-people%E2%80%99s-performance-manchester-histories-festival

Happy birthday to the Together Trust ..... serving the needs of young people from Manchester and Salford since 1870

 So, the new year has brought our first birthday, which for us is the 151st of the Together Trust which began as the Manchester and Salford Boys' and Girls's Refuge.

The celebrations for its 150th were a little muted given the restrictions around the virus, but the year closed with the AGM and a Christmas service acknowledging the charities history and continued work with young people and families.

For those wanting help in tracking family members who may have passed through the care of the charity the Trust will respond to requests for help.

In the meantime there is the book, published last year which celebrates the history of the Together Trust from its beginnings in 1870, through to today.

The Ever Open Door: 150 years of the Together Trust, Andrew Simpson, The Together Trust, 2020, 140p, £14-99. ISBN 978-1-5272-5671-2. Available from, The Together Trust, https://shop.togethertrust.org.uk/

Picture; courtesy of the Together Trust, https://www.togethertrust.org.uk/

*A new book on the Together Trust, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/A%20new%20book%20on%20the%20Together%20Trust

Continuing to care for young people ...... after the migration stopped

Now as much as I am interested in the story of British Home Children, there is another equally fascinating one which focuses on the welfare of young people in Britain, during the second half of the 20th century and on in to this one.

1962

For some it will always be less important than the study of BHC and given the close personal connection we all have with the subject this is only to be expected.

There is a book yet to be written on the subject from the British perspective and one that concentrates on Canada, rather than all of the old bits of Empire to which children were migrated.

The most recent British book is New Lives for Old which was published in 2002 and is both a history and resource book, giving the broad story with many useful addresses.*

And in this context it is worth highlighting that excellent site British Home Children in Canada, which has a section devoted to the literature of BHC.**

Here in Britain the care of young people whose home backgrounds placed them at risk continued to grow and develop, after the charities stopped migrating to Canada in the 1930s and Australia four decades later.

1902

It is a story I have already written about*** but is continuing to evolve.
Some of the charities involved with the welfare of young people in the 19th century have faded and disappeared.

Others like the Band of Kindness became the “Crippled Children’s Help Society” specializing in helping disabled children and has become Disabled Living, “providing impartial information and advice about products, equipment (assistive technology) and services for disabled adults, children, older people, carers and the professionals” thus “people to maintain independence and improve the quality of their life, and that of their family”. ***

1985-86

Of those charities still remaining in the field of direct child welfare, the two most people are aware of, are Barnardos and the Together Trust.

And of these it is the Together Trust which interests me most. This is partly because they originated in Manchester where I live, and stopped migrating children in 1914 long before most charities but also because their work today helps explain the developing transformation of care for “looked after children and young adults”.****

Added to which they have commissioned me to write their history to coincide with their 150th anniversary in 2020 but we won’t pursue that bit of personal self interest..

During the last fifty years, the thinking behind how services for children and young adults should be delivered has undergone changes.

Care homes have become less institutionalized and smaller, recognising the commitment to more intimate family units.  At the same time there have been moves to integrate disabled children into mainstream schools.

1957

All of this has been done against a backdrop of cuts in public spending, the advance of privately owned care homes, and legislation seeking to put more emphasis on the role of the family while developing a more holistic approach to the needs of young people in care.

And if that sounds a bit jargon loaded it is, but together those changes have had profound effects.  In some cases they have led to the Together Trust moving away from activities it had once done while developing new ones.

1984-85

The work remains focused on the partnership with local authorities who since 1948 have been the agency responsible for the welfare of looked after children, but given that it is a charity it is able to move into areas of need which local government do not handle.

And in that respect points to the continued role of charities in this area, particularly in the light of cash strapped local authorities and perhaps the withdrawal of the private sector from some aspects of this work.

We shall see.

Location; Britain

Pictures; courtesy of the Together Trust, 1902-1986

* New Lives for Old The Story of Britain’s Home Children, Janet Sacks and Roger Kershaw, 2002

** British Home Children in Canada, http://canadianbritishhomechildren.weebly.com/historical-books.html

*** “The best single test of any civilisation is the way in which children are treated” ...... the continuing story, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/the-best-single-test-of-any.html
& The Partnership..... “it shall be the duty of the local authority to receive the child into their care”, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/the-partnership-it-shall-be-duty-of.html

**** Disabled Living, http://www.disabledliving.co.uk/about-us/history/

****The Together Trust, https://www.togethertrust.org.uk/  Started as the Manchester and Salford Boys’ and Girls’ Refuge, became the Boys’ And Girls’ welfare Society and is now called the Together Trust

Discovering more about those children migrated to Canada and Australia in the 19th century

Extract on the report of Roger Hall, 1915

I doubt that I will ever know the exact course of events that sent my great uncle at the age of 16 to Canada in 1914.

He was one of the 100,000 or so young people who were migrated to Canada during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

It was a policy which even after Canada stopped, carried on into the 1970s with boat loads of children going to Australia and other parts of the old British Empire.

These were the British Home Children and until recently it was a story shrouded in official amnesia, and compounded by a reticence on the part of those migrated to talk about what happened to them.

The policy was born out of a mix of good intentions cynical self interest and an unwillingness on the part of the authorities to accept its shortcomings.

Extract from the passenger list of the SS Carthaginian, 1914

It is a story I have written about many times* and so today I want instead to reflect on the history of the growing awareness of that migration and the efforts on the parts of academics and family historians to uncover the full extent of what went on.

For many of us it was the chance discovery that a relative had been migrated to Canada which led us into the history of British Home Children.

Many of those who first started to explore the story had little to go on, and in an age before the internet and the digitalization of records were forced to spend long month’s fruitlessly writing to charities and public archives to elicit a few facts.

More recently particularly in Canada self help organistions have sprung up aided by the internet which have made the task easier.

And like all good self help organisations people are keen to share information, links and ideas, all of which is how I like my history.

Boys in the care of the Manchester & Salford charity about to leave for Canada

Only this weekend I took part in a global discussions on the future of one of these organisations run from Canada and called British Home Children Advocacy &  Research Association**

In just the last few years the interest in British Home Children has grown.

In part this reflects the search by relatives for information about their migrated family members, but also has become a serious area of study with an increasing number of books devoted to the subject.

Most of these have been published in Canada, but there are a few on this side of the Atlantic and with them has come specialist sites including that of the Together Trust which was the Manchester & Salford Boys’ and Girl’s Refuges and sent children to Canada from 1870 till 1914.***

What both British Home Children Advocacy &  Research Association and the Together Trust offer are help and links which will assist anyone on a personal search or those interested in learning more about the story.

Manchester Boys in Canada

In the case of the British Home Children Advocacy &  Research Association this includes an extensive and growing data base, articles and links as well as a growing programme of talks across Canada to raise awareness.

The Together Trust has its own archivist who is keen to assist those who may have family members who were cared for  by the charity and wish to know more about their relatives.

Nor should we forget the experiences of those young people sent to Australia.
These young people continued to be sent from Britain well into  the 1970s.

Some of their stories featured in Empty Cradles, which was published in 1994.

Its sales of 75,000 copies helped to fund the work of the Child Migrants Trust which was established in 1987 by Margaret Humphreys CBE, OAM.****

The Trust deals with the issues surrounding the deportation of children to Australia in the post-war period.  Empty Cradles has been dramatised as the 2011 feature film Oranges and Sunshine.

So British Home Children have come out of the shadows in more ways than one and have quite rightly become a serious area of study.

Pictures; of Roger Hall's report and the shipping list of the carthaginian, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and pictures of Manchester boys of the Manchester & Salford Boys' and Girls' Refuge courtesy of the Together Trust.

*British Home Children, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/British%20Home%20Children

** British Home Children Advocacy &  Research Association http://britishhomechildrenadvocacy.weebly.com/

***The Together Trust Archive, http://togethertrustarchive.blogspot.co.uk/

**** The Child Migrants Trust, http://www.childmigrantstrust.com/

A new history of a Manchester children's charity

Now it is quite something to be invited to be part of the 150^th birthday bash of a children’s charity which began in Manchester in 1870.

In just three years time the Together Trust will be a 150 which deserves a special celebration.*

It had begun as a rescue operation offering destitute boys from Manchester and Salford a bed and a meal for the night quickly extended its work to include girls as well as boys, and provide more permanent homes offering training for future careers along with holiday homes.

Emma before admission

It also campaigned against some of the worst cases of child exploitation taking negligent parents to court and arguing against the practise of employing young children to sell matches on the streets of the twin cities.

Back then it was known as the Manchester & Salford Boys’ and Girls’ Refuges and Shelters and in 1920 changed its name to the Together Trust and moved out to Cheadle.

And today it continues to help young people and their families.

I first came across the Trust five years ago and have been writing about its work ever since.

As a historian my interest has been with its history and here I have had tremendous help from the Trust’s archivist who as well as maintaining the charity’s extensive archive also produces a blog and works with families who have been helped passed through the care of the Together Trust.**

Emma after admission

This I know because some of those families have expressed to me their appreciation of the work done by Liz Sykes in locating a relative and supplying details of the care they received.

So I have long wanted to be involved in writing the history of the Manchester & Salford Boys’ and Girls’ Refuges and Shelters and its story since 1920.

And this week we have confirmation that the project will go ahead with a planned publication date of 2019.

Next month Liz and I will begin the detailed preparations for the book and already we have had some exciting ideas about how the book will not only celebrate the work of the Trust but will be a practical guide as to how people can begin the journey of searching for a family member who stayed in one of the charity’s homes, was helped with industrial training and in some cases were assisted to move to Canada.

Thomas Bowers a success story

It will go a long way to describing the charity’s work but also reflect the history of how vulnerable young people and their families have been helped in the course of a century and a half.

Now all that has just got to be exciting.

Pictures; courtesy of the Together Trust

*The Together Trust, http://togethertrustarchive.blogspot.co.uk/p/about-together-trust.html

**Getting Down and Dusty, http://togethertrustarchive.blogspot.co.uk/

The stories behind the picture ................... Manchester in the 1870s

Now you know just by looking at the photograph that there is a story here.

And the more you look it is apparent that there will be as many stories as there are people staring back at us.

It starts with those young boys, all in uniform and many holding musical instruments and goes on to the adults.

Their tall hats and beards suggest a date sometime in the 1870s.

Of course we do have to be careful because often the appearance of a person, from their clothes to the style of their hair may reflect the fashions of an early age from which the individual has not moved on from.

Finally there is the banner which is difficult toread but there is enough to suggest a message carrying a high moral tone.

So it might be logical to suppose that this is the youth wing of a religious group and that might takes us to the Salvation Army or the Boys Brigade or any one of a number of others.

The Salvation Army is a candidate in that it was formed in 1865 and just possibly so is the Boy’s Brigade which was established in 1883.

But neither fit the picture.  In the case of the Boys Brigade while the organisation was formed in 1883 in Glasgow it would be a full decade before it took root across the country and I know this is not a group of  Salvation Army, because we are in the back yard of a building belonging to the Manchester & Salford Boys’ and Girl’s Refuges which was established in 1870.

Their original purpose was to rescue destitute children from the streets of Manchester and Salford but expanded into a much wider organisation which owned homes, undertook the vocational training of young people and campaigned for better working conditions for those children engaged in a range of exploited labour.

Alongside these activities the charity was also active in the prosecution of parents who were abusive or neglectful, and offered help to others who through bereavement, ill health or unemployment found it difficult to support their children.

Finally like many other children’s charities they migrated some of those in their care to Canada.

In the case of the Manchester and Salford Boys’ and Girls’ Refuges this part of their work lasted just 34 years from 1872 till 1914 in two short periods from 1872-75 and 1883-1914.

The organisation still exists although it is now the Together Trust,  and is based in Cheadle and it is still engaged in the primary role of helping young people.

For me as a historian leaving aside all their good work it is their archive that fascinates me, which includes the records of those who went through the charity including admission books, letters and profiles and photographs.

And as you would expect the archivist of the Trust is very careful about confidentiality and the rights of individuals to their anonymity even a century and bit on from when they were admitted.

That said she regularly features some of the material in the Trust’s blog.*

And that brings me back neatly to our picture which dates from the 1873 and was taken in the back yard of the charity’s building in Strangeways.
Now this I know because I asked the archivist who for good measure supplied the message on the banner which reads Boy's Refuges, Industrial Home, Francis Street, Strangeways.

The rest as they say is for another time.

Picture; resources at the Together Trust, courtesy of the Together Trust,  http://togethertrustarchive.blogspot.co.uk/p/about-together-trust.html

*Getting down and dusty, the Together Trust, http://togethertrustarchive.blogspot.co.uk/

Manchester honours and remembers one children’s charity

Now it is rare for the blog to have two differentstories about the same event on the same day.*

The plaque, unveiled, July 20th 2021

But today it does, with the first story going out this morning about the unveiling of a blue plaque commemorating the opening of a refuge for destitute boys on Quay Street in 1870, and the second recording the ceremony which was supported by the Lord Mayor and a host of trustees, staff, and guests.

 

The Lord Mayor unveiled the plaque, watched on by the Charity's C.E.O

Liz Sykes, the archivist of the charity first came up with the idea of a plaque on Sunlight House which is on the site of the former refuge over a decade ago.

 But bureaucracy can grind slow and it wasn’t until recently that all it came together.

 The opening of the Refuge marked the first step in transforming the lives of a handful of boys found on the streets of the twin cities, offering them a bed and breakfast, before turning them out on to the streets again.

 Within a decade the organisers had expanded into a  ranges of activities designed to help young people and a full half century later could point to a whole series of achievements, from rescuing children  off the streets to residential and vocational homes,  seaside holidays, and involvement both in the courts and in legislation to protect young people.

Giles Gaddum acting Chair of the Trustees 

Today that charity still exists but is known as the Together  Trust.

Given the support of both Manchester and Salford city councils over the last century and a half it was fitting that Cllr Tommy Judge the present Lord Mayor of Manchester participated in the unveiling of the blue plaque along with Giles Gaddum acting Chair of the Trustees and the C.E.O of the charity.

But for me it was also the presence of so many of the staff at the event, which sadly was limited by Covid regulations.

The unveiling was followed by a reception in the Lord Mayor’s Suite in Central Ref.

I was there as the author of the Ever Open Door which is  the official history of the charity, but modesty prevents me from saying more.*

But I would just like to mention Julie Isted who commissioned the book, and had faith in a jobbing historian and Liz Sykes the archivist whose deep knowledge of the charity’s work filled the gaps in my knowledge and was always at hand to point me in the right direction, so much so that the book was really a joint venture and owes as much to her as me.

So that is it, one unveiling, 150 years of continuous care for young people, and a permanent reminder of of the work undertaken by the Together Trust.

 Location; Manchester

 Pictures, Quay Street, 2021, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*History is coming back to Quay Street …… today ....remembering 1870, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2021/07/history-is-coming-back-to-quay-street_044300205.html

**The Ever Open Door: 150 years of the Together Trust, Andrew Simpson, The Together Trust, 2020, 140p, £14-99. ISBN 978-1-5272-5671-2. Available from, The Together Trust, https://shop.togethertrust.org.uk/.

Share your stories ..... making history today and all week ..... The Together Trust

This is the 150th anniversary of the Together Trust,  which started out as the Manchester and Salford Boys' and Girls' Refuges and Homes in 1870.*

And as part of the ongoing commemorations, the Trust has created an online activity, using Facebook, to share the memories of those who were in the care of the charity.***

The event starts today and runs for the week and will be exploring their 150 year heritage and sharing stories from the archive.

They “would love to hear from anyone who has been part of the organization, from former students, care experienced persons, family members or an ancestor of a service user, along with staff volunteers, community partners, or have been involved with the charity in any way and have memories to share."

If you can’t join the Facebook conversation,  you can send them a tweet, or an email by following the link.

Leaving me just to recommend their excellent blog.***

And to recommend the book commissioned by the charity to coincide with its 150th anniversary.****

Pictures; courtesy of the Together Trust

*Together Trust, https://www.togethertrust.org.uk/

**Share Your Together Trust memories, https://www.facebook.com/events/329865441580549/

***Together Trust Archive, http://togethertrustarchive.blogspot.com/2020/10/share-your-together-trust-memories.html#more

****The Ever Open Door, Andrew Simpson, The Together Trust, 2020, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2020/03/the-ever-open-door-150-years-of.html 

“While we rejoice at the advent of peace ... we remember with awe the price”* ..... with the Together Trust yesterday in Cheadle

It was a touching act of commemoration in Cheadle yesterday, when the Together Trust remembered the staff and “boys” who served in the Great War and the 33 who never came back.**

At the centre of the event was the plaque in memory of those who died which stands in the grounds of the Together Trust and is surrounded by five silhouettes, funded by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust.

Young people from the Trust’s Ashcroft service had worked hard to learn more about the charity during World War One and were involved in the production of art work, music and poetry to mark the occasion.

You can read the full story of the preparations for the day by following the link to their blog.***

Location Cheadle

Pictures; courtesy Liz Sykes, Records, Archives and Information Manager at the Together Trust

*"While we rejoice at the advent of peace and the vindication of righteousness, we remember with awe the price. How many homes in our beloved land will mourn some who will never return! 

The end of the war has even renewed the sense of loss to many. We have our own sad yet proud record as an Institution. There was a ready response to our country’s need in the early days of the war from officers and boys alike, and we have had the sad tidings time by time of those who have fallen – a member of Committee, three officers in charge of the boys, and 29 of the boys themselves”.  Children’s Haven, 1918

**Together Trust, http://togethertrustarchive.blogspot.com/p/about-together-trust.html

***Remembering those who fought in WW1, http://togethertrustarchive.blogspot.com/2018/10/remembering-those-who-fought-in-ww1.html

Revealing the stories of British Home Children ........ to publish or leave in the shadows?

Now one of the fascinating developments of social media is the way people want to share their lives.

Alghero on a hot evening, 2013

It ranges from photographs of their children to memorable holidays or the very mundane events of a busy and perhaps factious day.

And I have to wonder whether it was always so.

Certainly before the advent of facebook, Twitter and Instagram there were far fewer opportunities to tell family, friends and the world about the ups and downs of your daily life.

Or perhaps back before now we were more circumspect about what we let other people know about us.

After all knowledge is power and when identity theft is a serious threat the less someone knows about me the better.

Family stories, 1913

I doubt my great granfather Montague would have welcomed the new age.

He was born in 1868, and a part from census returns and his army records he pretty much successfully avoided a paper trail making it easy for him to fall through the cracks at the beginning of the 20th century.

All of which is a roundabout way of approaching the question of anonymity and the degree to which someone’s life should be paraded for all to read.

The hundred year rule adopted for census records seems sensible, but then increasingly so much is out there on line that restricting what can be published seems to be less relevant.

I may not know the details of who lived at our old house in the 1950s, but I can track members of my family through the shipping records, discover something of their wartime careers and even if they had a telephone in 1924.

So how should we treat the records of our children’s charities in particular those young people who were migrated?

Emma in the care of the Together Trust, undated

And this is not an academic exercise as I continue to work on the new book on the history of the Together Trust which has a proud record of caring for children in the twin cities since 1870.*

Throughout the late 19th an early 20th centuries it was known as the Manchester and Salford Boys' and Girls. Refuge.

And it is a real privilege to be able to look at the reports and letters of those who went through the charity, but it does pose a responsibility because even a young person born in say 1860, who was found destitute on the streets and is now long dead still has a right to a degree of anonymity.

The policy of the Trust is to identify these young people by just their first name and that I think is a good working approach.

If contacted by a relative the charity will do a search of their archives, which is a service they do for free and I know from conversations I have had, that that service is much appreciated by descendants who have been helped.

Some may argue that given the efforts to compile a full database of all British Home Children, restricting publication to just a first name undermines that initiative.

To which there is no easy answer, especially given that there are other avenues that can be perused as a means to find names, ranging from shipping records to newspaper accounts.

Working in the Print Room of the Refuge, date unknown

But there is that simple question of how far we have the right to delve into the lives of others?

At which point I have to concede I do it all the time in the course of writing books and the blog, but even I was stopped in my tracks when I discovered how one of my family died after I received his death certificate which in turn  made me ponder on if I was intruding on a very private moment.

I have always justified it by “bringing them out of the shadows” and in the case of the book on Manchester and The Great War, using their lives as examples of the heroism and sacrifice made during that conflict by people on the Home Front.**

Of course if the information is already in the public domain then in one sense it is permissible but when those records are held in trust even if they were created a century and a bit ago I suspect we have to be more careful.

And such considerations are nothing when compared with what we have lost.  For while I can trawl the meticulous records of the Together Trust, the records of my family’s time in the Derby Workhouse were thrown away a long time ago and much else will never be released.

Location; Manchester

Pictures; courtesy of the Together Trust and from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*A new book on the Together Trust, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/stories-behind-book-nu-2-digging-deep.html

**A new book on Manchester and the Great War, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/reflecting-on-anniversaries.html

Sharing memories of the Manchester children’s charity …….. October 12th

This is the 150th anniversary of the Together Trust,  which started out as the Manchester and Salford Boys' and Girls' Refuges and Homes in 1870.*

It is an organization that I have been writing about for over a decade, and began when I was first exploring the story of my great uncle, who was migrated to Canada in 1914 as a British Home Child.

Now he was not from Manchester, and he was migrated by Middlemore on behalf of the Derby Union, but given that most charities engaged in the welfare of young people at that time, sent some to Canada, I reasoned I might find out something about the general programme by talking to them.

Their archivist Liz Sykes was very helpful and in the fullness of time we worked on a book commissioned by the charity to coincide with its 150th anniversary.**

And as part of the ongoing commemorations, the Trust has created an online activity, using Facebook, to share the memories of those who were in the care of the charity.***

The event will be on October 12th on a day when the Trust will be exploring their 150 year heritage and sharing stories from the archive, and they “would love to hear from you if you are a former student, care experienced person, family member or ancestor of a service user, staff volunteer, community partner, or if you have been involved with the charity in any way and have memories to share."

And if you can’t join the Facebook conversation on October 12th you can send them a tweet, or an email by following the link.

Leaving me just to recommend their excellent blog.****

Pictures; courtesy of the Together Trust

*Together Trust, https://www.togethertrust.org.uk/

**The Ever Open Door, Andrew Simpson, The Together Trust, 2020, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2020/03/the-ever-open-door-150-years-of.html 

***Share Your Together Trust memories, https://www.facebook.com/events/329865441580549/

****Together Trust Archive, http://togethertrustarchive.blogspot.com/2020/10/share-your-together-trust-memories.html#more

A picture ….. a charity …… and the book ….. 150 years of caring for young people

I am looking at a picture of a group of young people who were migrated from Manchester to Canada in 1898.

The Emigration Party, 1898

It was sent over by Lori who runs one of the leading Canadian British Home Children research sites.*

Lori added that “I posted this photo in 2013 all I said was they were from the Manchester Union - thought I'd pass it along. No idea who brought them”.

All of which seemed unpromising as a line of inquiry.

But, and there is always a but, the fact that the young people were from Manchester offered up the chance that they were migrated by the Manchester and Salford Boys’ and Girls’ Refuges and Homes, and that took me to the charity’s archivist.

Liz replied “I do recognise the image. It is one of our parties – Mrs Shaw is sat in the middle. We did migrate children from the unions so it is possible some are. I would guess most are from our homes though”.

And that opens up the possibility that a trawl of the charity’s records will reveal the names of some of the children.

Mrs. Shaw all dressed in black

But that research will always have to be qualified by considerations of confidentiality and so I rather think for now, those young people will remain in the shadows.

But not so Mrs. Shaw whose husband was one of the founder members of the charity which had been established in 1870 to provide a night’s lodging and breakfast to destitute boys who lived on the streets of Manchester and Salford.

The charity quickly grew into an organization which looked after the welfare of both boys and girls, was involved in industrial training for young people, migrated some, and ran homes as well as holidays by the sea for others.  

It also sought prosecutions for parents who were cruel or neglectful, campaigned to change the law on the employment of young children and helped newly released prisoners offering them a meal and assistance in finding work.

And although it has undergone a series of name changes over the last 150 year it is still in the business of helping young people.  Today it is known as the Together Trust and its headquarters are in Cheadle.

All of which is covered in the new book The Ever Open Door which was commissioned by the charity as part of the celebrations to mark their 150th year.**

The Ever Open Door: 150 years of the Together Trust, Andrew Simpson, The Together Trust, 2020, 140p, £14-99. ISBN 978-1-5272-5671-2, is available from, The Together Trust, https://shop.togethertrust.org.uk/

Picture; Girls Emigration Party, 1898, from the collection of Lori Oschefski, © Together Trust, 1898

*British Home Children Advocacy and Research Association, https://www.britishhomechildren.com/media

**The Together Trust, https://www.togethertrust.org.uk/