After the festival

Last Saturday the Together Trust attended the Manchester Histories Festival at the Town Hall. Here museums, galleries, academics, archives, local and family history societies, cultural organisations and community groups from across Greater Manchester came together to deliver activities, events and displays about the history of the city. 

Manchester Histories Festival at Manchester Town Hall

For the Together Trust it presented an opportunity to reveal to the public what the charity has done in Manchester over the last 144 years. It also allowed us to talk to local residents about the work the charity does today and how it continues to serve the Manchester community.

Together Trust Display

For many people who came to visit us on Saturday the range of services we’ve provided and the number of children we helped care for over the years was a surprise. And in a way that’s partly what the Manchester Histories Festival was all about; educating people about the city’s history and throwing in some surprises along the way. It is common knowledge, for example, that the NSPCC worked in Manchester, campaigning for children’s rights. It is less well known however, that between 1885 and 1894 the Together Trust ran the Manchester branch of the NSPCC, being involved in child cruelty and neglect court cases.

With the re-opening of Manchester Archives there is now more opportunity to research the history of the Manchester and Salford Refuges and Homes. With events like this introducing the charity to a wider population, we’re hoping it will encourage more people to enter the fascinating world of our archives.

If you have a research interest around the charity, why not contact us and see if we can help you.