Flickr

One of the lovely things about compiling this blog every week is that it gives me a chance to show you some of the absolute gems the Together Trust holds in its archive. In terms of a charity collection we have a staggering wealth of archival material (even if I do say so myself!), documenting the charity's actions and the people who have been in our care. Our earlier material gives researchers an insight into later Victorian Manchester in terms of charity, philanthropy and attitude towards children. There are few gaps and all of the children who entered any one of our homes or services are documented.

Not only were our founders and early committee inspirational in the work they did, they also had the foresight to ensure these records were preserved for future generations…

Pamphlets written by committee members advertising the charity

Anyway, moving away from my ramblings, today’s blog is focusing on a new initiative we’re using to further promote our archives – Flickr. This stems from a hugely interesting course I attended before Christmas around the use of photographs, and particularly through a presentation on Flickr and how it can be used to open up the archive. So the result is lots more photographs for you to see concerning the early days of the Together Trust’s history (if I can get to grips with technology!).

A page from the Christian Worker, one of the charity’s magazines 

We welcome any comments or thoughts you may have on the images uploaded. One of the exciting and interesting parts of Flickr from our point of view (aside from the opportunity to show you what we did) is the prospect of learning from others. Maybe people know things about the images that we don’t, or can tell us more about the buildings displayed or the events being held.

If you have a spare moment come and have a browse. You can even have a cup of tea whilst you’re looking. You can’t do that in the archive!

Enjoy!