How it could have been

“Manchester has many glories, but none, I venture to think, which shines brighter or reflects more completely the city’s best self than the Refuges and Homes.”

- Lord Bishop of Peterborough.

Sermon written for the charity’s Jubilee

On the 14th March 1920, staff, children and supporters of the Manchester and Salford Boys’ and Girls’ Refuges and Homes gathered together in Manchester Cathedral to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the charity. This was a time of reflection to celebrate the Refuge’s many achievements but it was also a chance to look to the future.

And the future was bright. At the Jubilee the committee inaugurated a scheme whereby the charity was to be freed from debt to allow it to pursue its dream to remove the children from the city centre into the countryside. The sale of a portion of the property in Strangeways allowed for the purchase of the Belmont Estate in Cheadle, where the charity remains today.

Vision for the Children’s Garden Village at Belmont

The sketch above by the Architects Dunkerley, Taylor and Young shows the committee’s original vision for the Belmont Estate. This consisted of 10 semi-detached homes, each accommodating 20 children, a Matron or Master and an Assistant. The centre block was to be built first with the remaining two homes constructed when further money had been raised.

Today only the two facing buildings remain. It soon became apparent that resources were not feasible to build another six buildings and the Committee deemed the four homes (along with Belmont House) sufficient. Instead a sanatorium was built and recreational hall provided to give further services to the 120 children on the estate.

The estate remained small but it still fulfilled the committee's desire to take children out of the city slums and be brought up in the Cheshire countryside.