Behind the Scenes at the Boys' and Girls' Refuges

The Together Trust has various film reels from its earlier days depicting some of our former services. These have been converted into DVD clips by the North West Film Archive to allow the films to still be seen today. It gives a different insight into how the charity advertised itself as well as revealing what the services would have looked like.

Title Slide

Our oldest film was created in the 1920s/1930s and is a silent black and white, 4 minute clip highlighting the different services provided by the charity. This includes the home at Bethesda in Manchester; Belmont House in Cheadle; the Seaside Home at Old Colwyn; the Summer Camp at Birkdale and the Young Men’s home on Cheetham Hill. It is supposed these clips would have been shown at the local cinemas and widened the audience the charity would normally reach.

Children at Belmont, 1920s

Ultimately however, the film was recorded as an advertising mechanism to encourage its viewers to support the charity, in this case through the creation of committees. These committees were set up around different services and were responsible for raising awareness and bringing in donations. Concerts, dances and fetes were all set up by the tireless voluntary members of these committees and were integral to the ongoing work of the charity at a time when there was no help from the state.

Appeal for volunteers

‘Behind the Scenes at the Boys’ and Girls’ Refuges’ can be accessed through the North West Film Archive and on YouTube.