Together Trust Archive

It’s been 114 y ears since the Together Trust lost its founder. A man still largely unknown to many, we’ve discussed through several of our blogs the work he did within the charity. From the very beginnings of opening a small home for boys on Quay Street, to the many different homes and services that were running during his lifetime, he left a legacy that continues today.  Leonard Kilbee Shaw

The Manchester and Salford Boys’ and Girls’ Refuges and Homes had a well known motto in its early days:   'We help those who try to help themselves’. It was a principle the charity stood by. It was the Refuge’s work to help those in need but it also expected those who were admitted to its homes to work hard to become useful members of society.  Working hard in the printing department

The problem with war is people’s lives become numbers. For those who died in a battle like the Somme , which had as many as 19,000 killed o n the first day alone, the sheer logistics of identifying and burying those who had died, was an overwhelming task. Those who were identified became a plot number, those who didn’t got an unmarked grave. The lives and stories behind those people become lost. For the young people from the Manchester and Salford Boys' and Girls' Refuges and Homes who enlisted in World War One it was yet another adjustment to their ever changing lives. World War One Soldier  Let’s take Arthur as a good example : Arthu r was born in Manchester in 1892. His father was a labourer working in the st arch works.  He was born into a family with 2 older brothers and 2 older sisters. He was admitted into Prestwich Workhouse around 1905.  He was admitted to the Manchester Refuges in 1906.  In May of that year he emigrated to Canada.  ...

Today is the 100th Anniversary of the start of the Battle of the Somme . Lasting over four months and claiming thousands of lives, it was the largest conflict on the Western Front during World War One. Like many other organisations the bloody battle affected the Manchester and Salford Boys’ and Girls’ Refuges and Homes. There were a reported 19,240 British men killed on the first day alone. Albert was one of those men. In memory of all those who died during the battle, we tell his story.