148 years old

January 4th saw the Together Trust turn another year older. It has now been 148 years since the charity began on a wintery morning of 1870. The charity has grown exponentially since the small terrace house was opened as a 'Night Refuge for Homeless Boys'. However, the charity’s ethos remains to provide a service to children and families in the local area. 

As we are aware the small home was a great success and resulted in the expansion to a large Refuge on Francis Street and the opening of many different services throughout Manchester, Salford and beyond. Of course it was not plain sailing and the early committee members worked hard to make the venture a success. A report in the Manchester Evening News on the 18th April 1870 however, showed how it was difficult to ensure the good behaviour of the boys once they had been found work in the city. 

First Home, Quay Street

Thomas was admitted into the small home on Quay Street in January, on the first day it had opened. Fifteen years of age, he had been living out on the streets for the past 2 years after being kicked out of his own home by his parents. Consequently he was street-wise, tough and undisciplined although it was noted he could read and write well. 

The Refuge helped him get a job to allow him to be able to look after himself. He was originally sent out shoe blacking. This had allowed him to purchase a suit of clothes and place a small amount of money in a bank account that had been set up for him. From here he was found a job at a Drapers on Oldham Street. 

However, his promising start ended in April of the same year when he was charged at the City Police Court for stealing 13s, 7d (around £30 in today’s money) from his employer. He was sentenced to one month’s imprisonment and afterward sent for 5 years to the Clarence Training Ship.

Shoeblack Brigade in uniform

The early days of the Refuge was a simplistic set up to give street children a safe place to sleep and help set them up in employment. Outside of this they were left to their own devices and expected to behave appropriately. This was not always the case however and out of the first 22 boys admitted to the Refuge, 9 were dismissed or decamped from the home with another, Thomas, sent to a reformatory. But incidents like this only reaffirmed the charity’s desire to help those on the streets. In later years it set up a Remand Home to house those children sentenced for a crime and prevent them going to Strangeways.