Together Trust Archive

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

Over the next few blogs we’re going to be looking in more depth at the Central Refuge in Strangeways. The following description comes from the ‘Sheffield Reporter’, whose journalist made a visit to the home in May 1881. This was a reconnaissance trip to see if there could be a similar set up for the children of Sheffield, as an alternative to the workhouse or industrial schools. Central Refuge, Francis Street

Taken from the Children’s Haven, 1898:   December 1898

The Annual Report of 1909 gave a breakdown of the type of boys admitted to the Strangeways Homes at that time.   Boys at the Refuge were admitted for all kinds of reasons