Together Trust Archive

On Saturday 10 th October 1891, the first ever street collection for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) was held in a place you would not typically associate with the sea – Manchester. The inland city of Manchester may be known for its Ship Canal, but residents were moved to support the families of the 27 RNLI lifeboatmen, from St Anne's and Southport, who lost their lives  rescuing crew members from the sunken vessel, Mexico,  some five years earlier .

The monthly magazines created by the Manchester and Salford Boys' and Girls' Refuges and Homes have always been an interesting representation of the charity’s work and activities. Originally established in 1879 as The Christian Worker , the magazine aimed to provide news and events about the charity to interested parties. Consequently, it gave a more detailed account of the services and looked more into the social aspects of the charity rather than the administrative ones.

We’ve spoke before on this blog about a training ship moored in Birkenhead called the Indefatigable . The Refuge had an arrangement with the committee of the Indefatigable to take boys who entered the Refuge and had a constitution for the sea. Hundreds made the short trip across to Merseyside to learn the sailor life and went on to have successful careers in the Navy. On board the Indefatigable

The training ship, the Indefatigable , New Ferry, Birkenhead, has been mentioned once before in the early days of this blog . It was often used by the Committee of the Manchester Refuges to give a trade to some of the sturdier boys who came under their care. As new photographs come to light, showing the workings of the ship, we delve back into this little known service. Positioning the cannon