Together Trust Archive

This week we’re moving away from our young roots project and heading back home to Cheadle.  Last week we had a visit from a gentleman who used to live at Belmont House , back in the 1950s. This was his first visit to his old home since he left at the age of 7. Consequently we went on a walk of the grounds, both to Belmont House, which is next door to our current offices, and to the buildings onsite, once children’s homes and now schools. Visuals prompt memories and help to reconstruct the landscape as it used to be. Although the charity still resides on the same site it purchased 96 years ago, much as changed. Entrance to the Belmont Estate, 1950s

We ar e excited to announce that the full version of our audio/visual piece for Deep Pockets and Dirty Faces is on our website for everyone to view. The project now has a dedicated webpage on our Together Trust website, to allow us to share some of the amazing work our young people have been doing with the local community and beyond. As well as our audio/visual clip, we will be adding to this page as further work is completed. We hope people will enjoy watching them as much as we have enjoyed making them.     In costume

The sun was s hining yesterday as we descended on Manchester Central Library for our long awaited Heritage Lottery Funded performance of Deep Pockets and Dirty Faces . A part of the fabulous Manchester Histories Festival , it was a privilege to be part of such an important series of events in Manchester’s calendar.  Our orphans on display

With only a week left to go until our first live performance of our Heritage Lottery Funded Deep Pockets and Dirty Faces , we thought we’d tell a few more stories about the orphans taking centre stage on Tuesday 7th June.  Lily, Sophia, Richard and Joseph

We’re s lowly approaching our big performance at Manchester Histories Festival on the 7th June. L ast week we told you all about the audio script, which we’ve recorded as part of the performance. This tells the story of Susannah , a girl who was admitted into the Manchester and Salford Boys’ and Girls’ Refuges and Homes and was subsequently emigrated to Canada. The young people want to give you more than just an educational story however. Further skills have been developed in song writing and costume making alongside the main recording. Two songs have been created for the piece, one describing the sea journey made from Liverpool to Canada, and the other concentrating on education in Manchester in the late ninet eenth century. Composing sea shanties

Our Deep Pockets and Dirty Faces project is now in full swing. As highlighted in last week’s blog the research collated by the young people is now being put to good use in their radio script, telling the tale of Susannah, a young girl admitted to the homes of the Manchester and Salford Boys’ and Girls’ Refuges and Homes in the late nineteenth century. Susannah

“I’m Richard, 11 years old. I was in Salford Workhouse until my Mum got a job as a servant. I hope she manages to keep it with the amount she drinks. Would you like a game of cup and ball?” Richard, aged 11 We would like to introduce you to Richard. This is one of the lives we have been investigating during our young roots project ‘Deep Pockets and Dirty Faces’ . The quote above introduces our audience to this orphan, as he meets a new admission to the Manchester and Salford Boys’ and Girls’ Refuges and Homes. Throughout the radio script the young people involved in this project will tell the stories of their orphans, written through their own research into the individual children. It is their way of bringing these orphans' tales to life. Richard for example entered the homes in 1899 at the age of 11. His father had passed away and consequently the family had ended up in Salford Workhouse . His Mother had eventually managed to get a job as a domestic but could only take it...

Over the last few weeks we’ve been bringing you up-to-date with some of the visits we’ve partaken in, in connection with our Young Roots project, ‘ Deep Pockets and Dirty Faces ’. Both Salford Museum and Art Gallery and Merseyside Maritime Museum have been excellent in providing a background context to the project. The information gathered has been integral for the first outcome of the project: a radio script documenting the stories of the children who entered the Manchester Refuge homes and emigrated to Canada. Emigration Party outside Manchester Town Hall, 1897

Last week on our Young Roots update we worked with one of our heritage partners, Salford Museum and Art Gallery , to better understand Salford at the turn of the nineteenth century. This was important for the young people to see what the area would have been like for their orphans, prior to being admitted into one of the Manchester Refuge’s homes. This wasn’t the only city involved in our orphan’s journeys however. As these cases involved children who went across to Canada, we also needed to know about Liverpool. It was from here that the journey across the sea began. I n Liv erpool - Leaving the Port, 1894

Our Young Roots project, Deep Pockets and Dirty Faces is currently going full steam ahead. Over the last few months the young people involved have been partaking in various sessions to create a greater understanding of Manchester and Salford in the late 1800s and see how the cities approached childcare. It is area which is perhaps underrepresented in the research arena, especially in regards to what the voluntary organisations did. As mentioned before in these blogs the importance of caring for and maintaining charity archives to enrich our understanding of social welfare is imperative. We are hoping the project will incite more interest in the charity’s roots.  Documents from the archive

As promised, this week’s blog will be concentrating on our young roots project ‘Deep Pockets and Dirty Faces’ , bringing our readers up to date with some of the work that has been completed so far. The project is based around the history of the Together Trust, concentrating particularly on the charity’s Victorian roots. Young people receiving services from the Together Trust today have been learning about these children from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century’s, with the aim of bringing their stories to life.  One of the orphans stories to be researched

It’s been a very busy time at the Together Trust Archives over the last few months. Consequently our blog has been sadly neglected but it’s time to remedy that and let you know what we’ve been up to. Over the next few weeks we’ll be blogging about our Heritage Lottery funded Young Roots project – ‘Deep Pockets and Dirty Faces ’ and show some of the activities we’ve been involved in since the project began in January. It’s been a really exciting and revealing time for some of our pupils as they start to delve into the history of the Together Trust . Private Trust performance, November 2014