Volunteers’ Week, 1-7 June, provides an ideal opportunity to thank our inspiring community of local volunteers who give their time so freely to make a difference in the lives of the people our charity supports.

A rewarding opportunity to influence the strategy and direction of our specialist schools and college, supporting children and young people who have struggled to cope in other settings because of their individual barriers to learning. 

National Thank A Teacher Day is an annual celebration of our schools, colleges, teachers and support staff across the country. The Thank a Teacher Campaign is run by The Teaching Awards Trust, which was established in 1998 by Lord David Puttnam CBE, to celebrate and recognise excellence in education. 

Naomi Hewerdine, Speech & Language Therapist, at Bridge College, tells us about sensory stories and how they're a great way to tell an immersive story to our learners. She explains how they're designed to support communication and language development.

We're delighted to have strengthened our board with the appointment of seven trustees. 

The new members, Gani Martins, Geoff Durbin, Jane Walapu, Jane Grime, Lyndsey Stark, Marcell Edwards and Nick Lowry each bring a wealth of expertise and lived experience to the organisation. 

Last week, panellists with a range of personal and professional experiences, aspirations and hopes for the care system came together to debate what the future of care should look like for children and young people. The event was held in Coram’s sunny London office space, with around thirty attendees in-person, and over 300 virtual attendees tuning in through Zoom. 

Today is World Asthma Day.

World Asthma Day (WAD) (May 3, 2022) is organized by the Global Initiative for Asthma, (GINA) (www.ginasthma.org), a World Health Organization collaborative organization founded in 1993.  WAD is held each May to raise awareness of Asthma worldwide.

Although asthma cannot be cured, it is possible to manage asthma to reduce and prevent asthma attacks, also called episodes or exacerbations.

Here, the Bridge College Nurse, Sarah Humphreys, tells us what we can do to manage asthma on a daily basis.

A new exhibition, exploring the 150-year history of the Together Trust, opened this week at Manchester Central Library.  

The exhibition, supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, tells the changing story of our work to champion and care for people in the region over the last century and a half.  

The Together Trust was founded in 1870, by Leonard Shaw and Richard Taylor, to provide shelter for homeless boys in Manchester and Salford. Its first home, the Night Refuge with 12 beds, was on Quay Street, Manchester.  In its first 50 years, the charity helped around 124,500 children.   

We warmly welcomed Roughley's Bikers at our Cheadle Campus on Sunday, 3 April 2022, for the annual Easter treats delivery.

Hundreds of bikers roared into the Together Trust campus on Schools Hill to gift over 1,400 treats and toiletries, sweets, and soft toys to the children we support.

Roughley's Bikers enjoyed meeting the young people over a cup of tea and cake and raised £300 on the day from donations made in collection buckets and in exchange for teas, coffees, and cakes.