Our history

How we started

Our story begins in 1870 with two Sunday school teachers, Leonard Kilbee Shaw and Richard Bramwell Taylor. While volunteering at St Ann’s Ragged school, Manchester, they encountered the harsh realities facing children in Victorian Britain.

Deeply moved by this experience, they worked tirelessly to give all young people a better start at life. 150 years later, we still share their mission. 

Thanks to the National Lottery Heritage Fund, we’ve been able to open up our archive so you can explore our history in a number of ways.

Explore our archive collection

Our first fifty years of annual reports are now all digitised and available to explore on our archive collection webpage.

We will be adding more documents as they become available.

The Ever Open Door 

Author Andrew Simpson explores the Together Trusts rich history from humble beginnings to supporting thousands of people each year in The Ever Open Door. 

Order your copy for £14.99 and read how we’ve shaped care, support and education in Manchester over 150 years. Part of the cost goes towards supporting our life-changing services. 

A Journey to Canada

We have created an education pack to introduce upper KS2 (year 5 and 6) pupils to an area of history not widely known. Consisting of five 45 minute to an hour lessons, the resource allows cross-curricular study.

The pack investigates a range of social and economic issues in Victorian Britain, which led to the emigration of British Home Children, and provides the opportunity to follow two young people, Ada and James, as they start a new life in Canada. Their stories are taken from real case studies in the Together Trust archive. 

Find your ancestors

If you think a relative was in one of our former homes, either in England, Wales or Canada between 1870 and 1916, we may be able to help you discover more information about their time in our care. We hold case files on every individual who has been in one of our homes since 1886.  We also have admission details of every child from 1870.

We provide information to relatives if case files are over 100 years old. Proof of death is required if the individual was born less than a hundred years ago, as well as evidence of your relationship.

As we open up more of our archive, we’ll be adding to this database. If your ancestor’s details haven’t been found, please email us enquiries@togethertrust.org.uk

Searching for your records? Visit www.togethertrust.org.uk/your-history

To get an idea of what life was like for children in our early homes, why not visit our blog?
www.togethertrustarchive.blogspot.com