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.

The Together Trust timeline

Our online timeline will take you through our 150-year history, from the experiences of those first Victorian children that we helped, right up to the celebrations for our 150th year.

Explore our timeline

You can scroll through our timeline below to travel through the decades, from 1870 right up to 2020. With a click on the ‘spanner’ icon in the bottom right-hand corner you can filter the content to find a category that most interests you. If you are viewing on a mobile, the timeline is best viewed in landscape. If you would like to view the timeline in a new window, you can click here to open a new page (this will take you away from the Together Trust website).

Terminology used in our timeline content

We recognise that this timeline contains terminology and content which may cause distress. Terminology which may now be considered offensive or derogatory exists within the original records and has been retained to provide historical context. The presence of this language is not an endorsement of the terms, and in no way reflects the attitudes of the Together Trust today.