Wood Street Mission Archive
Date range: 1885–2000
Medium: Archive
Wood Street Mission, known officially as the Manchester & Salford Street Children’s Mission, was founded in 1869 by Alfred Alsop, to provide spiritual and practical support for poor children in the slum areas of central Manchester and Salford.
In 1873 the Mission moved to its present premises on Wood Street (adjacent to the site where a few years later Enriqueta Rylands chose to build her Library). The practical necessities of life – food, clothing and shelter – were provided for hundreds of poor children and their families, while their spiritual and recreational needs were also attended to: church services and Sunday schools were held, and in 1897 a holiday camp was built at St Anne’s on Sea near Blackpool.
The Wood Street Mission is a registered charity which continues to provide services to the community, with particular emphasis on mitigating the effects of poverty and deprivation on children, young people and their families in the Manchester and Salford areas.
The archive comprises:
- Minute books;
- Annual reports;
- Cuttings books;
- Account books;
- Registers of donors and recipients of charity;
- Wages books and other employment records;
- Visitors' books;
- Diaries;
- Photographs
The collection constitutes a vital record of the social history of Manchester and Salford, with particular emphasis on poverty and social deprivation, and on efforts to alleviate them.
See also:
Further information:
Catalogue available online via ELGAR.
Location:
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