SEASHELLL TRUST CELEBRATING 190th BIRTHDAY!

Stockport based charity, the Seashell Trust, are celebrating their 190th birthday.

The charity has come a long way since two businessmen met at the Corn Exchange in Manchester to raise funds for the first school which opened in Salford on June 16, 1823.

The charity has come a long way since two businessmen met at the Corn Exchange in Manchester to raise funds for the first school which opened in Salford on June 16, 1823.

                        Images from Seashell Trust since the school first opened in Salford in 1823

      Mark Geraghty, chief executive of Seashell Trust, said:
      “2013 is a landmark year for the charity as it’s our 190th
      anniversary; making us not only one of the oldest
      charities in the North West, but also nationally.”

      Robert Phillips and William Bateman’s friend had a
      deaf son and they could not find a school for him and
      so they opened Manchester Deaf and Dumb School to
      eight girls and six boys.

It was soon necessary to move to a larger site, next to the Royal Botanical Gardens in Old Trafford, which was opened the same day Queen Victoria ascended the throne. She was later to bestow Royal Patronage on the charity during her Diamond Jubilee, making it the Royal Schools for the Deaf.

The school shared a plot of land with Henshaws Society for Blind People. The buildings were identical and built side by side with a chapel in between them.

The blind children would play football in their yard and when the ball went over the wall the deaf children would hide it. To the surprise of the deaf children the blind footballers would find it straight away. What they could not hear was the football had a bell in it so the blind children could find it

There became a large deaf community in Manchester as many families moved to the area for the school.

In 1956, the school moved to its current site in Cheadle Hulme as Old Trafford had become increasingly industrialised. A school was built for 250 children with facilities for staff to live in on a 80-acre site.

Shockingly, it wasn’t until 1970s there was a statutory obligation to educate children with special needs. Lord Morris of Manchester, who became one of the charity’s patrons, was the Minister who initiated the legislation.

As deaf children began being included in mainstream schools, a special unit was opened in 1972 for students with more complex needs and by 1979 it was decided the school would specialise only in pupils with additional and complex needs.

Our name changed to Seashell Trust in 2008 because the Royal Schools for the Deaf was was felt to be misleading. Students at the school and college have severe physical and learning disabilities and communication difficulties which may include deafness. Our school’s specialist Deafblind or Multi-Sensory Unit was opened in 1990.

But the charity has maintained its royal links with visits from the its Patron, The Queen in 2004 and the Countess of Wessex in 2008.

Now, as in 1823, it is considered a leader in its field, giving children and young people the very best chance in life.

Mark Geraghty added:

“This milestone in the charity’s rich and enduring heritage triggers us to reflect on our achievements and progress over the past few years and it seems very relevant that in this anniversary year, we will start building 17 new residential homes and the new sports facilities that have been enabled by our friends, businesses and help from the Stockport Express”.