Shaftesbury Homes and Arethusa

The Shaftesbury Homes and Arethusa ( now Shaftesbury Young People) is one of the United Kingdom's oldest charities that deal with children. It has been active since 1843. Its aim, written in its current mission statement, is to support young people in care and need to find their voice, to be healthy, to learn, develop and achieve and to gain an independent and positive place in society.

The charity moved from promoting the ragged schools to providing night refuges then providing residential nautical training. It operated many large children's homes, and currently supports adolescents leaving care. At each stage it changed its name to reflect its new role. In 2006 it became Shaftesbury Young People.

The organisation dates back to 1843 when solicitors clerk William Williams, who encountered a group of cold, dirty and rowdy London boys chained together and being transported to Australia. As a personal response to his horror, he opened a ragged school in the St Giles rookery. His school was in a hayloft in Streatham Street, the following year 1844, a group of London ragged schools banded together to form the Ragged School Union. Lord Ashley, who later inherited the title of Lord Shaftesbury became the president- and thus got to know Williams.

Ragged schools taught the boys Christian beliefs, reading, writing and arithmetic and attempted to teach them a trade. In 1849 Streatham Street taught 314 boys and 18 of the scholar were seen at suitable to be awarded a free passage to Australia. It merged with two neighbouring schools in 1851 forming the St Giles and St George, Bloomsbury Ragged Schools. They also provided a night school and a Sunday school for girls with sewing classes. The next venture was to buy a permanent building on the corner of Broad Street and George Street. The temporary premises they vacated were converted into night refuges for homeless boys. As providing accommodation became more important they renamed themselves as St Giles and St George, Bloomsbury Refuge for Destitute Children Ragged and Industrial Schools. More premises were rented to create a refuge for boys in Arthur Street, while the girls remained for a time at Broad Street. In May 1860, forty girls were moved to Acton- and eventually to a home in Ealing. This house did all the other establishments laundry.

The 1870 Education Act reduced the need for ragged schools and to reflect this the society changed its name again; this time to The National Refuges for Homeless and Destitute Children and 'Chichester' Training Ship. It closed the last of its ragged schools in 1891.

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