Wood Street Mission

Wood Street Mission is a registered children's charity located in the centre of Manchester. Its office is in Wood Street, off Deansgate, near the John Rylands Library. It was founded by Alfred Alsop, a Methodist minister in 1869, and its aim is to alleviate the effects of poverty on children and families in Manchester and Salford. The charity provides free, practical help to several thousand families in need every year: in 2008, over 10,000 disadvantaged children and parents were referred for help. Wood Street provides those in need with free basic but essential goods, such as clothing, bedding, baby equipment and school uniforms and treats of chocolate eggs at Easter and toys and gifts at Christmas. By providing the essentials, completely free of charge, Wood Street aims to ensure that no child goes without whilst giving disadvantaged families the chance to help themselves out of poverty.

Established in 1869 by Alfred Alsop, Wood Street Mission was born in a climate of widespread poverty and destitution. During the late 19th century, the mission worked in the slums of Deansgate, running a soup kitchen, a rescue society and home for neglected boys, and a night shelter for the homeless. Wood Street handed over thousands of clogs and items of clothing each year, as well as hundreds of toys at Christmas. A further development was the establishment of a Working Men's Church in Bridge Street. Through this period, Wood Street was managed by prominent professionals, such as solicitor C. J. Needham, and was financially supported by businessmen such as clothing manufacturer, Edward Tootal Broadhurst and the engineer Charles J. Galloway.

In the 1880s, Wood Street Mission started taking local children to Southport for a day at the seaside. This activity proved so popular that a seaside camp was built which provided accommodation for around 120 children. The seaside camp was operational for about 30 years and closed in 1919.

Between 1896 and 1907, Wood Street Mission rebuilt and enlarged its premises responding to increasing need in Manchester and Salford. Throughout this period, the distribution of toys and dolls to children on Boxing Day received much attention and was supported and attended by the Lord Mayor. During the early 20th century, Wood Street continued with many welfare activities, including the soup kitchen and night shelter. In 1910, Wood Street received praise from the Lord Mayor in providing help to a group of unemployed people whom the Manchester City Distress Committee could not afford to relieve.

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