Male Street Based Sex Workers In Manchester; A Hidden Population By Judith Vickers

This research was done by Judith Vickers, the operational manager of Lifeshare in Manchester – a project which supports Manchester’s finest as they try to find a place to live.  This work came out of her understandings of the hard sides of life which so many have to face and championing getting various supports in place for better health and wellbeing.  One of the main issues which she came up against was the idea that men who sell sex to men are involved through a “lifestyle choice” rather than through a poverty imperative, which meant that support services were not extended to them as individuals. Read more…

Claire J Hornby: An Exhibition

When my husband died, I thought my life was over. I certainly didn’t envisage that in less than three years I’d be having my own art exhibition! I didn’t even see myself as an artist at that time! I hadn’t picked up a paintbrush and painted since my A Levels, 22 years previously!
My journey back into art was via Art Journaling, which I learned from a lovely lady called Dyan Reavely (check out her videos on YouTube) in Harrogate. Art Journaling gave me the means to express my grief. It showed me that art didn’t have to be like what I learned at school but could be expressive and emotional. Read more…

Manchester Medical Mission Affiliates to Charter Street Ragged School by Simon Ward

Here are my notes from when I went back to the archive to look up the Manchester Medical Mission which was affiliated to Charter Street Ragged School and Working Girls Home. It was situated on Red Bank which is on the opposite side of the Irk from Angel Meadow and is now called Green Bank. The information was all in the form of year books from 1901 to 1910. Their evangelising seemed a bit more aggressive than their Charter St counterparts and some of the language they used would now look inappropriate.
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