The Ragged School Museum, a landmark of Victorian philanthropy combines two important national stories: the struggle for free universal education and the role of philanthropy in driving social change. Opened as a ragged school by Dr Thomas Barnardo in 1877, these former canal warehouses on Copperfield Road in Mile End now bring to life the teaching of Victorian studies for school children across London.
Ragged Schools were established from the end of the eighteenth century to educate the most destitute children, whose parents could not afford to pay for education. The Museum is the only former ragged school open to the public which can narrate the story of the struggle for free universal education in an authentic building.
The Museum offers primary schools a Victorian lesson in an authentic setting. Its schools programme welcomes over 300 primary schools per year, and it has a substantial national and international reputation for the quality of its education programmes.
The Ragged School Museum is undergoing a significant capital refurbishment project, with a grant of £4.2million from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, which will transform its site on Regent’s Canal, increasing the capacity of the museum to offer educational programmes to schools and local residents. Facilities for visitors of all ages will be greatly improved, and more of the building will be open to the public for the first time.
The Aldgate & Allhallows Foundation Classroom
As part of this campaign, Aldgate and Allhallows Foundation has awarded a grant of £120,000 over three years to support the RSM to deliver educational projects in Tower Hamlets. The Museum will develop programmes for schools and residents across the borough offering everyone from eight to eighty unique learning opportunities.
The Victorian Classroom – the centrepiece of the Museum – will be named after the Aldgate & Allhallows Foundation.
As a leading supporter of educational institutions within Tower Hamlets, we are delighted to partner with RSM on this exciting project.