Thomas Barnardo, Friend of Children
(4th July 1845 - 19th September 1905)

The Donkey Shed Ragged School

How would you like to go to school in a donkey shed? This was where a young medical student called Thomas Barnardo started a 'Ragged School' in the East End of London in 1867.

As you can guess from the name, the children who went were too poor to buy proper clothing but Thomas wanted to teach them to read and write and also taught them about the Bible and the love of God. For two weekday evenings and on Sundays, as many as 200 children and young people aged from 6 years to 20 years would meet in one room, with rows of wooden benches as the only furniture. During the daytime these same children would be earning a living, perhaps in the factories or coal mines.