Friends of Winckley Square donates £2,800 to Ukrainian child refugees

Members of FoWS with Susan Douglass presenting a cheque to Wonder Phiri of the British Red Cross

The Friends of Winckley Square group has donated £2,809 in ticket sales to Preston Red Cross to help Ukrainian child refugees fleeing the Russian invasion.

Since they were established in 2016, Friends of Winckley Square (FoWS) has provided walks, talks, exhibitions, concerts, fun days, websites, publications and a YouTube Video.

The focus has mainly been on the people who lived, worked, played, studied, died, divorced or entertained on the Square.

This year, one of the FoWS members decided to research the history of Number 5. Inspired by the TV series ‘A House Through Time’, Susan Douglass traced the history of the building from its original plans as a mansion for Thomas Miller Junior.

Junior was the major shareholder in the Horrocks cotton empire, and the history of the property was also the history of those who lived, worked and studied there, with the building adapting to meet the changing needs of its occupiers while retaining its features.

What was intended to be material for a single talk generated enough material for a trilogy. Susan wanted to try it out with a group of friends before offering it more widely.

The trial coincided with the arrival of Ukrainian refugees in the UK, and they started a collection for refugee children.

After advertising Susan’s three talks, FoWS decided the ticket proceeds would also go to the cause. They delivered the trilogy over three sessions at the Central Methodist Church, and each had an audience of well over 100, many of whom attended all three.

The total came to £2,809. It included donations from some who could not attend but wished to support the cause and from a local company, Business Utilities Group.

The British Red Cross has a Preston base and works to support Ukrainian refugee children in Lancashire, so they donated the funds to the local team – received on their behalf by Wonder Phiri.

Patricia Harrison, the chair of FoWS, said that the response to Susan’s talk was overwhelmingly positive, with many asking when she would be offering another.

Susan is working on ‘A Victorian Christmas’. It is based on the lives of those who lived in the Winckley Quarter in the 19th century.

It will take place on 8 December at 2pm at Central Methodist Church, Lune Street, Preston.

For more information, visit – https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/three-victorian-christmases

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