Threads of Feeling * London Foundling Museum * 14 October 2010 - 6 March 2011

As many of you already know, the building which became Ackworth was originally designed and built to be an outpost of the London Foundling Hospital. When funds dried up, the institution there was closed and the building remained empty for 6 years before being bought by the Society of Friends for what would later become Ackworth School. You can read more details in a free Needleprint download. The London Foundling Hospital sheltered many hundreds of children who were often reluctantly left to its care by desperate and destitute mothers. The mothers left some token in case, in better times, they were able to return and reclaim their child. This token was the only means of identifying the relationship between a mother and her child and all the tokens have been kept to this day by the Foundling Museum. Some of these tokens were strips of fabric, some like the one in the middle shown below were a scrap of sampler. Now is your chance to see for yourself these textile tokens - so fragile they are not normally on exhibit. Be moved. See The London Foundling Museum Website for more details.