The Mechanics Institute, Manchester

Alf Morris Memorial Window

Commissioned January 2018. Installed Match 2018,
Officially opened by Irene Morris (Alf Morris’ wife) and Mike Kane, MP for Wythenshawe and Sale.

We were commissioned to translate design into reality using decorative art film and adhesive lead. The design commemorates the life and works of Alf Morris, The First Minister for the disabled, who sadly passed away in 2012. He pioneered legislation and rights for disabled people from the 1970’s. This memorial window recognises his positive intervention in the lives of millions of disabled people in Britain and around the world.

The panel was unveiled by Irene Morris (Alf Morris’ wife) and Mike Kane MP for Wythenshawe and Sale. The event was attended by members of Alf’s family and many people who were involved with the project from original concept to finished window.

A competition was held within Manchester University to design the new panel. The winning design, created by student Ellen Fouweather (shown in the picture alongside our own craftswoman Katie and designer Beth) was then used as the basis for the design of the window. The design, colours and materials used coordinate with the other windows throughout the building representing a number of different unions.

The Manchester Trades Union Council was founded in The Mechanics Institute building and have resided there for 150 years. The historic building was also the birthplace of The Co-operative insurance society and The University Of Manchester institute of Science and Technology.
We would like to thank Annette Wright, the president of the Manchester TUC, and all at Manchester Trades Council for giving us the opportunity to produce a window with so much meaning.

150th Anniversary of the TUC

Commissioned February 2018. Installed September 2018,
Officially opened by Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester September 7th 2018.

This year, 2018, marks the 150th year anniversary of the Trades Union Congress. We have had the privilege to design and make two panels to be placed in the main stair way of the Mechanics institute building in Manchester where the TUC was founded, and the Manchester and Salford Trades Union Councils still resides.

The panels are made using adhesive coloured film and strip lead to create a colourful and bold design which matches windows already in place within the Mechanics Institute, including a panel we made in memory of Alf Morris, The First Minister of the Disabled.

The finished panels were officially “opened” on Friday 7th September, 2018. Guests included: Sir Richard Leese, the leader of the Manchester city council, Several members of the TUC’s council; including:
Jim McNicholls, the secretary of the Mechanics Trust. Special guest Andy Burnham, the first elected Mayor of Greater Manchester.

The concept of the two panels came from noticeable figures and events throughout the TUC’s rich and diverse history. These include, from left to right;

Samuel Caldwell Nicholson, the co-founder of the Trades Union Congress in 1868 and his famous quote underneath.
Albert Mansbridge, who championed education for working people forming the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) in 1903.
Mary MacArthur, who founded the National Federation of Women Workers (NFWW) to make women voices heard in the trade unions and to demand a legal minimum wage, which succeeded in 1919.
Alfred Flynn, a dockworker, who in 1924 at the age of only 16 saved his colleague from drowning as he slipped and fell into the dock. He was then rewarded the Order of Industrial Heroism. The OIH was launched in 1923 by the TUC and was nicknamed ‘the Workers’ VC’. While the Victoria Cross rewards bravery on the battlefield, the Order of Industrial Heroism honoured bravery in the workplace. The OIH medal is shown in the righthand window.
A NHS nurse in the period of the 1950’s. Representing the formation for the NHS in 1948 by a trade unionist Nye Bevan who famously said, “No society can legitimately call itself civilised if a sick person is denied medical aid because of lack of means”. The health service has grown and changed over the years but is widely regarded as one of the nation’s greatest institutions and a source of national pride.
The last person represented in the windows is Bill Morris who was the General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers’ Union from 1992 to 2003. He was the first black leader of a major British trade union and has since been described as "probably the most influential black person in Britain". Bill Morris has been knighted by The Queen and awarded one of Jamaica's highest honours - the Order of Jamaica. In April 2006 he was awarded a life peerage and took his seat in the House of Lords on 13 June 2006, taking the title: Lord Morris of Handsworth. He now plays an active role in the work of the House.

Other noticeable parts of the windows are:

Manchester can be seen symbolised in its famous “Manchester Bee” in the bottom right of the right panel accompanied with a honeycomb pattern. The worker bee is one of the best-known symbols of Manchester adopted during the Industrial Revolution and symbolises Manchester being a hive of activity in the 19th century. Manchester can also be seen in the skyline at the top of the two panels showing famous landmarks from around the city including, left to right: Urbis building, Manchester Central Library, Beetham Tower, Manchester Town Hall, and Salford Quays Millennium Lift Bridge.
The two logos at the bottom centre of the two panels represent meaning for the Manchester TUC. The logo on the right is for the Mechanics Institute, a new one for the celebration of 150 year; and the logo on the left is for the Manchester and Salford Trades Union Councils.

Lo0k below to see pictures from design to completion: