A large collection of photographs illustrating the poor living conditions and poverty of Liverpool's slums at the beginning of the twentieth century are to be catalogued and digitised as part of a six month project. Herbert Lee Jackson Jones, (1870-1936) founder of the League of Welldoers, took the photographs to show the suffering of Liverpool’s poorest at a time when 90% of the cities population were living in slums. Lee Jones originally took the pictures between 1902 and 1921 around Scotland Road, north of the city centre where he lived and worked.  | | Children awaiting food |
Appalled by the poverty and under nourishment of Liverpool’s children, Jones created the Liverpool Food Association in 1893, later to become the League of Welldoers which he ran until he died. The aim of the charity was to feed Liverpool’s impoverished children, dock workers and rag pickers, dishing out soup, puddings and currant rolls from a soup kitchen on Limekiln Lane. The League of Welldoers is still based at the same location to this day, still serving the same community with meals for pensioners and day trips for school children. | "“Lee Jones was so concerned with the social welfare of everyone that he took a picture of everything he saw.”" | | Lesley Black, League of Welldoers |
Lesley Black, the general manager of the League of Welldoers says the black and white photographs need to be conserved, catalogued and digitised. The John Lewis Partnership Trust provides funding to assist its staff to work with a local charity, in this case Janet Bird, who normally works in the fabrics department of John Lewis’s has been given the opportunity to document a valuable piece of Liverpool’s history. Janet will be responsible for researching and cataloguing the photographs taken so they can be eventually viewed by the general public.  | | Dockers receiving assistance |
The historical restoration of Lee Jones’s photographic documentation is running alongside his legacy as a philanthropist working with Liverpool’s poorest communities. The League of Welldoers still runs as a kitchen, day centre, and social hall and as an organiser of events and hosting days out for underprivileged children. Lesley Black has worked in the centre for six years and remains inspired by the work that Lee Jones started. “In the spirit of Lee Jones, anybody who turns up on the doorstep of our centre is welcome; it’s about the camaraderie, the friendship and lovely cooked meals! “It is a chance for people to be a part of something friendly and warm.” | 
