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A token speaks a thousand words: a Coram X National Trust competition

Coram and National Trust Quebec House are inviting primary-aged children to help us create 469 tokens, representing each child who passed through the Westerham Foundling Hospital site.

  • Booking not needed
  • Free event (admission applies)

Coram is the first and longest-serving children’s charity. In 1739, Thomas Coram established the Foundling Hospital in London for the "education and maintenance of exposed and deserted young children”. It soon found itself unable to meet the ever-increasing demands on its services. A branch hospital was subsequently established in Westerham, Kent.

Every child who was left in the care of the Foundling Hospital in London and Westerham was left with a token from their birth mother as a form of identification.

Now, we are inviting primary-aged children to create a fabric-based token for a chance to have it displayed in the Coach House at Quebec House.

The winning 469 tokens, representing each of the children of the Westerham branch, will be on display from April 2026, throughout the year.

To find out more information including terms and conditions and how to submit your entry, please visit the Coram webpage for the National Trust tokens competition. A KS2 cross-curricular educational toolkit is also available to download from that site.

Copy and paste this link into your browser: https://www.coram.org.uk/national-trust-tokens-competition/

Please note that the tokens can be created at school or home. This is not a crafting activity that is taking place on site at Quebec House.

The competition opens 12:00 6 October 2025 and closes 12:00 on 21 November 2025.

Times

Prices

Event ticket prices

This event is free, but normal admission charges apply for the venue.

Check admission prices

The basics

Suitability

Children welcome

Meeting point

Please note that the tokens can be created at school or home. This is not a crafting activity that is taking place on site at Quebec House.

Other

About the Westerham Branch of the Foundling Hospital: Thomas Ellison, a governor of the Foundling Hospital, owned a house in Westerham called Spiers, now known as Quebec House. Ellison also owned a house named Wellstreet two miles outside town which served as the Westerham branch of the Foundling Hospital. That building is now known as Chartwell.

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