Celebrating innovation, inspiration and community We are delighted to announce the 2026 Almshouse Association Award recipients, celebrating projects completed in 2025 that demonstrate innovation, imagination, care and an unwavering commitment to residents and their communities.
Following a rigorous judging process, including visits to almshouse charities across the country, the Awards panel was impressed by the exceptional quality and diversity of this year’s entries. From breathing new life into neglected historic buildings to creating sustainable new homes, developing beautiful gardens and finding innovative ways to strengthen communities, these projects demonstrate the continuing relevance and vitality of the almshouse movement.
This year’s awards recognise achievements across three categories: Inspirational Homes, Gardens & People, and Innovation for Living . Alongside Distinction and Highly Commended awards, a number of projects have also been recognised for their outstanding contribution.
Here are this year’s recipients.
GARDENS AND PEOPLE AWARD
Sackville College – Distinction
Sackville College almshouses in East Grinstead created an outstanding 100% organic kitchen garden that provides residents with fresh, seasonal produce grown on site.
The garden produces a wide variety of fruit, vegetables and herbs, with residents involved in choosing what is grown. A door-to-door delivery service ensures that everyone can benefit, including residents with limited mobility.
The project combines sustainability, nutrition and wellbeing. Rainwater harvesting, composting, crop rotation and organic growing methods support biodiversity and minimise waste. A plant stall at the college gates also generates income to fund the garden, making the project remarkably self-sustaining.
Beyond the food itself, the garden has become a social focal point — creating opportunities for conversation, engagement and connection with nature.
Dr Radcliffe’s Almshouses – Recognised
At Dr Radcliffe’s Almshouses in Steeple Aston, two historic almshouses dating from 1660 have benefited from the replacement of inadequate side porches with carefully designed, historically sympathetic extensions.
Using local Cotswold stone, timber windows and traditional craftsmanship, the new entrances improve the appearance and functionality of the Grade II-listed buildings while providing residents with warmer, safer and more accessible entrance spaces, as well as valuable seating and storage.
The work was undertaken while residents remained in their homes, including one resident aged 95, with the contractor managing the project with almost no disruption to daily life. Unexpected drainage discoveries added to the challenges, but the completed project successfully combines heritage conservation with practical improvements for residents.
Jesus Hospital Charity – Recognised
Jesus Hospital Charity has transformed an overlooked area at the James Ravenscroft Almshouses in Barnet with a new living wall and landscaped pond.
The project has created a peaceful garden space for residents and staff, turning a previously plain historic wall into a vibrant feature surrounded by planting and wildlife.
The pond and living wall are designed to support both wellbeing and biodiversity, encouraging pollinators and amphibians while providing residents with an attractive place to relax and meet.
The planting had its challenges: after discovering that the wall received prolonged, intense sunlight, the gardening team adapted their plans and replaced the original planting with hardier, drought-tolerant species.
INSPIRATIONAL HOMES AWARD
Nicholas Chamberlaine’s Hospital and Sermon Charity – Highly Commended
In Bedworth, Nicholas Chamberlaine’s Hospital and Sermon Charity has transformed a derelict former public convenience next to its historic almshouses into two high-quality one-bedroom cottages.
Once a neglected and vandalised building that had become an eyesore and a focus for anti-social behaviour, the site has been turned into attractive, secure homes that fit seamlessly alongside the historic almshouses. The project involved significant challenges, including conservation-area restrictions, the proximity of a Grade II* listed building and unstable ground discovered during construction.
The result is a striking example of turning a community liability into an asset, while creating two new homes and extending the supportive community enjoyed by existing residents.
Before
Opening ceremony
New kitchen
The Charity of Sir Thomas & Lady Kytson – Commended
At Kytson Cottages in Hengrave, Suffolk, the Charity of Sir Thomas & Lady Kytson has undertaken a sensitive programme of restoration to improve three historic Tudor cottages.
The project has dramatically improved thermal efficiency and resident comfort while respecting the buildings’ heritage. Inefficient heating systems were replaced with wood-pellet stoves, draughty doors were renewed and natural lambswool insulation was introduced. Traditional lime plaster, Suffolk pargetting and locally sourced materials were used to protect the historic character of the cottages.
The project also placed strong emphasis on sustainability, traditional craftsmanship and resident wellbeing, with the works carefully planned to minimise disruption to residents, including those with health and mobility challenges.
Edward Mayes Trust – Commended
The Edward Mayes Trust has completed a major refurbishment of the remaining four cottages at Inghams Almshouses in New Mills, High Peak.
The six Grade II-listed cottages date from 1880 and form an important part of the town’s heritage. The extensive programme has addressed years of piecemeal repairs, providing new roofs, rewiring, improved heating and plumbing, modern kitchens and accessible bathrooms while preserving the buildings’ Victorian character.
The project has also improved energy efficiency and safety, helping secure these historic homes as affordable housing for local people for generations to come. Considerable care was taken to support residents through the process, including carefully managing decanting and working around the challenges presented by the age and condition of the buildings.
The James Charities – Recognised
At St Clement’s Church in Nechells, Birmingham, The James Charities has created ten new independent-living apartments while restoring the historic Victorian façades and original church entrance porch.
The new homes form part of the existing almshouse community and include level access, accessible wet rooms, lift access and facilities designed to support independent living. The project has also created improved communal areas, covered walkways and a landscaped courtyard.
Sustainability has been central to the development, with air-source heat pumps, underfloor heating, solar panels, high levels of insulation and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery. The courtyard has also been designed as a biodiverse urban sanctuary, with native planting and habitats for birds, bats, hedgehogs and insects.
Perhaps most importantly, the project was developed through extensive consultation with residents, staff, trustees, neighbours and local councillors, helping create a strong sense of shared ownership.
MY Trust – Recognised
MY Trust has transformed Foster House in Solihull, formerly Alexandra Court, from a closed extra-care facility into 14 new homes for older people.
The original building, which had contained 21 small studio apartments, closed in 2024 as changing care models and rising operating costs made its previous use unsustainable. Rather than lose a structurally sound building, the Trust took the opportunity to redesign and repurpose it.
The result is two bungalows, four two-bedroom apartments and eight spacious one-bedroom homes, all designed to support independent living. Residents were consulted throughout the process to help ensure the new homes met their needs.
The redevelopment demonstrates how existing buildings can be adapted creatively to meet changing housing needs while making the best possible use of an existing asset. The newly transformed building has also been renamed Foster House in honour of Betty Foster, a much-loved former resident and long-standing trustee and advocate for the Trust.
INNOVATION FOR LIVING AWARD
William Lovett’s Almshouse Charity – Highly Commended
William Lovett’s Almshouse Charity has taken a bold approach to the future of almshouse living in West Haddon, Northamptonshire, by creating six new, highly sustainable bungalows for older residents.
The new homes enable older residents to move from unsuitable two-storey Victorian almshouses into accessible, energy-efficient homes designed for long-term independent living. This, in turn, allows the original Victorian terrace to be refurbished and reopened to a wider age range, creating a new mixed-age community and effectively doubling the local almshouse provision.
The development incorporates ground-source heating, solar PV, battery storage, EV charging and rainwater harvesting, alongside private garden terraces and accessible wet rooms.
The project is the culmination of more than seven years of work by the charity, including major changes to its structure and objectives, a lengthy planning process, securing Registered Provider status and raising more than £1 million in funding.
It is an ambitious example of how a small, historic almshouse charity can evolve its model to respond to the housing needs of both older and younger people.
Celebrating the almshouse movement
Taken together, these projects demonstrate the extraordinary range of work taking place across the almshouse movement.
They show that innovation does not have to mean abandoning tradition. Historic buildings can be restored for another generation; new homes can be designed around independence and community, gardens can improve both wellbeing and biodiversity, and existing buildings can be reinvented to meet changing needs.
Above all, this year’s Award recipients demonstrate what can be achieved when trustees, residents, staff, architects, contractors, volunteers and local communities work together with a shared purpose.
We warmly congratulate all of our 2026 Award recipients and everyone who contributed to these outstanding projects.
posted 17 September 2026