Wiltshire Life: Finding Friendship

In his third and final look at Wiltshire’s almshouses for Wiltshire Life magazine, Gary Lawrence visits two rural communities that provide a secure, happy home for people from an incredible variety of backgrounds.

“It is a long way from the troubled hills of Romania in the carefully manicured splendour of St John’s hospital in Heytesbury but Alex Wilson has many reminders of her homeland around her.
She and her husband Barnabus’ well-ordered flat on the first floor of the Grade II listed almshouse, which gazes out over beautiful lawns, is decorated with paintings and photographs that trace her circuitous route here.
She and her English mother fled the communists who had seized power and came to England, the place of her mother’s birth, in 1955 when her father, the celebrated philosopher and author Constantin Noica was arrested and eventually jailed. “My father was not liked by the regime because he was a philosopher and they rook him away,” recalls the 78-year-old. “His only sin in this world was being able to think and write things that were nor communist based.”
Her father was eventually freed in 1964 after a campaign by the fledgling Amnesty International and support from the likes of Graham Greene, a friend of her mother. “it was a difficult time, very hard but so long ago now,” she adds….
_{Gary Lawrence, Wiltshire Life December 22}

Wiltshire Life has kindly provided us with a full copy of this third article which can be read in full here.

Our thanks to Gary Lawrence for taking the time to raise the profile of the almshouse movement through his sensitively written articles about the beautiful almshouses of Wiltshire and shining a light on the work of the volunteers and staff and the lives of their residents.

Further reading:
Providing a safe haven over the centuries | (almshouses.org) | November 22

Almshouses in Wiltshire Life: Centuries of supporting independence | | October 22

December 2022

Christmas Fund spreading cheer

Every year, The Almshouse Association is very pleased to be able to offer Christmas vouchers to almshouse residents over 90 years old and this year has been no exception!

It has given us enormous pleasure to post out 599 Christmas vouchers to almshouse residents all over the country and we could not be more thrilled to have received these wonderful photos of residents receiving their Christmas gifts.

The story of our Christmas legacy fund goes back over 70 years, when Major Allnatt, a successful businessman and philanthropist who worked closely with and supported our founding General Secretary, Leonard Hackett, left a Christmas legacy to the Association. The Almshouse Association invested the money to support his wish that every Christmas, gifts were given to almshouse residents over 90 years old. He wished his name to remain a secret until his death, many years ago now, but his legacy lives on, and it has been a great pleasure for the Association to be able to continue to honour his wishes every Christmas.

_{“What can I say our resident was delighted and repeatedly asked why me, I told her she was special and the where the gift had come from; I delivered on Christmas Eve , could you please pass on the sincere thanks from The Tattershall Bede House Trustees and of course our 91 year old who has been a resident for 30 years plus. ” Kathy Roberts
Trust secretary}

_{Uppingham residents Sheila and Mary gifts were delivered by Rev Debbie Smith-Wilds, St John and St Anne almshouses}

_{Mr-Brooks-Pontefract-and-Ackworth-Almshouse-Charity}

_{Almshouses of Countess Elizabeth de la Warr – Lady de la Warr presents to giftcard to resident Alan}

Pictured top and below, residents from Liversage Trust in Derby and Municipal Owen Carter Almshouse Charities in Dorset

_{Christmas vouchers are delivered to the homes of residents by Davenport Homes Chair David Corney}

_{Residents at Philipot’s almshouses receive their gifts at their Christmas party}

_{Sir John Jacob’s Almshouses in Gamlingay}

_{Residents at Maldon Housing Association almshouses}

_{Resident Dot, Cardington, Cople & Eastcotts Almshouses}

_{Resident Maud receiving her gift voucher she has lived at the Hornchurch Housing Trust almhouses since 2006 and will be 98 this year . She loves playing bingo and socialising in the communal hall with the other residents.}

_{Resident Jean, The Robert Thompson Almshouse Charities}

_{Sloswickes Almshouses – resident Mrs Antcliffe}

_{Sloswickes Almshouses – residents Mr & Mrs Downe}

_{Residents at Thorngate Charities received their legacy giftcards}

_{More Thorngate residents of 90+ years young!}

_{Paula Alderson, Homeyard Homes, Veryan}

It is fair to say that when The Almshouse Association Christmas Fund began over 70 years ago there were a lot less 90-year-olds in almshouses; every year we have more and more residents in almshouses that are over 90 years old. This is a great testament to the almshouse movement and the caring dedication of trustees and staff!

Beware Scammers

According to Government figures for 2022, fraud is the most experienced crime in the UK, accounting for around 40% of all crimes.

As the cost-of-living crisis puts pressure on people’s finances, it is more important than ever that people know how to spot potential fraudsters to minimise the risk of becoming a victim.

TV Licensing has issued the below helpful guidance:

TV Licensing is working to help customers protect themselves against being scammed. We are continuing to ask people to STOP – CHECK – ASK if they receive any suspicious communications that appear to be from TV Licensing.

STOP

CHECK

ASK

Scammers will attempt to trick you into giving away your personal or bank details. Always be wary of letters, emails, texts or phone calls that promise you money or a refund.

Has the sender spelt your name correctly, and are there any grammatical errors? You should also make sure they have included the correct licence number, which you can check on the TV Licensing website.

If you’re ever unsure about a communication you have received, it’s always best to ask someone – perhaps a friend or trusted advisor. You can go to the TV Licensing website and sign into your licence at www.tvl.co.uk/yourlicence to check if anything is wrong or call TV Licensing on 0300 303 9695.

We have prepared some social media posts to highlight how people can avoid being the victim of a scam. It would be great if you could post these to your social media channels to help us get the message out and keep people safe. You can access social media images here.
You can also find more information about how to avoid scams and how to report one here. We can also deliver free Zoom training sessions to help you support your clients to spot scams, which can be arranged at a time to suit you.
If you need any further information to help you to support your clients, or you have any queries and would like to know more, please get in touch, and I will endeavour to help.
Dan Cooper | Senior Communications Specialist | TV Licensing

We thank TV Licencing for providing this information to our members which you may wish to pass onto your residents and colleagues.

posted 15 December 2022

Providing a safe haven over the centuries

In the second of his features looking at Wiltshire’s almshouses, Gary Lawrence visits the county’s largest organisation and discovers it provides housing, security and, just as importantly, hope, for a huge variety of people of all ages.

He begins his article in the office of Susie Coen, the clerk of Salisbury City Almshouses and Welfare Charities which oversees 13 separate groups of almshouses dotted around the city. He is taken on a wonderful tour where he meets the residents of a variety of almshouses including young families, nurses from India, people in their 40s and 50s and retired men and women

The editor of the magazine has kindly provided us with a copy of the article*, which can be found by clicking on the link below. We are now really looking forward to the publication of the third article in the series in December!

Wiltshire Life: Providing a safe haven over the centuries | November 22

* Note: the journalist made a small error in the content.
Both men and women are welcome to become residents at Hussey’s Almshouses, not just women.

Further reading: Almshouses in Wiltshire Life | October 22

Posted 23 November 22

Digital Switchover: how could it affect almshouses?

The Digital Switchover will have far reaching implications for almhouses and any other housing provider with hard wired or warden call systems. These traditional schemes, which in most cases have been in place for decades, will need upgrading or replacing if they are to be fit for purpose when the analogue signals are switched off. While the implications are significant it really is a great opportunity to reimagine how services to higher needs residents can be delivered.

Alertacall held a webinar on October 18th at 10am to help explain the switchover and what it might mean for your charity. This session will explore the art of the possible, from what additional features can be provided, to whether there needs to be a hard-wired system at all. This change is coming at a time when there are multiple other considerations, and the best solutions will be able to address more than one need, including:

Addressing the requirements of the Social Housing White Paper, such as improving two-way communication
Relieving digital poverty and increasing digital engagement
Enabling operational efficiencies
Improving the living environment, including giving a less ‘institutionalised’ feel in supported housing schemes
Improving outcomes for health and care providers

The session explained the implications of Digital Switchover and explored how different providers are approaching the change. Whilst any solution needs to work for the housing provider, one of the most critical components is the customer buy in. Do residents see the ‘WIIFM’ (‘What’s In It For Me’)? Recent innovations offer the chance of a quantum leap in service delivery that will significantly enhance service levels and offers the potential to affordably enhance the image of the charity amongst its residents.

The speakers for the session were Petra van der Zande, Head of Business Improvement at Hull Churches Housing Association, and Martin Cutbill, Director at Alertacall Ltd, who provide alternatives to hard wired alarm systems and work with almost 60 housing providers across the UK.

Please click here if you would like to view a recording of the session

posted 10 October 22

Almshouses in Wiltshire Life

Wiltshire Life has just published the first of three articles by Gary Lawrence taking a look into the almshouse world, beginning with a visit to one of the oldest.

Lawrence begins his piece in the sitting room of Winifred Alford, an 88-year-old former hospital almoner who has lived at the College of Matrons almshouse for 18 years, having moved there from Donhead St Andrew near Shaftesbury where she felt no longer able to live on her own somewhere so remote.

” I feel very fortunate to live here, it is a beautiful building and it has so much history. I feel secure, I don’t have to worry about the upkeep or maintenance of a home and there are people close by should they be needed”
Winifred, resident

Wiltshire Life has kindly shared a copy of the article with us. Its beautifully and sensitively written and we look forward to their next articles that include Salisbury Almshouses, the Hospital of St John in Heytesbury and Zeal’s Almshouses. Please click here to read in full.

posted 6 October 2022

Heating advice notes

The challenge of sustainable heating was an important agenda item at a recent Peter Birtwistle Trust Almshouse Networking Event. They asked a local expert for his advice and have kindly made it available to the membership.

Our thanks to John Book of JRB Environmental Design Ltd for putting together the below notes and to Alison Evans, Executive Officer Peter Birtwistle Trust for sharing them with us.

Heating advice notes for almshouses

The initial approach should always be taken as fabric first, i.e., to look at ways of improving the thermal properties of the buildings through the provision of double glazing, roof and wall insulation.
Lighting should be looked at with the provision of LED lamps wherever possible.
Look at the possibilities of introducing Solar PV panels for the generation of electricity, and/or wherever possible for the domestic hot water usage look at the provision of Solar Thermal panels connected into a twin coil cylinder.
The heat source is the big challenge for us at the moment certainly with the drive to move away from fossil fuels, however, the following considerations should be made.
- The initial thoughts are to try and changeover onto electrically based systems, but unless you can introduce the use of heat pumps which have a proven track record of providing 3kW of heat from 1kW of electricity, then as the cost of electricity is still currently approx., 3 times more expensive that gas, then any other electrically based systems may prove to be unaffordable to run.
- Heat pumps take the form of 2 types, i.e., either air source heat pumps (ASHP) or ground source heat pumps (GSHP). Whilst GSHPs operate with a slightly better efficiency they are probably twice the cost to install than ASHPs simply because of the ground works required to either accommodate pipe loops or boreholes.
- Ideally the use of heat pumps would need a 3-phase electrical supply although there are some single phase units available for domestic size ASHPs, but again the existing loading on the incoming electrical supply would have to be checked for capacity availability.
- The only real further consideration for the use of heat pumps would be just what the existing heating system is that the present boiler is serving, as this would have been sized to provide the heat output with water supplied from the boiler at a mean temperature of 70°C, whereas heat pumps only provide a mean temperature of 50°C. This will mean that if you simply put say an ASHP onto an existing radiator system that you would have to run the system longer and lose any carbon benefits, whilst increasing running costs. Hence if heat pumps are to be looked at then the existing heating system may have also to be considered for replacement.
- If the electrical supply is inadequate then the option may have to be to still remain with a boiler system, and where a gas supply existing then the consideration would be to look at the use of a ‘hydrogen ready’ gas boiler. New boilers are probably twice as efficient as old/existing gas boilers and hence there would be an immediate reduction in carbon generation in the order of 50%. We are currently being advised that a 20% hydrogen gas mix may become available in the next 2/3 years, through the national grid network system, and of course when this does so the already reduced carbon generation from any new/replacement gas boiler would be further significantly reduced.
- Where gas is not available then the use of either a bio-fuel oil or a bio-LPG boiler could be considered, which would obviously show good reductions in carbon generation, albeit these costs are more expensive than conventional oil or LPG.
- Considerations will need to be made as whether each almshouse has its own dedicated boiler system, or whether a group of almshouses is served from a common boiler plant.
- If the almshouses are served individually then the foregoing comments would apply, if however, they are served from a common source, or whether this option may be worth looking into as an alternative, then the following other options could be considered.
- Depending upon electrical supply capacity issues, it may be possible to consider ‘hybrid’ systems, having a mix of heat pumps and boilers with the heat pump providing enough heat to maintain a background warmth in the properties at say 15°C, with a hydrogen or biofuel boiler simply being used to raise that temperature to say 21°C when required.
- Rather than considering direct heating from a central heat plant source to the existing heating and hot water services within each almshouse then an option would be to provide Heat Interface Units (HIU) within each almshouse, which are connected by heating flow & return pipework from the central heat source, which could still be a ‘hybrid’ system if supplies allowed.
- Another option would be to provide to internal wall mounted water source heat pumps which would be served by an ambient water pipe loop which could be taken from any ground source available, or indeed a centralised heat pump system. This type of system is supplied from a water loop at say 30°C and then is converted internally up to normal heating boiler temperatures.
- The use of programmable thermostat controls which can be accessed remotely would be essential to consider so that actual space temperatures and operating times may be assessed.

Summary Conclusions

Clearly whilst we all have a duty to try and reduce the carbon being generated from the heating and hot water systems, which will almost certainly require significant capital expenditure, it is also important that we should still consider making whatever heat source options are to be selected, that these are still affordable to run and maintain.

The first stage of any considerations for this would be to initially assess / survey just what the current systems comprise of along with structural assessment for thermal insulation, and of course types of lighting being used.

Note: The products/services and claims made above have not been evaluated by The Almshouse Association. Articles that recommend products/services are for information purposes only and are not endorsed by the Association. Information is provided for the general guidance of trustees and clerks, who should take their own professional advice where necessary.

posted 20 September 22

Registered Providers Network Meeting

The Almshouse Association’s Registered Providers Network met on 24th August 2022 to discuss the challenges facing this section of our membership.

The agenda included:

Challenge of decarbonisation
Cost of Living
WMC management

We would like to thank all members for participating; it was encouraging to get such a good turnout. A recording of the session can be found here for anyone not able to attend or would just like a recap on the discussions that took place.

If you have any suggestions for future meetings, please do get in touch via jackbaldan@almshouses.org.

Posted 25 August 22

Small grant makes a big difference

Sometimes a small grant can make a big difference. Trustees at the Old Windsor United Charities (Penny Royal Almshouses) were worried about the rising cost of energy and the impact it would have on their almshouse residents so looked into ways to help.

With money very tight for the charity, they sought the help of The Almshouse Association and were awarded a grant of £2,835.00 to install foam loft installation in their almshouse roofs.

On completion of the work, we put the following questions to the almshouse charity clerk:

What challenges was the charity facing before the project was completed?

In light of significant increases in energy costs, we assessed all of the almshouses to see if we could make them more energy efficient; this is particularly important as the residents pay their own energy bills. Once we accessed the loft spaces of two of the houses in the Victorian block – Nos 28 & 29 – we saw that less than 50% of their loft spaces were insulated with fibreglass, we believe that this is due to access issues i.e. water tanks and pipework blocking access. We wanted to remedy before the next winter to help the householders keep their bills as low as possible. After doing some research, we discovered that spray foam was the most energy efficient and environmentally friendly; it would also be easier to install given the issues with access.

Our priority has been to replace all the old windows and those that weren’t double glazed and we were keen to have the funds to complete this before the next winter. It was looking challenging to do this and install the loft insulation as the cost of windows has increased by a staggering amount over the last two years and is still increasing due to supply chain issues and inflation.

How was this affecting the residents?

The main issue for the residents was the expectation of incredibly high energy bills. As a charity, we wanted to do everything we could to try and make the houses as energy efficient as possible – the bills will still be higher, but the new insulation should save the residents up to 45% on their heating bills.

What work was completed utilising the grant?

The installation of spray foam insulation in the loft space of two of the almshouses (No 28 & 29) in the Victorian block.

What would have happened had you not been successful in receiving a grant or loan?

We would have needed to take the money from Reserves or delay other maintenance work that we planned for this year. We have had to take large amounts out of our Reserves over the last two years to pay for a backlog of maintenance work and for two very costly refurbishments. We are hoping that we can now return some of the funds taken from the Reserves this year; to protect funds for future residents; to hopefully continue to receive distribution payments from our investments to ensure that we do not need to increase the Monthly Maintenance Charge paid by the residents too much in a time of high inflation.

What have the residents said about the changes?

The residents were incredibly happy that we were able to get their homes’ insulation improved. They are all very worried about the increased cost of living and particularly the terrifying increase in the cost of energy. We know that they will really feel the difference once the weather gets colder.

Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS)

The Almshouse Association has recently held discussions with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and Ofgem regarding the eligibility of almshouse dwellings for the new Boiler Upgrade Scheme.

The scheme will provide “grants to encourage property owners to install low carbon heating systems such as heat pumps”. This includes:

£5,000 off the cost and installation of an air source heat pump
£5,000 off the cost and installation of a biomass boiler
£6,000 off the cost and installation of a ground source heat pump

This support would offer significant support to charities who may be considering installing some of these measures. However, the eligibility of almshouses is not clear as the broader category of social housing – defined as “low-cost rental accommodation – is not eligible. The Almshouse Association has challenged this definition as almshouses do not provide ‘rental’ accommodation.

Unfortunately, neither body has provided clear guidance beyond this point and have instead suggested that they would judge each application on a case-by-case basis. We would encourage members to apply for the scheme and to inform the Association of the outcome.

Details on the scheme can be found here.

Posted 18 July 22