The Almshouse Association held the 67th Annual General Meeting on 13th June 2018 at The Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors, Merchant Taylors’ Hall, 30 Threadneedle Street, London. There was an excellent turnout with the Almshouse Association staff greeting over 130 attendees.

Our Chair, Mrs Elizabeth Fathi welcomed representatives of almshouse charities, Associate Members and guests and representatives of the National Association of Almshouses Common Investment Fund (NAACIF). Mrs. Fathi then introduced Mr. Duncan Eggar, the Chairman of the Housing and Care Committee of the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors, representing the Master, who welcomed everyone to the Hall and spoke of the exciting new almshouse development which will be opened this summer.

Mrs. Fathi thanked Mr. Eggar and the Merchant Taylors for generously hosting the meeting, following which she delivered the Chairman’s Report. The Association’s Assistant Director, Sue Turner followed by giving a résumé of the projects which had been short-listed by the Patron’s Award Committee. Mrs. Fathi then announced that Amersham United Charities, Shrewsbury Draper’s Almshouses and The Davenport Homes, West Midlands would receive 2017 Patron’s Awards and it was hoped these would be presented by HRH The Duke of Gloucester later in the year.

Special Resolution

By way of a special resolution , the draft Articles of Association circulated with the Annual General Meeting Notice dated 10 May 2018 were approved by a large majority and adopted as the new Articles of Association of the Charity in substitution for and to the exclusion of all existing Articles of Association of the Charity.

Election of Board Members (Directors/Trustees)

Following the passing of the above resolution and the adoption of the up-dated Articles of Association, under Articles 33 and 40 it was confirmed that Trustees would remain in office until the third Annual Meeting following their most recent appointment or re-appointment. Accordingly the following Trustees due to retire submitted themselves for re-election and were duly re-appointed:

  • Dr. M Aldridge (Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire) proposed by Mr. A Martin (Yardley Great Trust) and seconded by Mrs. D Hoy (King Edward VI & Revd. J. Prime Charity)
  • Mr R.C.F. Waite (Cambridgeshire & Norfolk) proposed by Mr. A. Sedgwick (Lady Anne Windsor Charity) and seconded by Miss L. Clayton (Thomas Philipot’s Almshouse Charity

Mr. B. Gulland and Mr. C. Huntley, who were stepping down as members of the Board, were thanked by the Chair for their past service and commitment.

Key Note Address

Mrs Elizabeth Fathi introduced the speaker, Professor C. Phillipson, Professor of Sociology and Social Gerontology, Manchester University, who spoke of the positive aspects of ageing and then took questions from the floor. A transcript of his speech is available here

Next Annual General Meeting

The Chairman announced that the next Annual General meeting would take place as part of a conference on Wednesday, 5th June 2019 at the Haberdashers’ Hall, 18 West Smithfield, London EC1A 9HQ.

Post AGM

After the AGM, everyone got the chance to catch up and enjoy the glorious weather in the beautiful surroundings of the Merchant Taylors’ Hall, which was followed by a delicious afternoon tea.

 

The Almshouse Association would like to take this opportunity to once again thank Mr. Eggar and the Merchant Taylors for generously hosting the meeting, our speakers, trustees, member charities and guests for their continued support and commitment to the almshouse movement. We are greatly looking forward to next year’s AGM which will be incorporated into an Almshouse Conference which we are sure is going to prove to be a popular event on the Almshouse Association members’ calendar.

 

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