The Almshouse Association was delighted when our Royal Vice Patron, HRH The Duke of Gloucester accepted our invitation to visit the Hammersmith United Charities almshouses in celebration of their 400 year anniversary and to present the Patron’s Awards for 2016 and 2017.

The event took place on Monday 10th December at Sycamore House in London. HRH arrived at 2pm and was greeted by Kevin McGrath Deputy Lord Lieutenant, Mike Smith Chair of Trustees Hammersmith United, Elizabeth Fathi Chair of Trustees, The Almshouse Association and Nick Phillips the Association’s CEO.

HRH was invited to sign the visitor’s book and the Chair presented Victoria Hill CEO and HUC trustees.

HRH then met David Simpson, the architect and was shown the wonderful display that traced the history of the charity right back to 1618 when Dr Thomas Edwards made a gift of £20 for the immediate benefit of the poor of Fulham and left £100 to buy land for their longer term benefit. Visit  https://hamunitedcharities.org.uk/400th-anniversary/ to find out more.

Following this, HRH visited two residents’ homes and walked through the award winning gardens to the residents’ lounge.

HRH was full of admiration and commented on the importance of having a garden, whatever the size.

Our Chair Elizabeth Fathi then presented the Patron’s Award recipients for 2016 and 2017 to the Duke and he joined residents for a delicious afternoon tea.

HRH The Duke of Gloucester was then invited to present Patron’s Awards scrolls and plaques to:

Peter Brown and Andrew Clague (architect) – The Sir Roger Manwood Trust project

Rev Canon Tim Harper – Amersham United Charities

Richard Auger  – Shrewsbury Drapers’ Company

David Corney  – The Davenport Homes

At the end of his visit,  the Chair of Hammersmith United thanked HRH and it was a very proud moment when he accepted the invitation to unveil a plaque to commemorate the day.

The Almshouse Association was delighted to put forward one of our member charities in Ely to be included in a Royal “Awayday”.  

On 27th November 2018, the Association was very proud when HRH The Prince of Wales in his capacity as Patron of the Association, visited Thomas Parsons’ Charity.  Upon arrival His Royal Highness was greeted by the Deputy Lord Lieutenant who presented Nick Phillips, CEO of The Almshouse Association and David Brand, Chair of the Trustees of Thomas Parsons’ Charity.

HRH was then invited to visit a resident in her almshouse.  Jennifer Millard, Receiver for the Thomas Parson’s Charity greeted His Royal Highness and presented June Hewes, who has lived in one of the almshouses for 10 years. Once inside, he admired her living room and had a tour of the kitchen and bathroom.  “This is not a bad little place is it and they are all nice neighbours too, I hope,” he said.

Speaking after the visit, June said: “That was wonderful but very nerve-wracking in advance as I’ve had to do a lot of cleaning in preparation. It’s not every day you get a royal guest.”

Prince Charles was then invited to join some of the Thomas Parson’s Charity residents in the Poet’s House and shared a cup of tea with each table in the dining room while chatting to residents, staff and trustees.

“You must have all been waiting very patiently and I would like to wish you a very merry early Christmas,” he said.

Vera Ford, 91, who has lived in an almshouse for five years, said: “He was so nice and asked me about Christmas and my holiday plans and I would be quite happy for him to be king one day.”

John Moore, who works for the Thomas Parsons’ Charity, said: “What a friendly and nice man, he was very interested in speaking to everyone about their houses and he was extremely down to earth.”

At the end of the visit, David Brand thanked His Royal Highness for taking the time to visit the charity and presented him with a bound copy of the history of the charity. His Royal Highness then unveiled a plaque to commemorate his visit.

It was an incredibly busy day for The Prince of Wales as he also met with many Cambridgeshire dignitaries, visited the stained glass museum and undertook a walkabout of Ely farmers’ market, all the while chatting with and shaking the hands of the many well-wishers along the way.

The Almshouse Association is very honoured that His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales is Patron of the Association. It is our hope that he will be able to continue to visit as many of our member charities as possible in the future.

Housing LIN recently featured a blog by the Almshouse Association Chair, Elizabeth Fathi.

Its an informative read with lots of really helpful links and references, as well as providing a real insight into the vision for the almshouse movement of the future.  The blog can be accessed by clicking on the link below:

Almshouses – leading the way in the sustainable provision of low-cost homes and community

The Almshouse Consortium Ltd (ACL) held  a Grant Funding Seminar Event in Birmingham on Tuesday 13th November 2018.

It was free to attend, with lunch and no obligation, and a number of charities took them up on their offer to find out more about how the ACL can assist their charity access government grants – for both new builds and remodelling. The ACL delivered an excellent presentation and were able to answer lots of questions and demonstrate to the charities how they will work directly alongside them and the individual almshouse to ensure they deliver a successful project.

The ACL has kindly provided the Association with a copy of the presentation. If you would like to learn more, please click here to download.

Note: The Almshouse Consortium Ltd is an independent company. It is important that members satisfy themselves that the services, qualifications and relevant membership of professional bodies meet their particular needs.

On 14th August 2018, the government published the social housing green paper (A new deal for social housing). A consultation was launched alongside the paper and will run until the 6th November 2018.

Although the proposals in the paper will only affect registered providers, there may be implications for the wider membership – for example the proposed review of the Decent Homes Standard and the development of affordable homes.

For more details on the green paper, please refer to our previous news article  – A New Deal for Social Housing

The Almshouse Association has composed a draft response to the consultation which can be found here. 

Some almshouses charities may also wish to respond independently and may find our draft useful as a template.
Alternatively, please send any comments or suggestions to Chris Targowski, Assistant Director (Policy),Tel: 01344 452922 email: christargowski@almshouses.org

Deadline for feedback: 31st October 2018 – Closed

The Scheme Managers and Wardens Seminar on 25th September 2018 was very well attended and covered an array of interesting topics. One of these was ‘Understanding Mental Health Issues’ presented by Supt Sean Russell, Implementation Director, West Midlands Mental Health Commission.  In follow-up, Sean has forwarded information to the Association about online CPD (Continued Professional Development) courses that are available, together with The Skills Network Level 2 Certificate in ‘Awareness of Mental Health Problems’. These can be accessed by clicking on the below:

• Online CPD Courses
• The Skills Network Level 2 Certificate in ‘Awareness of Mental Health Problems

There was also an excellent talk given by Sherwin Criseno, Advanced Nurse Practitioner, University Hospitals, Birmingham on Osteoporosis and Brittle Bones.  Sherwin had been unable to provide his PowerPoint in advance and many delegates were keen to have a copy.  This can now be downloaded here

During the day there was some discussion about difficulties experienced by almshouse residents in claiming Housing Benefit.  We have put the legislation pertaining to this topic in Latest News. Click here to access.