Two trustees, three bequests, one parish in eastern Herefordshire.

Founding

A consolidation of older bequests, made tidy in 1968.

The three bequests we hold are older than the trust that holds them. The Poor's Land was set aside, by parish-vestry minute, when the open fields north of the village were enclosed in the early nineteenth century. The Apprentice Bequest comes from a will read in the parish church in 1832. The Church Fabric Fund grew out of a string of small Victorian endowments tied to family pews and to the rebuilding of the nave roof in 1873. By the middle of the twentieth century each one had become administratively awkward — small balances, three separate bank books, three sets of trustees who knew one another but could not always meet.

In 1968, with the approval of the Charity Commission, the three were consolidated under a single trusteeship. The schemes that govern each constituent fund remain individually in force; they sit inside the consolidated charity as separately accounted sub-funds, as the Commission's register notes. The objects of each fund remain exactly as they were set down — fuel for the elderly poor of the parish, a hand into trade for the parish young, and the upkeep of the fabric of St Mary's church. We have changed nothing of substance since 1968 and we hope our successors will change as little.

The charity is registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales as number 219970. Our registered office is at New House, Bishops Frome, Worcester, WR6 5BT — a private address kindly lent by one of our trustees. Although the postcode begins WR (Worcester), Bishop's Frome itself sits in the County of Herefordshire; the post is routed via Bromyard. Correspondence is read at the kitchen table by the trustee on duty that quarter.

The trustees meet four times a year — once each quarter — usually around a kitchen table in Bishop's Frome. Meetings are minuted on paper. Grants are decided by both trustees acting together; if the trustees cannot agree, the application is held over to the next quarter for further reflection. There is no executive: no paid staff, no paid administrator, no office costs beyond stamps and the occasional photocopy.

The charity is unincorporated. It is an Excepted or Reporting Charity depending on the lens applied, but in practice it files a full annual return to the Charity Commission each year and publishes its accounts on the public register. Under the Charities Act 2011 small-charity threshold the accounts are unaudited; they are prepared on the receipts-and-payments basis and reviewed by an independent examiner from outside the parish.

Each constituent bequest is administered as a separate restricted fund. The Poor's Land rent is paid into a dedicated deposit account; the Apprentice Bequest is held as a small cash-and-investment balance; the Church Fabric Fund holds a small cash float. All movements between funds require both trustees' signatures.

Policies — safeguarding, equal opportunities, data protection, conflict of interest — are short, written in plain English, and revised every three years. The most recent revision was in 2024. Copies are available on request and in the resources section of this site.