Present Aims of the Charity
The trustees updated its purposes in 2022 to the following:
- To provide relief through the provision of grants, goods or services to those residents of West Hagbourne who are in need by reason of ill-health or disability; and to those past residents who by reason of ill-health or disability have moved from West Hagbourne to another location where they can receive care;
- The relief of those residents of West Hagbourne who are in need by reason of financial hardship or other disadvantage (including emotional or social disadvantage disadvantage (including emotional or social disadvantage);
- To advance in life and help young people who are residents of West Hagbourne through grants of money to be used by them to develop their skills, capabilities and/or capacities.
Applications for grants
If you know of anyone in the village who would benefit from one off financial help or services (eg garden clear up) due to ill health or other disadvantage or there are young people needing financial support to develop their skills, please contact any of the trustees to discuss receiving a grant from the Trust (details below).
The Trustees
There are 3 Trustees at any one time, all of whom must be residents of West Hagbourne village. Trustees are appointed by the Parish Council and serve for a period of four years.
The current Trustees are:
- Valerie Brownsword
- June Little
- Rachel Tozer
- Liz Wimshurst
Income
The Trust’s income is generated from a piece of land at the bottom of Hagbourne Hill, bordered by land owned by Thames Water to the south, Chilton Road to the east and the A417 to the north. The land is rented under an agricultural tenancy, providing a small annual income.
History
In his will, William Tyrrell left various allotments around the village which collectively have been reported totalled a larger amount than that within the ownership of the Trust today. If that is the case, there are no records indicating what factors may have caused any diminution of the original size of land owned over time, but what is clear is that the Trust now owns just over 3 acres (3 acres, 3 rods and 17 perches) of arable farmland.
Little is known or recorded about the history of the Trust prior to 1900. The Charity Commissioner’s scheme of 1896 directed that the income of the charity should be used in supplying clothes, boots, linen, bedding, fuel, tools, medical or other aid in sickness and food or other articles in kind to the poor residents of West Hagbourne who were not in receipt of Poor Law relief.
Early records show that once a year certain poor villagers were given 5cwt of coal at Christmas. This practice continued into the 1930’s, but after the war this was changed to a scheme where designated villagers were provided with food tokens. The Charity is now regulated by a scheme prepared by the Charity Commissioners and duly approved on 8th September 1931.
Latterly, in line with the recommendations of the Charity Commission, the Trustees have considered it more appropriate to offer small monetary grants to particular villagers, constrained by the very small annual income of the Trust.
More Information
More detailed information about the Trust can be found in Windsor Hakebourne: the Story of West Hagbourne published by the West Hagbourne Village History Group. (Chapter 6, P89: The Hagbourne Charities and the Philanthropic Tyrrells; The William Tyrrell Charity, P100).