Portrait by kind permission
of the Master and Fellows
of St John’sCollege, Cambridge

In an Edited and Paraphrased version of William Bendlowe’s Last Will and Testament published by the Great Bardfield Historical Society; reference is made to several almshouses he had set up in local parishes including Shalford and it was his wish that these almhouses for the poor be maintained. However in 1944, according to a hand-written note in the files, a demolition order was imposed upon the Shalford almshouses by Braintree Rural District Council. Following exchange of correspondence between The Trustees, Solicitors, Charity Commission and Shalford Parish Council, the almshouses were sold in 1951 and demolished. The monies received was invested in War Loan Stock. The selling of the almshouses prompted a revision of the original Deed and a revised Scheme written, approved, and sealed, by the Charity Commission dated 11^th May 1954. Section 4 of this document: Trustees. The body of Trustees shall consist of The Vicar of Shalford for the time being and by virtue of his office and two representative Trustees appointed from time to time by the Parish Council in Shalford. Section 8: Application of Income: The Trustees shall apply the clear income of the Charities in each year for the benefit of not more than four poor old persons resident in the Parish of Shalford either in the supply of clothes, boots, blankets, fuel, food, or other articles in kind or in grants of money, provided that income of the Charity shall in no case be applied in relief of rates, taxes or other public funds.

The files are unclear, but it would appear that by now, the only other income the Charity received (being annual rent charges from three farms totalling £2 10s per annum) had become difficult to collect and in 1967, the Charity Commission raised and sealed a document agreeing for the remaining rent charge(s) to be sold leaving the Charity with no income except interest received. However, this interest provided the needy of the parish (2 men and 2 women) with several hundred weight of coal each year to heat their homes. Subsequently in later years, when cooking and heating no longer relied on coal, the fuel allowance was changed to stamps for electricity.

In 1989, the Parish Council looked at scant funds which were insufficient to provide for the needy as laid down under the Charity’s original terms. The Council organised the first of several successful annual Christmas Carol Concerts in the Village Hall, which always ended in a generous collection being made in aid of the Charity.

In 1990, the Trustees felt that the time had come to re-look at the Charity’s role and to bring it up to date and more relevant to the time. With the Charity’s fund eventually growing to approximately £2,000, it was felt that the interest from this sum should be used in some way to benefit more of the older members of the Parish. A decision was taken to give a gift of an attractive arrangement of pot plants to anyone who had been ill, in hospital or bereaved during the year. Since then many men and women have been delighted to receive one of these cheering and thoughtful presents.

In the Millennium Year, 2000, the Charity looked again at its role and realised that there was more need to cater for the social well being of retired villagers in this ever changing and hectic world. An opportunity for newcomers to meet with older residents would be ideal, and so the first Bendlowe’s Tea Party was organised.

In 2002, the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Year, a lunch for the Golden Oldies was arranged and the Charity generously paid for the wine to accompany the meal and to toast Her Majesty’s health.

In 2016 new Trustees were appointed and again reviewed the role of the Charity in today’s society. Little had happened in recent years and so the new Trustees issued a newsletter promoting the Charity and organised a table top sale to raise funds. The Trustees recognising that there are other ways of being “poor” other than financial (i.e. loneliness and quality of life) decided to promote community life and social interaction.

In 2017 the new Trustees organised their first Monthly Meet & Greet with a view to encouraging social interaction, community spirit and a feeling of belonging and well being. In addition in June 2017 the Charity’s first outing was enjoyed by a full minibus of people. For further information on our outings please click here

In 2018, the Trustees wanted to promote the objectives and purposes of the Charity further and issued a Newsletter (see below ‘People Working for People’)

By 2020 (Covid Year) the nucleus of the Charity had grown and it was flourishing. For further details of the Charity’s activities in these years, please click on the relevant year book below:-

Note 1

Please note that the above information has been taken from incomplete records currently held and regretfully can not be guaranteed as being 100% correct.

Note 2

Throughout these records the name changes – either William Bendlowes (with an s) or William Bendlowe (without an S). The Trustees has taken the name stated on the Sealed Charity Commission’s Governing Document dated 11^th May 1954 of “William Bendlowe”.

PEOPLE WORKING FOR PEOPLE

(striving to promote the Community to enrich lives)

2018

2018 was a very different world to when William Bendlowe set up several village charities in 1573. Times have changed dramatically and we feel that the best way for Bendlowe’s to serve the villagers is for the charity to promote The Community by organising and encouraging people to meet and socialise. Many benefits come from people knowing their neighbours including vulnerable people feeling less vulnerable, lonely people feeling less lonely or isolated and some people feeling less depressed as they have somewhere to go and look forward to.

With this objective in mind we have been promoting the William Bendlowe’s charity as People Working For People as we feel these four words demonstrate our motive which is to enrich people’s lives and not to make a profit. We feel that the charity is very fortunate in being able to cater for the minority as well as the majority. During our events I have heard someone say:-

“well it beats sitting at home on your own”

“now when walking round the village I recognise people and stop for a chat”

“I now visit so and so to play my musical instrument with them”.

So it is not just the event people enjoy it is the “knock on” effects. Even when people attend an event which is not really their “thing”, the knock on effect of them being there is that someone else enjoys talking to them!

The main event we organise to achieve our objective is Meet & Greet held at Shalford Village Hall on every first Friday of the month. Approximately 25 to 30 people now attend and enjoy lunch of sandwiches, savouries, cakes, tea and coffee. Some people just talk whilst others play board games such as scrabble, card games, dominoes etc. It is run from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. and we are very relaxed regarding people from other villages joining us as William Bendlowe himself set up charities for various local villages. We are also very relaxed about the age of people joining us as we feel that it has many benefits for the various ages to interact. We do not charge for Meet & Greet which has now been going for just over a year, although there is a donation box for a small contribution to pay for the food as we aim to run this event at break-even in order for us to continue it indefinitely.

We are also arranging other events throughout the year which, again, we aim to run at break-even. We do run one or two fund raising events in order to raise sufficient funds to pay for the charity’s running costs. Please see the events’ page on the website for a list of our other events or contact myself Alice 07850 264518 or Sally 07785 235000.

The old adage “united we stand, divided we fall”, is still very true; so let’s have a United Community in Shalford.

PEOPLE WORKING FOR PEOPLE

It’s good to talk