The Village Charities.

The Parish of East Farndon (as opposed to the Ecclesiastic Parish) has three Charitable Trusts. Their purpose was enshrined in a Charities Act Scheme of 1915 and this was re-affirmed in an updated scheme in August 1991.

In 1915 the three named Trusts - ANN BROWN; MARGARET HALFORD and RANDOLPH MIDDLEMORE - were amalgamated under the title "The United Charities of East Farndon" and continue to this day registered under that title.

Income is derived from investment interest in shares in the Charity Commission Common Fund and from land rent from the acreage owned by the Village. A typical yearly income is about £1600.00 with expenditure nearly always matching this figure.

But the Charitable Trusts go back long before 1915.

The oldest is the MARGARET HALFORD CHARITY-which was established in 1640. Margaret Halford was the widow of Daniel Halford, Rector of East Farndon from 1588 to 1622. This Charity came into being through a grazing rights bequest on Common Land in the Parish of Mowsley. The original sum of £1 was increased in 1705 when Mr Charles Carter added a further £20. When the Enclosure Act came into being in 1781 the "rights" were consolidated into an appropriate acreage and a field was created. This field continued to provide income until it was sold in the 1990s and HADDON'S FIELD was purchased in East Farndon Parish. The proceeds were to be used for providing coal for the poorer residents of the village.

The next charity - THE RANDOLPH MIDDLEMORE CHARITY- was established in 1701.  Randolph Middlemore was Lord of the Manor of East Farndon.The bequest this time, when a little was added by his widow, provided money which was used to buy a cottage on Main Street, East Farndon and an acre of land - known as POORS' LAND - in the village. The upkeep of the cottage became too costly and in 1924 was sold with the proceeds being invested in the Charity Commission Common Fund Stock. The field remains to this day and is often referred to as the ALLOTMENT LAND.(For information the rest of this field is invested in Parish Church ownership!!). The proceeds of this charity were to be used to enable young people to be apprencticed.

The third charity to be set up was ANN BROWN'S CHARITY - established through a bequest in 1871. This bequest, written into the Will, was for a sum of money to be invested in Common Stock - part of the Charity Commissioners Stock funding - with dividends to be used within the Parish of East Farndon.

Over many years, the income or dividends to be used from each Charity fluctuated considerably. However, coal allocations; apprenticeship grants; etc. continued to be given.  The 1915 retitling as "United Charities in the Parish of East Farndon" did not ease the restrictions placed on the administration of the three charities and it became more and more difficult to comply with the Trust Deeds.

With the advent of the 1985 Charities Act the Charity Commissioners finally permitted a re-drafting of Resolutions pertaining to the United Charities. In August 1991 a new Resolution was granted allowing income to be administered in accordance with the pre-1915 Resolutions but without the rigidity and inflexibility that had constrained the Trustees previously. The original aims established in 1640; 1707 and 1871 continue to be met but with the amalgamated income from the three charities - thus making them far more relevant in today's climate. Few people today burn coal and apprencticeships are almost a thing of the past.

Therefore the current Trustees look forward to residents in the village of East Farndon benefiting as appropriate for many years to come.

Lastly, the Charity Aims set out in 1915 and then again in 1991 state that they shall be used for :-

"general and/or Individual persons resident in the Parish of East Farndon ………to assist in ……conditions of need; hardship; distress  ….……by making grants or paying for services; items; etc. ……………..".