Almshouse residents met for a party to celebrate the 75th birthday of a group which helps make this special form of affordable housing possible.
The Almshouse Association, based at Billingbear Lodge, Maidenhead Road, Wokingham, helps more than 1,600 independent charities that run almshouses for about 36,000 residents across the UK. It started in London in 1946.
The association says: “Dating back to the 10th Century, almshouses are the oldest form of social housing; they are held in trust by local people for local people in perpetuity, generation after generation.”
Hurst Consolidated Charity is one of the charities. It runs the Harrison Almshouses in Twyford, the William Barker Almshouses in Church Hill, Hurst, and seven in Hinton Road, Hurst, includingh four 1960s almhouses, and three new homes.
The new Richard Bigg Almshouses have just been inspected for an award scheme in which Prince Charles is the final judge.
Residents of the Twyford and Hurst homes met on Sunday at Church Hill to celebrate the national association’s birthday.
Hurst Consolidated Charity chair John Edwards said: “This milestone gives us, as an almshouse charity, an opportunity to celebrate our achievements with our local communities and help us raise the awareness of the very important role our almshouses play in society today.”
The association represented almshouse charities and helped them manage resources effectively. It helped the charity provide good quality, ‘micro-community’ housing. “They also help to promote the welfare and independence of our residents and assist with the preservation of our almshouses for future generations,” he added.
The Hurst charity can make their housing affordable and keep the homes up to date through its investments. Solar panels on the new almshouses bring in £5,000 a year.
Church Hill resident Steve Williams, 68, who works in quality control at Intersurgical, Wokingham, said: “There are such nice friendly people here. We all help each other out when it’s needed.”
Brian Eke, 86, a Twyford resident said: “It’s the best place to live in Twyford. We’re right opposite the shops.” His neighbour Tony Dormer, 69, said: “it’s a friendly, very lovely place to live.”
Jacqui Watts, 67, a community first responder with the ambulance service, had high praise for her new Richard Bigg almshouse, saying: “I’ve got a good sized bedroom, a fab wet room [bathroom] and a lovely kitchen living room at the
back. It’s a nice community here.”
She praised Clerk to the Trustees Lorraine Gladdish for her “absolutely brilliant” work, including dealing with any maintenance problems.
Villager Emma Vaughan made the birthday cake shared among guests.
