Our Chair of Trustees Roger Musson was pleased to welcome Nick Phillips and Paul Latham to Caleb Lovejoy Almshouses on 23rd May. Nick is the Chief Executive of the Almshouse Association and Paul is the Director of Communications and Policy at the Charity Commission. The aim of the visit was to enable Paul to see the impact of the unique almshouse charity model and to ensure its continued viability against a background of increased regulatory requirements. Caleb Lovejoy’s Almshouse was selected as only 1 of 2 in the country to be shown (the other being Abbots Hospital in Guildford), and was said to be representative of the majority of almshouses in having 10 or fewer residents.
Paul and Nick met with two of our residents and were kindly shown their cottages where we discussed the long history and impact of the almshouse movement. After viewing the cottages we further discussed the history of our charity in the Loseley Chapel at St Nicolas Church. This was the perfect setting to discuss the historic links between our charity, the church and the More-Molyneux family. Caleb Lovejoy, our founder, attended St Nicolas and the More-Molyneux family have long been involved in the charity. Currently Michael More-Molyneux acts as our patron and previously acted as a Trustee.
Over 1,000 years since the first recorded almshouse was founded by King Athelstan in York in the 10th century, we hope that with the right support almshouse charities will be able to continue to serve communities for the foreseeable future.
Photo left to right: Paul Latham, Nick Phillips, one of the residents and Roger Musson (Chair of Trustees)
