Hever Parochial Charities

Hever Parochial Charities is a Trust, formed from a number of bequests, which were left to the Parish in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, chiefly to help the poor of the Parish. They were amalgamated as a united charity by statute in 1896 and consist mainly of parcels of land from which small amounts of rent are received. Recently, however, the Trustees agreed to sell a field in Lingfield thereby releasing capital to provide a modest increase in the Charities' income. It is anticipated that by 2006 an income of at least £500 per annum will be achieved, although it is the present policy of the Trustees to save at least half the income received each year to preserve the value of the Charities' capital against the ravages of inflation.

The Trustees are the Rector of Hever and the Vicar of Four Elms - presently the same person - (ex officio) and the ten elected members of Hever Parish Council, although one Councillor (Dr Tim Boyle) is responsible for the day-to-day supervision of the funds. The Clerk to the Council (Mrs Ann Bellamy) is Secretary to the Trustees.

The Charities' Statutes declare that the Trustees may give assistance to apprentices and to the poor of the Parish of Hever, but in the circumstances of the twenty-first century such are hard to find (which is not to say that they do not exist). Under guidelines issued by the Charity Commissioners in 2003 the Trustees may interpret the terms 'apprentice' and 'poor' more widely than literally and, accordingly, the Trustees will now consider applications for help from any permanent resident of the Parish who is engaged in education or is suffering hardship. For example, the Trustees would consider making grants to young people to help towards the cost of educational visits or buying a computer or a musical instrument and to the sick or handicapped, who could not otherwise afford it, to help to purchase special medical equipment or receive special medical treatment where this cannot be provided from official sources such as the NHS or Social Services.

Anybody seeking assistance should write in the first instance to the Secretary (Mrs Bellamy - for details of address etc, see under Councillors) stating their request and giving a description of their circumstances. All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence and will normally be considered by a small sub-committee of the Trustees who will then report to the Trustees as a body. The Trustees' discussions of requests for assistance will not be open to the public.

It has to be noted that no new request can be considered before January, 2006 and that, on account of the limited resources currently available, any grant made at this time can perforce only be small, £100 at most.