Six Centuries of Community Benefit
Founded in 1494 via a £20 bequest, Haslingfield United Charities now combines a number of historic charities. We provide grants to assist the schools of Haslingfield, All Saints Church, and individual residents who need help with educational equipment or activities or to relieve hardship.
About our charities
The Church Charity was founded in 1896, but there was already a “clock lands” charity which received income from harvesting reeds at Clock Holt, on the River Rhee between Haslingfield and Harston. The Church Charity provides funds for the maintenance and repair of the Parish Church of Haslingfield, excluding the Chancel, but including the Church Clock.
The Charity was recently pleased to provide a sum to correct the timing of the church clock - it now tolls at the correct times!
Haslingfield United Charities is the owner of the school grounds and the attached schoolhouse. We no longer manage the school property, as that is the responsibility of the County Council, but we do still receive income from the rental of the house. From this income, as well as the income from the existing bequests, we have been able to help the school with many projects, including:
a new Special Educational Needs Room, which enables students to be supported with their individual targets and access learning in line with their peers but in a more accessible way, benefiting both the students with additional needs and the students in the main classroom;
a new playground surface for the Infants section;
a new reading scheme;
support for school outings.
In addition to our support for the school, we can also provide some grants to support the education of young people under 25 who are residents of the village, including for supplies/books etc. for apprenticeships. Apply through the form below or by writing to the charity clerk: clerk@haslingfielduc.co.uk
Made up of a variety of historic and recent bequests, our community fund can be applied to by individual residents or community groups to support educational goals, relieve hardship, or support projects which supply community benefit. Apply through the form below or by writing to the charity clerk: clerk@haslingfielduc.co.uk
Who
we are
The Trustees of Haslingfield United Charities include two school governors, a Parish Council member, a member of Cambridge University, and the vicar or other representative of All Saints Church. Additional Trustees are volunteers from our community. We recently lost our chair, John Offord, who served as the chair from 2020-2024, and would welcome new Trustees. Express your interest by writing to the clerk, Mark Woodall: clerk@haslingfielduc.co.uk.
Our History
The story of Haslingfield United Charities can be traced back to Tudor times. We don’t know the full origin of all of the charity’s historical holdings, but we know some facts:
1494-1674: Bequests from William Skelman (£20 to the village “for times of great need”), vicar Richard Harrington (gift of 3s 4d each (17p in today’s money) to “twelve poor folk”), Thomas Wendy (£20 per annum for the poor from the income of the “town house” located in the middle of the village), Simon Ertman (£400 for the maintenance of a school teacher “to teach the poor children from time to time”), and, on Sir Thomas Wendy’s death, £5 per year for repairs to the Church.
1820’s - 1830: Haslingfield’s three schools - the Simon Ertman school, an infant’s preparatory and a Sunday School - merge with the National Schools Society. A new school house and classrooms are built on land donated by the Earl de la Warr, with vicar William Clark donating £200 towards the cost of the new buildings. School records show there were 80 pupils at the school, 2/3 of whom were girls.
1864: The 5 village charities (the William Skelman, Simon Ertman, Sir Thomas Wendy, Charity Schools and Clock Lands charities) are brought together under one set of trustees, with joint income to be divided between the school, the church and the poor in defined proportions.
1870 - 1906: The village grows and the Charities become wealthy from the excavation and sale of coprolites from farm lands they own. In 1879 they construct a new school house and buildings - Haslingfield Primary School still uses some of these buildings and the Charity still owns the land. In 1896 the Church Charity and the Poor Charity are separated out and in 1898 the Charities are renamed the Haslingfield United Charities in a scheme authorised by the Charity Commissioners.
By the end of the 19th century, coprolite production declined and the Charity sold much of its property to continue to finance its activities. Throughout the 20th and into the 21st Century, the charity has continued to receive bequests from residents and through their generosity, has been able to continue to support education, the Church and those in need of support in the Parish.
Apply for an educational, community or hardship grant
You can use this form as a preliminary application, as an individual resident or community group in Haslingfield, for one of our grants. See the grant descriptions in the Our Charities section above for information about the kind of things we can fund. Our clerk, Mark Woodall, will reply with the appropriate form for your further application. You can also apply by emailing Mark at clerk@haslingfielduc.co.uk.
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