Twelve neighbours, fourteen befrienders, six gardeners, eight trustees.
We are not a large charity. The numbers below describe the entirety of our reach — and we are at peace with that. A small thing done well, for a very long time, is what the Eure and Smale Charity has set itself to.
The neighbours we house
We house twelve people in ten dwellings. Three of the cottages are designed for couples; the rest are single-occupancy. Two of our current residents are clergy widows; two are former agricultural workers; one is a retired teacher; one is a retired district nurse; the remainder come from the small trades and shopkeeping that have always made up the working life of Oswestry.
Six of the twelve grew up in Oswestry itself; four are from villages within ten miles (Trefonen, Llanymynech, Whittington, Hengoed); two came to us from Welshpool and from Wem, but had relatives in the parish. In the last decade we have housed twenty-two individuals; the average length of residency has been just over nine years.
“It is the smallness of the place that I love. Twelve people, all known by name. I have not been known by name in any housing I have lived in for thirty years.” — Margaret, 81, Smale's Cottages
The places we touch
Our area of benefit is the former Oswestry Borough — today held within Shropshire Council's unitary authority. Within that area, our work spreads outwards through the volunteers and partners who carry it. Befrienders travel in from Gobowen, Trefonen, Whittington and Treflach. Garden volunteers come in from Llanymynech and Weston Rhyn. Library books are gathered from across the town. The coal merchant drives from his yard near Hengoed.
The numbers, set out plainly
| Indicator | This year | Five-year average |
|---|---|---|
| Residents in residence | 12 | 11.6 |
| Average resident age | 78 | 77.4 |
| Average length of residency | 9.2 yrs | 8.7 yrs |
| Vacancies filled | 2 | 1.8 |
| Befrienders | 14 | 12.4 |
| Garden volunteers | 6 | 5.6 |
| Coal deliveries | 24 | 24 |
| Library books circulated | 314 | 286 |
The partners who carry the work
We do not do this work alone. The partners listed below are organisations and individuals with whom we have a sustained working relationship; some have been with us for half a century.
- St Oswald's Parish Church — our historic clerical link and the host of our quarterly trustee meetings.
- Holy Trinity, Oswestry — second parish of the original endowments, source of one of our trustees.
- The Almshouse Association — sectoral body offering training, model policies, and a sympathetic ear.
- Shropshire Council — adult social care contact, listed-buildings advice, and electoral roll updates.
- Severn Hospice — palliative care for residents who choose end-of-life care at home.
- Age UK Shropshire Telford & Wrekin — befriending best-practice and safeguarding training.
- Citizens Advice Shropshire — benefits guidance for residents, by referral.
- Qube Oswestry — community arts and well-being partner for occasional craft afternoons.
If you represent a Shropshire organisation and would like to talk about how we might work together — particularly on housing, ageing well, or buildings conservation — please write to our partnerships page or to the trustees direct at Beatrice Street.
How impact reaches further than twelve doorways
We are sometimes asked whether the trust ought to grow — to take on more dwellings, or to widen its remit. We do not think it should. The original endowments and the 1979 Scheme are clear about our purpose, and we serve that purpose more carefully than we could serve a larger one.
What we hope, instead, is that the work travels by example. Our practices — small, slow, accountable — have been adopted in part by a Shrewsbury almshouse trust and a Welshpool foundation; we share our policies freely with anyone who asks. If quietness is contagious, we are happy to spread it.