Eight Oswestry and Shropshire partners we could not do without.
A small almshouse trust cannot do its work alone. The organisations below — some sectoral, some clerical, some civic — are the quiet network that keeps the Eure and Smale Charity running. We list them with their permission.
St Oswald's Parish Church
Hosts our quarterly meetings. Two trustees serve as clergy.
Holy Trinity, Oswestry
Second parish of the original endowments; source of one trustee.
The Almshouse Association
Sectoral body. Training, model policies, sympathy.
Shropshire Council
Listed-buildings advice, social-care liaison, electoral roll.
Severn Hospice
End-of-life care for residents who choose to remain at home.
Age UK Shropshire Telford & Wrekin
Befriending best practice, safeguarding training.
Citizens Advice Shropshire
Benefits and welfare guidance for residents, by referral.
Qube Oswestry
Community arts partner; occasional craft afternoons.
How partnerships work, at this size
We are a small charity. Our partnerships are correspondingly quiet. They are not large memoranda of understanding; they are, more often, long-standing personal relationships between a trustee and a colleague at the other end of a telephone. Most of them run on three or four meetings a year, a long pot of tea, and the occasional handwritten letter.
We have, as a result, only a few formal rules for partnership. They are:
- Local first. We prioritise partnerships within Oswestry, Shropshire and the borders. Where the work needs national expertise (the Almshouse Association, Historic England), we accept that gladly.
- One person on each side. Each partnership has a named contact on our side and on theirs. We meet quarterly, at minimum, with a face-to-face meeting at least annually.
- No restricted income without restricted purpose. Where a partner offers restricted funding, we accept only if the purpose is one we would otherwise have pursued. We do not chase funding.
- Quiet credit. Where a partner has supported a programme, we name them in our reports. We do not run logo walls or hashtags.
How to propose a partnership
If you represent a Shropshire organisation — particularly one working in housing, ageing well, listed buildings, or community arts — and you'd like to talk, please write below. A trustee will write back within ten working days to suggest a date for a long pot of tea at the Beatrice Street office.