A small set of papers, freely available.
We share what we have learned in three centuries of almshouse work. The papers below are downloadable as PDFs; printed copies are available on request from the Beatrice Street office. We do not collect contact details to release them — though you are welcome to subscribe to the quarterly dispatch.
Residents & befrienders
Residents' Welcome Handbook (2026 edition)
For new and prospective residents. Practical information about the cottages, the coal allowance, the library, and how to ask for things you need.
Hearth & Hand Befrienders' Handbook
A guide for our fourteen befrienders, including safeguarding, confidentiality, the visit-cycle, and Reverend Gibbons's quiet rules of conversation.
Garden Volunteers' Notes
Thomas's seasonal notes on the walled garden — what to do, when, and what to do if you can't get there.
Trustees, sector colleagues & donors
Annual Report 2024/25 — summary
The trustees' eight-page summary of the year to 31 March 2025. Income £63,708, expenditure £134,089, two new residents, one roof appeal opened.
Almshouse Allocation Policy
Our process for filling vacancies, including the panel, the priorities under the 1979 Scheme, and the timescales we work to.
Safeguarding Policy
How we keep residents and volunteers safe, in plain English. Reviewed quinquennially; last reviewed January 2024.
Complaints & Concerns Procedure
How to raise a concern, and what to expect from us. Includes the right of appeal to the Almshouse Association and the Charity Commission.
Conservation & Repair Notes
Paul Shevlin's working notes on the listed-building requirements at Eure's Row and Smale's Cottages, with photographs and references.
Quarterly dispatches
Our quarterly dispatch is posted at Lady Day, Midsummer, Michaelmas and Christmas. A small back-catalogue is available; the rest is in the office at Beatrice Street.
Dispatch · Christmas 2025
A short letter on the roof appeal, the Christmas coal delivery, and a list of the year's library borrowings.
Dispatch · Michaelmas 2025
The long flower border at its peak; an account of the trustees' away-day in Welshpool.
Dispatch · Midsummer 2025
The midsummer tea for befrienders; a small reflection on what we have learned in seven years of Hearth & Hand.
Dispatch · Lady Day 2025
A welcome to two new residents; a note from the library walker.
Sister trusts are welcome to adapt any of our policy resources for their own use. We ask only that a note of credit be retained, and that you write to tell us how you've changed them — we always learn from how others see our papers.