What we are, what we do …
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(A short) history. Earliest records, around 1620. Key date 1667.
In past centuries many better-off citizens left provision in their Wills for the local poor. Often this was in the form of an asset that was to be preserved - left intact - but used to generate income. Many of these 'permanent endowments' have grown considerably over time, meaning that with careful stewardship and management, such charities can operate indefinitely.
Today’s Walcot Foundation is made up of four charities – two bearing the name Walcot after our principal benefactor. Three of these are permanently endowed. The Hayle's Charity subsumed many smaller charities - a fascinating list you can see below.
The Walcot Charity and Foundation
Edmund Walcot is our principal benefactor. By his Will of 1667 he left land in what is today North Lambeth to generate money for the relief of the local poor. The charity rightly bears his name as a record of his generosity, and has existed for more than three hundred and fifty years for the benefit of Lambeth people.
The Hayle's Charity
The Hayle's Charity gained its name rather by accident. A parcel of land was purchased by the parish of St Mary Lambeth for the sum of £300, and the income from it used for the poor of the parish. That had been made possible using surplus monies raised by public subscription at the time of the Restoration for making improvements to the churchyard and Church Street (now Lambeth Road). The land was bought from Robert Hayle, a citizen and haberdasher of London, and Ann his wife. They sold it at the (then) current market value, and by historical accident have had their names remembered by posterity.
Lady Cynthia Charity
In 2009 the Foundation agreed to a request from Lambeth Council to take over its trusteeship of this 20th century charity. Originally it funded the work of a Lambeth day nursery established for children from poorer homes. It brought with it a small permanent endowment now used to generate income for our wider charitable activity.
Today’s Walcot Foundation is made up of four charities – two bearing the name Walcot after our principal benefactor. Three of these are permanently endowed. The Hayle's Charity subsumed many smaller charities - a fascinating list you can see below.
The Walcot Charity and Foundation
Edmund Walcot is our principal benefactor. By his Will of 1667 he left land in what is today North Lambeth to generate money for the relief of the local poor. The charity rightly bears his name as a record of his generosity, and has existed for more than three hundred and fifty years for the benefit of Lambeth people.
The Hayle's Charity
The Hayle's Charity gained its name rather by accident. A parcel of land was purchased by the parish of St Mary Lambeth for the sum of £300, and the income from it used for the poor of the parish. That had been made possible using surplus monies raised by public subscription at the time of the Restoration for making improvements to the churchyard and Church Street (now Lambeth Road). The land was bought from Robert Hayle, a citizen and haberdasher of London, and Ann his wife. They sold it at the (then) current market value, and by historical accident have had their names remembered by posterity.
Lady Cynthia Charity
In 2009 the Foundation agreed to a request from Lambeth Council to take over its trusteeship of this 20th century charity. Originally it funded the work of a Lambeth day nursery established for children from poorer homes. It brought with it a small permanent endowment now used to generate income for our wider charitable activity.
Administration of the charities
Throughout most of their history and up until the mid 20th century the Walcot and Hayle's charities were administered by the parish of St Mary's Lambeth. Nowadays they are administered by an independent board of trustees known as Governors and a small staff based at the Foundation's offices in Kennington Road, London.
* Over the centuries a number of smaller charities have been subsumed within our remaining charities. They include those of Roger Jeston 1622; Noel Caron 1623; Alice Easton 1640; William Hind 1655; Margaret Oakley 1672; Thomas Rich 1672; John Scaldwell 1678; Thomas Cooper 1695; Jacob Vanderlin 1704; Ralph Snow 1707; Brian Turberville 1718; Countess of Gower 1721; Hayes Fortee's 1783; Jane Wakeling 1786; John Course 1786; Richard Robert 1807; Mary Oakley 1812; Elizabeth Lambert 1814; John Pickton 1821; Grace Fenner 1828; Mary Chapman 1831; Eleanor Dodson 1847; Elizabeth Edridge 1848; Robert Frost 1860; Harry Clapham 1948
Our more recent history
Since 2006 we have evolved our approach, making changes that bring a 21st century perspective to our 17th century purpose of 'the relief of the Lambeth poor'. We focus on helping young people in Lambeth to thrive, with the aim of breaking generational cycles of poverty. We use our grants to create opportunities for those face disadvantage in their lives.
Our Annual Review goes into more detail about our work. Ask us to post you a copy, or see it on our publications page.
OUR COMMUNITY
Responsibility for the work of the Foundation rests with our Board of Governors, acting as charity trustees. The Board meets throughout the year and is supported in its work by three committees (below). Our Governors represent a wide range of skills and experience including education, public administration, property, accountancy, public health and investment. Governors draw on the advice of staff and the expertise of paid and honorary advisers in running the Foundation and setting its direction. more...
Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion
Our mission is rooted in our beliefs. Long term and present injustice and unfair discrimination contribute to poverty, and flow from it. Poverty leads to exclusion from opportunity and from full participation in society.
In all aspects of our work we are determined to treat people fairly, to respect individuals, and to do all we can to address the impact of poverty on modern lives. We also want our Board and our staff team to reflect as far as possible the cultural and ethnic diversity of the borough we serve, as well as providing diversity of thought and experience. For more information, please see our Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion Statement below.
We monitor the diversity of our Governor and Staff team and actively encourage recruitment from under-represented groups through open recruitment processes coupled with targeted promotion. For more information on our recruitment process, please see our Governance page.
Documents
In all aspects of our work we are determined to treat people fairly, to respect individuals, and to do all we can to address the impact of poverty on modern lives. We also want our Board and our staff team to reflect as far as possible the cultural and ethnic diversity of the borough we serve, as well as providing diversity of thought and experience. For more information, please see our Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion Statement below.
We monitor the diversity of our Governor and Staff team and actively encourage recruitment from under-represented groups through open recruitment processes coupled with targeted promotion. For more information on our recruitment process, please see our Governance page.
Documents
Our logo for use by funded organisations
Organisations we fund often wish to reference the fact by carrying our logo in acknowledgement in print or web publications. The image to the right is available in various formats, depending on intended use. Please see below. Note -- to download the file of your choice, right click with your mouse and choose 'save link'. This allows you to save the file on your computer.
GIF — this will lose quality if made too large. File size 6KB
PNG — or Portable Network Graphic — is a raster-based graphic meant for web use.
File size 35KB
EPS — Encapsulated PostScript — is vector-based and best for high quality print use. These files have a transparent background and can be scaled up without loss of quality. Likely to be of use to your printer/graphic designer. File size 1.41MB