Reg. Charity. No. 204053
Pitstone Town Lands Charity provides financial support to people who need help in our community. We offer grants to individual Pitstone residents, as well as local organisations who provide valuable services to them.
- The Charity makes individual grants to local people who need financial support. Grants include the cost of transport to hospital or job interviews, support for further education or training (including books), as well as bereavement grants towards funeral costs.
- We regard people of pensionable age as among those most in need. We assist with grants for glasses, dental care and chiropody. The charity does not make regular payments or fund a higher level of service than considered necessary by the NHS or other statutory services.
Pitstone Town Lands Charity has been helping residents of Pitstone since 1422. Years ago, settlements that were larger than a hamlet or with a church, used to be called a town. That’s why today villages often have a Town Farm or Town Hall and, like Pitstone, may have Town Land Charities. These charities owned strips of land that were used for the benefit of needy inhabitants in the town.
Back in 1422, PTLC owned two acres of arable land. Then in 1625, documents held in the Buckinghamshire County Archive, showed the charity also owned a cottage, barn, garden and an orchard. During the 19th century the charity’s assets fell into disrepair. Its buildings were only fit for housing ducks and in a sixty-year period it only earned £10 in rent.
In 1912, PTLC was revamped, and the Charity Commission approved a new scheme allowing the charity to use funds for nursing tasks and associated travel costs. This operated until 1968, when the current scheme was adopted to widen the scope of benefits which the charity could offer.
Today, PTLC owns four flats for rent to tenants with a strong Pitstone connection, two large fields used for agricultural purposes, and a 6-acre field rented by residents to keep their horses. The charity also receives dividends and interest from investments. We report our annual accounts to the Charity Commission, and these can be viewed on the Commission’s website.
If you or someone you know needs help, please contact Gill Lowe (Chair of PTLC Trustees) in confidence on 01296 668809 or gill.lowe@pitstone.email
Pitstone Town Lands Charity Trustees:
Gill Lowe (Chair) gill.lowe@pitstone.email
Tracy Fuentes (Treasurer) tracy.fuentes@pitstone.email
Kate Smethers kate.smethers@pitstone.email
Sue Gregory sue.gregory@pitstone.email
Mark Robinson mark.robinson@pitstone.email
Alasdair Russell alasdair.russell@pitstone.email
Eric McCashey eric.mccashey@pitstone.email
December 2024