Charity Overview

Chester Municipal Charities is a charitable trust which offers financial support to various organisations and individuals in the Chester area.

The three main sections which make up Chester Municipal Charities are the Almshouse subcommittee, which provides housing for local poor persons of good character, and the Relief in Need subcommittee and the Education subcommittee, which are both grant giving sections.
 

Almshouses 

The charity’s almshouses are located at Bluecoat Square, off Upper Northgate Street in Chester, (at the back of the old Bluecoat School). The charity has fifteen almshouses, and the construction of a sixteenth almshouse is currently underway. The charity deed states that in order to qualify for residence, Almspeople must be 'poor persons of good character'. Any vacancy that may arise in the almshouses is advertised in the local papers, and prospective Almspeople must produce sufficient testimonials and other evidence of their qualification for appointment, and be willing to attend an interview with the trustees. If no almshouses are currently available, it is still be possible for potential applicants to contact the charity office and asked to be placed on a waiting list, in order for them to be automatically considered for residency, should a vacancy arise in future.

Educational Grants

 
The Education subcommittee provides grants to individual young people under the age of 25 years who are attending or have attended a school in Chester and who are Chester residents, in order to help with their education. Grants may come in the form of bursaries/grants paid directly to schools/colleges/universities, or in help to meet the cost of travel expenses or the purchase of equipment etc.

Grants may also be awarded to educational institutions, or to organisations which seek to promote the education, training, social and civic development of people under the age of twenty five who are from the Chester area.

Relief in Need Grants

Funding from the Relief in Need subcommittee is available to all bona fide residents of Chester, for the purpose of relieving, either generally or individually, persons who are in conditions of 'need, hardship or distress'. Grants of money towards general living expenses are occasionally awarded, but it is more usual for the trustees to fund the purchase of specific items, e.g. white goods, furniture, fees for adult education courses etc.

The Relief in Need Charity may also award funding to other charities, institutions, and organisations which also provide goods or services to local people in need.

Applications

Individual applications to both the Relief in Need and Education subcommittees are considered on a case by case basis by the trustees, following the submission of an application form and a covering letter, detailing the applicant’s circumstances and needs. Awards are granted according to the applicant's level of need, usually following a visit to the applicant by one of the charity trustees.

Applications from other local charities and organisations should be submitted as a written proposal, detailing the objectives of the organisation, an overview of the people using that organisation (numbers and age range of users, and where they tend to come from, as well as any specific needs), the amount of funding required, and how the grant will be used. Once a proposal is received, a small subcommittee of usually two or three trustees will visit the organisation in order to discuss their proposal in detail. This subcommittee will then submit a recommendation for funding to the main board of trustees, who will make a decision accordingly.