Frances Ashton Charity Grant

Who we are:

The Charity has its origin in the Will dated 30 March 1727 of Mrs Frances Ashton, under which she left a sum to be applied to assist poor clergymen and their widows. Under various schemes issued by the Charity Commissioners, the first in 1848 and further variations subsequently, the provisions for the clergy are now expressed to be for the benefit of clergy - both men and women - of the Church of England and their widows and widowers.

Because the Charity’s funds are limited the trustees provide one-off grants to meet the urgent needs of qualifying individuals who apply for help.

Frances Ashton Charity – help for serving and retired members of the Clergy of the Church of England or the widows/widowers thereof

The Frances Ashton Charity supports serving or retired members of the Church of England clergy or the widows/widowers thereof who are in need. Frances Ashton Charity Trustees are working to identify potential candidates for their support.

The Frances Ashton Charity trustees will consider almost any kind of financial hardship for support so long as the applicant is a serving or retired member of the Church of England clergy or the widow/widower thereof. There are only a few exceptions.

Please read the enclosed description of the grant programme to find out more about how the Frances Ashton Charity is able to help.

What does this mean?

If you think you know someone who may benefit from the support of the Frances Ashton Charity, please contact us for advice and an application form.

How to complete the form

The application form is mainly for completion by the applicant.

Deadlines

What happens after your application is submitted

Decisions Ongoing

Urgent applications 1 month turn

around or less.

Where the applicant has an exceptional and urgent need, the trustees will consider applications quickly and at any time. Please discuss your application with us before you apply. The trustees are willing to consider a grant for almost any purpose which is causing financial hardship. For example, we could help with:

• The cost of a new pair of glasses
• A respite care break or (exceptionally) a family holiday where urgent need can be shown
• Replacement household items in cases where parish or diocesan assistance is not available Particular priorities for support include unforeseeable emergencies, medical or care needs for the applicant or his/her dependants. The trustees will take into account individual circumstances, including level of disposable income and savings. Applicants should bear in mind that the trustees will not support regularly occurring expenditure and will only in exceptional cases make grants in consecutive years. They will also not support
• Reimbursement of costs already spent
• Loan or debt repayments
• Educational costs, save in exceptional cases