About Us |
Harborne Parish Lands Charity is a friendly local charity where community involvement is valued. Our work is to help people who are in need and who live in the ancient parish of Harborne. To do this well we have to have strong links with the area which we serve. The charity has dedicated staff and trustees who are committed to giving a professional service with the minimum of fuss.
HISTORY
HPLC has a long history. Its Trustees were mentioned in 1640 but it has endowments which are older, one dating from the will of Mrs Elizabeth Cowper (formerly Piddock) written in 1576. For its first two hundred years the charity acted as a grant making trust only, but by 1786 it was also providing almshouses for “paupers” who lived in them rent free.
The income of the charity came from rent and even today an important element of the charity’s income remains rent from commercial properties.
The charity has no religious affiliation, its name refers to the geographical area of the Ancient Parish of Harborne. Nowadays the ancient parish has been replaced by 12 parishes which cover Harborne, Smethwick and parts of Quinton and Bearwood. The parish is almost equally divided between Sandwell and Birmingham, to see a map of the parish
click here
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OUR ORGANISATION
The Charity is a trust managed in accordance with Schemes of the Charity Commission, registration number 219031. The trust is registered as a Housing Association with the Homes and Communities Agency under number A2993.
We provide two main services
a) Social housing for older people, vulnerable people or those with restricted mobility.
b) Grants to individuals in need or organisations helping individuals.
COMPLAINTS POLICY
To view our complaints policy
click here
TRUSTEES
There are 10 trustees positions, two of whom are usually nominated by Birmingham City Council and two by Sandwell MBC, two of whom are currently being recruited. They meet 5 times a year, including twice for grant making. In addition there are several committees. These are:
Almshouses committee (concerned with the social housing)
Finance & Audit committee
Charitable Activities committee (concerned with grant making and Grant Strategy)
Property committee
The Trustees are:
David Jeffery (Chairperson)
Buddhi Chetiyawardana
Geoff Hewitt
Pat Leadbeater
Rachel Silber
Vic Silvester
Nigel Thompson
Frank Wayt
STAFF
Six members of staff are based in the head office and five work from the housing schemes themselves. They are:
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Chief Executive
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Steven Simpson
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Finance Manager
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Nick Wallace
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Finance Officer
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Justyna Puczylowska
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Housing Manager
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Carolyn Arnold
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Information & Policy Officer
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Gill Rigby
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Senior Building Manager
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Tony Whitehouse
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Building Manager
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Max Bashir
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Building Manager
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Kevin James
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Support Officer
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Dyan O'Garro
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Grants Officer
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Peter Hardisty
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