One parish, six hamlets, fourteen households, and a great deal of weather.
A short page about where the dole reaches, who supports the work alongside us, and the small numbers underneath it all.
The parish of Horton-in-Ribblesdale lies in the limestone country of the upper Yorkshire Dales, on the Settle-Carlisle line, beneath the broad flat shoulder of Pen-y-ghent. The population at the last census was 428. The parish boundary runs from Helwith Bridge in the south to a point roughly 10.5 km north of the village, taking in the hamlets of Selside, High Birkwith, Brackenbottom and Studfold and the farms scattered between them. That is the whole of our world of work.
This page is the closest thing JOHN WILLIAM FOSTER has to an impact report. The figures are small. They are real. They are the figures we file each year with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, set out here in a slightly more readable form.
Where the envelopes went last winter
Of the fourteen Christmas Dole envelopes written in December 2024, eight went to the village itself, three to the road out to Selside, two to the upper farms around Studfold and Brackenbottom, and one to Helwith Bridge. Eleven were walked to the door by a trustee or a parish helper; three went by the parish post because the recipients were spending the worst of winter with family.
The February Winter Fuel Help reached six of those same households — those the trustees knew to be heating their homes with coal or split logs. Of the six payments, four were paid direct to the coal merchant in Settle and two were sent as cash, with a printed slip explaining the gift.
Who else keeps it going
We do not work alone — we never have. Four small partner organisations sit beside us. None of them takes a fee from JOHN WILLIAM FOSTER, and we do not take fees from any of them.
St Oswald's Church
Our home. The trustees meet four times a year in the parish vestry. The annual carol service is hosted here.
Horton-in-Ribblesdale Parish Council
Helps us reach households we might otherwise miss. Quietly hosts our Open Trustees' Afternoon each February.
Bowland Deanery
The diocesan deanery — a useful sounding board on matters of governance and the church-charity boundary.
Settle Community Hub
Hosts the nearest community-advice surgeries. We refer onward when the help required is beyond our small remit.
The figures, plainly
For the financial year ending 31 December 2024, the most recent set filed with the Charity Commission for England and Wales:
- Total income · £1,038
- Total expenditure · £971
- Distributed as Christmas Dole · £600 across 14 households
- Distributed as Winter Fuel Help · £240 across 6 households
- Audit and other administrative costs · £131
- Net surplus carried forward · £67
Eight previous years of comparable figures are on the annual reports page. The accounts are independently examined; the charity sits well below the audit threshold for small charities. Reporting status with the Charity Commission for England and Wales: up to date.
What it costs to keep this running
Nothing, in any meaningful sense, beyond petrol and stationery. We have no office. We have no paid staff. Our website is small and statically hosted. Our printed materials are run off at the parish hall printer, on a roll of cream stock the trustees club together to buy each Advent. If you donate £15, somewhere between £14 and £15 of it will go directly into an envelope.