Four neighbours who keep the dole's small work running alongside us.
All four are local. None of them take a fee from JOHN WILLIAM FOSTER. We do not take fees from them. The arrangements are unwritten and have lasted for decades.
We are small enough that 'partnerships' is, frankly, a slightly large word for what we have. What we have are four steady neighbouring organisations in the upper-Ribblesdale area, each of which the trustees lean on at different moments of the year. We list them here, with a short note on what each one does for us, in the order in which we tend to turn to them.
St Oswald's Church
Our home parish church. Hosts our quarterly trustees' meetings in the vestry; the annual carol service; the original parish papers in which the bequest first appears. Vicar · The Revd Sarah Lighton.
Horton-in-Ribblesdale Parish Council
The civic body of the parish. Helps us reach households we might otherwise miss; quietly hosts our Open Trustees' Afternoon in February. Clerk · Mrs E. Coates.
Bowland Deanery
The deanery within the Diocese of Leeds. A useful sounding board on governance and the church-charity boundary. Area Dean office hours are at Long Preston.
Settle Community Hub
Our nearest community-advice centre. Hosts the area's monthly social-prescribing surgery. We refer onward when the help required is beyond our small remit.
How we work with each
None of these relationships are governed by a memorandum of understanding. None of them have a service-level agreement. None of them have ever had a written agreement at all. They work because the people involved have known each other for years, sit in the same parish hall once a quarter, and trust each other to do what they said they would do.
We mention this because it is unusual, and because the Charity Commission's guidance encourages charities to be clearer about their partnerships than this. We have looked at writing things down. We have decided, repeatedly, that doing so would solve a problem we do not have, and would risk replacing trust with paperwork.
Where you might fit
If you are part of another small parish or community organisation in the upper-Ribblesdale area — Stainforth, Langcliffe, Settle, Long Preston, Hellifield — and your work touches our recipients, the trustees would be glad to hear from you. We do not offer grants. We do not exchange data. We do exchange knowledge of need where the recipient has agreed, and we are content to point neighbours towards your work where it fits.
If you are a national charity, a corporate partner, or a fundraising agency, please understand from the figures on this site that we are not the right size for what you offer. We are flattered to be asked. We will write back politely. We will not, however, sign a partnership agreement that would cost the parish more than it would gain.
Write to the trustees.
We will discuss your enquiry at our next quarterly meeting and write back within a fortnight.