ARLE VALLEY
BENEFICE
EDUCATIONAL
FUND
When the Old Alresford village school was
closed in the late 1980s, part of the proceeds of
sale of the school buildings and site was put into
a trust fund for the Parish. It was established as
the Old Alresford Parish Educational Fund, for
the provision of religious education, according to
the tenets of the Church of England, in the Parish.
For the past 20 years the Trustees have sought
to make use of the Fund for the benefit of the
Parish, but gradually the number of calls on the
Fund has dwindled and the Trustees consider
that the time has come to widen the area of
coverage of the Fund. When approached the
Charity Commission would not countenance the
use of the money for any purpose outside the
original objects of the Fund.
The Trustees have therefore resolved, - and the
Charity Commissioners have said they have no
objection, - that the benefit of the Fund for the
provision of religious education shall be
extended to all four Parishes in the Arle Valley
Benefice of which Old Alresford Parish is part.
The name of the Fund has been changed to the
title at the top of this article and the appointment
of trustees has been changed so that the Rector
of the Benefice is the Chairman and each of the
four Parochial Church Councils will annually
nominate one trustee.
So from May this year the Fund will be open to
all within the four Parishes of the Benefice and
when the new Trustees meet for the first time
they will announce how they will receive applications for financial assistance from the Fund.
FROM STEVE
BRINE MP
Writing for the October/November edition of
Village Voice is my final acceptance that this
incredible summer is behind us and winter is
coming. But before that we have the
splendour of autumn and, as my four yearold said to me last weekend, ‘never mind
Daddy, it will soon be time to write my
Christmas list’!
My wish this year is not too demanding; I just
wa