Whitgift Foundation
| Founded | 1596 |
|---|---|
| Founder | John Whitgift |
| Type | Charitable Trust |
| Focus | Education and Care |
| Location | |
| Website | http://www.whitgiftfoundation.co.uk/ |
The Whitgift Foundation is a charity based in Croydon, South London, England. The purpose of the charity is to provide education for the young and care for the elderly.
The main activities of the charity are the operation of three independent schools, providing sheltered accommodation and nursing care through three care homes and running the Carer's Information Service. In addition, the charity provides bursaries and scholarships in excess of £5million a year.
The foundation is governed by a Court of Governors, including the Bishop of Croydon; the Vicar of Croydon; and nominees of the Archbishop of Canterbury and Croydon Council.[1]
History
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The Whitgift Foundation was founded in 1596 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, John Whitgift. His aims were to provide care for the elderly and education for the young.
Originally three separate buildings were built, The Hospital of Holy Trinity (now known as The Almshouses), The School House and Schoolmaster’s House. The latter two were demolished in 1897, leaving the Almshouses as the only remaining original building. The Whitgift Centre, a large shopping mall, now stands where the later Victorian school and surrounding buildings and sports fields were. These buildings were occupied in turn by Whitgift School, prior to its move to south Croydon in 1931, and then by Trinity School, prior to its move to Shirley Park.
Present day
More than 420 years later The Foundation supports 47% of 3200 current students at its three independent day schools through generous means-tested bursaries and scholarships amounting to over £5million a year and offers a range of care needs from sheltered accommodation to full nursing care at its three care homes.
Schools
The Whitgift Foundation runs three independent day schools:
- Whitgift School For boys aged 10–19 years
- Trinity School of John Whitgift For boys aged 10–19 years with a co-educational sixth form
- Old Palace School|Old Palace of John Whitgift School incorporating Old Palace Nursery a co-educational Day Nursery for both boys and girls up to 4 years and Old Palace of John Whitgift School for girls aged 4 to 19 years.
John Whitgift Academy, in Grimsby is named after John Whitgift, but is not part of the Whitgift Foundation
Care homes
Whitgift Care is an integral part of The Whitgift Foundation and has been since John Whitgift, The Archbishop of Canterbury, laid his founding stone more than 400 years ago at The Hospital of the Holy Trinity, now known as the Whitgift Almshouses.
The Foundation offers a range of care services at Whitgift Care including respite, residential, nursing and day care for elderly people in Croydon in their three care settings, Whitgift House, Wilhelmina House and the Whitgift Almshouses.
Carer's information service
The Carers Information Service became part of The Whitgift Foundation in 1997. It provides information, advice and support to an estimated 34,000 unpaid carers in Croydon. A carer looks after a family member, friend or neighbour who needs help due to illness, disability or old age.
Other activities
Amongst their properties in Croydon, The Whitgift Foundation is the freehold owners of the Whitgift Shopping Centre located in the heart of Croydon’s town centre.
This area of land in between Wellesley Road and North End was once occupied by Whitgift Middle School and in 1954 re-named Trinity School of John Whitgift. To make way for the development of the Whitgift Centre, allowing Croydon to become a major retail and economic hub for South London, the school moved to its present site at Shirley Park in 1965. Today, the Whitgift Centre is one of the largest shopping centres in the UK and the Foundation remains committed to the well-being of Croydon’s future.
In recent years, the Foundation has worked closely with and supported the Croydon Partnership (Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield and Hammerson) and its aspirations to develop a state-of-the-art retail, leisure and restaurant destination in Croydon, bringing with it hundreds of new homes and thousands of jobs.
Mayor of London, Sadiq Kahn, officially approved the Croydon Partnership’s £1.4billion project to regenerate the Whitgift Centre on Monday 8 January 2018.
On 11 June 2018, Croydon Council gave the green light for the Whitgift Centre redevelopment. This approval has implications for the Foundation as the income from its investment holdings and wider property portfolio, including the freehold ownership of the Whitgift Centre, is crucial for its charitable objectives which help thousands of people in Croydon every day.
Clerk to The Whiftgift Foundation
The current Clerk is Martin Corney since 2009 when he took over from Raymond Smith who had held the post for twenty-one years.
Governors of The Whiftgift Foundation
Current
- Christopher Houlding, Chartered FCSI
- Ian Harley MA FCA FCIB
- Geoff Wright TD DL PPCIOB
- Dudley Mead MBE FCCA
- David Hudson MA
- Nita Clarke Viscountess Stansgate OBE MA
- Pauline Davies BSc Med
- The Rt Revd Jonathan Clark, Bishop of Croydon
- Michael Proudfoot MA MLitt
- Dean Sutton JP FRICS
- David Seymour CB
- Anand Mehta FRCP
- Asif Patel, ACA, MSc
- The Revd Canon Dr Andrew Bishop
Past
- Peter Bowness
- Cllr Toni Letts OBE
- His Honour William Barnett QC
References
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