One
A small sum, on the right day, is a different thing from a large sum, late.
The Trustees meet monthly so that a household waiting on a winter fuel grant is not waiting on us.
Charity number 220019 · Salisbury, Wiltshire
We have sat at kitchen tables across two Salisbury parishes for three hundred and twenty-nine years, listening first.
A small, quiet charity making household grants for the relief of need in the parishes of St Martin's and St Edmund's, and supporting Trinity Hospital, Salisbury — the work John Fricker set in motion in his will of 1696.
Last year, household by household
£29,680 paid out in small grants and quiet support, to 213 neighbours and to Trinity Hospital, Salisbury — the smallest gift £18, the largest £640.
Working principle
We answer letters within five working days, and we read every one ourselves. We do not advertise. We are introduced.
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Years of unbroken work
£0
Granted last financial year
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Households helped in 2024–25
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Trustees, each reading every case
What we believe
Five small convictions that have guided three centuries of grants.
Two
We do not advertise. We are introduced.
Almost every case reaches us through a parish priest, a school welfare officer, a CAB caseworker, or a neighbour who has heard of us from another.
Three
We say no carefully, and we say why.
In 2024–25 we declined twenty-eight applications. Each was answered with a letter the Trustees signed personally, and where we could, a referral elsewhere.
Four
Trinity Hospital first.
Our 1701 governing scheme names Trinity Hospital, Salisbury — founded in 1379 — as a continuing recipient. We honour that bequest before any other call on our funds.
Five
We do not exceed our means, and we never have.
We are a small endowment. We grant from income, very rarely from capital, and we are honest with applicants about what we can and cannot do.
Our work in six small programmes
Six named programmes, each shaped by what we have learned from the families we already know.
Programme · Winter
First Frost Fund
Winter fuel grants of £80–£240 for households in St Martin's and St Edmund's parishes carrying an unexpected cost between November and March. 142 awards last winter.
Read more
Programme · Befriending
Sunday Doors
Quiet weekly visits to forty-two older neighbours in the two parishes. Tea, the local paper, a slow conversation. The average partnership runs three years and four months.
Read more
Programme · Almshouse
Trinity Hospital Companion
A standing quarterly payment to Trinity Hospital, Salisbury — one of the oldest almshouses in England, founded 1379 — together with small repairs grants when the courtyard needs them.
Read more
Programme · Pantry
The Vestry Pantry
A small running grant to the parish pantry at St Martin's, which serves between thirty and fifty households a week, no questions asked, no referral required.
Read more
Programme · Wellbeing
Cathedral Close Listening Walks
A fortnightly slow walk through the Close and along the water meadows. Twelve regular walkers, three trained listeners, one flask of tea per session.
Read more
Programme · Discretionary
Quiet Quarter Fund
Discretionary one-off grants of £50–£500 for unforeseen need that does not fit any other fund. Last quarter: a school uniform, a boiler repair, a coach fare to a hospice.
Read moreCurrent appeal · closes 31 March 2026
The Winter Fuel Appeal, 2025–26.
Each year we set aside a fund for First Frost grants — small, immediate help with a single fuel bill for a household in the parishes who would not otherwise apply for charity. We are open about the figures. We need £14,000 to see this winter through. We have £9,420 in hand.
Walk with us
We move slowly. We need careful people who can move slowly with us.
Sunday Doors befriender
Visit one older neighbour each week for an hour. Three months' training; minimum twelve-month commitment.
Read the role descriptionGrant case-reader
Read and précis incoming applications ahead of the Trustees' meeting. Two evenings a month; CAB or social-work background helpful but not required.
Read the role descriptionListening walk leader
Lead a small slow walk twice a month, holding space for quiet conversation. Mental Health First Aid training provided.
Read the role descriptionThree quiet stories from this year
We rarely tell anyone about the help we have given. With their permission, here are three small stories.
Story · St Edmund's parish
'I had not had a visitor for thirteen weeks.'
Margaret, 78, Salisbury — Sunday Doors befriender partnership, fourth winter.
Read Margaret's story
Story · St Martin's parish
'Eighty pounds. That was the difference.'
David, 54, Salisbury — First Frost emergency fuel grant, January 2025.
Read David's story
Story · Trinity Hospital
'Six hundred and forty-six years of this courtyard.'
Eileen, 91, Salisbury — resident, Trinity Hospital, since 2019.
Read Eileen's storyGrants paid · financial years ending 30 September
A small charity, with small numbers, but the line goes the right way.
Total grant expenditure each year, in pounds. Figures from the Charity Commission filings.
In the parishes · the next four months
Three small gatherings in 2026.
17Jan
Wassail at Wilton Road allotments
Saturday 14.30 · community apple-tree blessing, hot mulled cider, all welcome
28Feb
Open afternoon at Trinity Hospital
Saturday 14.00–16.30 · courtyard tours and tea, donations welcome
21Mar
Annual Trustees' lecture · 'Three centuries of small grants'
Saturday 19.00 · St Martin's parish room, Salisbury · free, retiring collection
From the news desk
Three latest pieces, written by the Trustees' Clerk.
3 March 2026 · Programmes
'Three months of training. Twelve months of tea.'
A field note from our 2025–26 Sunday Doors cohort, in their own words.
9 February 2026 · Field notes
'The eighty-pound difference.'
What we learned from 142 First Frost fuel grants between November and February.
12 January 2026 · History
'Six hundred and forty-six years of one courtyard.'
Trinity Hospital was founded in 1379. We have supported it since at least 1701.
Voices from the two parishes
'They knocked on the door at half past four on a Wednesday, in February.'
'I had not had a visitor for thirteen weeks. Then on a Sunday afternoon a woman called Helen sat on my settee and ate two of my biscuits. That was three years ago. She still comes.'
Margaret, 78, Salisbury · Sunday Doors partnership since 2022
'I had ninety-six pounds in the bank and a meter that wanted £180. They sent eighty pounds the next morning. I am not a charity case. They didn't treat me like one.'
David, 54, Salisbury · First Frost grant, January 2025
'Six hundred and forty-six years of this courtyard. The Frickers paid for the lead in our chapel roof in 1972. They are still here. So am I.'
Eileen, 91, Salisbury · resident, Trinity Hospital since 2019
'They asked me to commit for a year. They were right to ask. The first six visits, Margaret and I barely spoke. It is the eighteenth month that the work begins.'
Helen, 64, Salisbury · Sunday Doors befriender since 2022
'In the parish you hear of the Charity in low voices. Someone tells you a neighbour was helped. You do not hear how, or how much. That is its great quiet quality.'
Revd Thomas Bagshawe, 61, Salisbury · team rector, St Edmund's
We work alongside
Trinity Hospital, Salisbury
St Martin's, Salisbury
St Edmund's, Salisbury
Salisbury Citizens Advice
Salisbury Foodbank
Wiltshire Community Foundation
Alabaré, Salisbury
The Salisbury Charities Group
Trinity Hospital, Salisbury
St Martin's, Salisbury
St Edmund's, Salisbury
Salisbury Citizens Advice
Salisbury Foodbank
Wiltshire Community Foundation
Alabaré, Salisbury
The Salisbury Charities Group