Local Charities

Grants 

The Edmund Godson Charity provides grants to organisations in one of four parishes that Edmund Godson lived during his lifetime. The average size of a grant is between £500 and £2,000. 

The charity supports registered charities and schools based in the following parts of the United Kingdom:

Woolwich, London

Shinfield and Spencers Wood, Berkshire

Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire

Northeast Herefordshire

Grants are made once a year in May during the Annual General Meeting when the trustees meet to discuss the applications that have been received.

There is a trustee from each of the four parishes and two co-opted trustees who are descendants of Edmund Godson who make the decision about who should be awarded a grant.

Eligibility

Grants are made for the relief of hardship. 

Whilst we include financial hardship, we also recognise hardship as a result of isolation and other social issues, as well as physical disabilities, so we interpret the term “hardship” fairly broadly.

We endeavour to fund specific projects rather than ongoing day-to-day running costs.

The Edmund Godson charity tries not to fund the same charities every year because we don’t want them to find themselves becoming dependant on an annual grant from us. 

History 

The Edmund Godson Charity was originally established under the will of Edmund Probyn Godson, who was born in 1853 and died in 1918 whilst in internment in Brussels, which was under German occupation. 

The home of the Godson family between 1790 and 1962 was at Tenbury Court, which used to stand in the middle of the town of Tenbury Wells on the borders of Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Shropshire: this was where Edmund was born and spent the early years of his life. He became a barrister and lived in Shinfield, Berkshire for a time before moving to a house in Castle Wood, Shooters Hill near Woolwich. Towards the turn of the century, he started dividing his time between London and Brussels where he was unfortunately staying in 1914 when the Germans invaded. His advancing years, the living conditions in internment and conditions of near starvation on the German side of the battle lines resulted in his death just before the end of the war.

Edmund’s Will and the establishment of the charity

Under his will the Castlewood Estate was offered to the London County Council at a discounted price and was eventually purchased by public subscription. The proceeds of the sale of the house then formed part of the residual estate whose income went to various relatives until 1950 when the last Belgian beneficiary died. The house proceeds were then available to be applied under the terms of a will which he had written during a time of economic recession in 1907. His two specific purposes were to build almshouses and to assist poor people to move from overpopulated parts of the designated parishes to less populated parts of those parishes.

The charity’s evolving focus

By 1950 the funds were inadequate to build almshouses and the idea of encouraging people to move within the designated parishes had become absurd. An approach to the Charity Commissioners resulted in the Trustees being able to apply surplus funds for general charitable purposes involving the relief of hardship for inhabitants of the designated parishes. 

Application 

To check whether you are eligible, please make sure that you fit the criteria set out below: 

1)  Your charity must be based in one of these locations in the United Kingdom:

• Woolwich, London                                                                 
• Shinfield and Spencers Wood, Berkshire                  
• Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire                                 
• Northeast Herefordshire                                           

Our remit is to only fund organisations based in one of these geographic areas. If you are not based here, you are not eligible to apply for funding.

If your organisation is are based in one of these areas, please look at this statement:

2)  Funding is only open to organisations or people who fall into one of these criteria:

• Charitable organisations.
• Schools.

3)  Purpose:

• The funds must be for a specific project rather than daily running costs.
• You must be able to make a case to show your project will alleviate hardship in its myriad forms.

If your organisation is in are none of the above categories, regardless of where you are located, you are not eligible to apply for funding.

Your organisation may be eligible to receive a grant. Please note that we receive more grant requests, from a number of worthwhile causes, than we are able to fund. 

To apply please contact the Trustee for Shinfield:

Peter Robson
Mobile Number: 07942589683

Or the Clerk for the charity

Liz Adams: info@edmundgodson.org

Activity Report to SPC June 2025

Report to Shinfield Parish Council on the local activity of The Edmund Godson Charity (No. 227463)

The financial year of the Charity runs from 1 April to 31 March & the most recent AGM was held on 12 June 2025. Grant applications are considered at the AGM.

During 2024/2025 the following grant applications were made & subsequently granted: 

• A grant of £1,590 was awarded to ABC to Read to provide training for volunteers who help children develop literacy skills & build self-confidence.
• A grant of £1,000 was awarded to Me2 Club to provide opportunities for disabled children & young people to participate in mainstream leisure & social activities.
• A grant of £1,500 was awarded to Oakbank Secondary School to purchase 30 tablets so that pupils aged between 11 & 16 years old can more easily search out potential careers using dedicated platforms such as Unifrog, matching their skills & interests to self-assessed routes & pathways into their chosen field.

During 2025/2026 the following grant applications were made & subsequently granted: 

• A grant of £2,500 was awarded to The Link Visiting Scheme towards the cost of One-One Befriending Project to support lonely & socially isolated older people.
• A grant of £1,500 was awarded to Shinfield Voluntary Car Service to provide understanding dementia training to 12 drivers & 8 office staff.
• A grant of £1,000 was awarded to Thrive towards the cost of the Life Changers Programme, which uses therapeutic gardening to support people living with a disability or ill-health or who are isolated, disadvantaged or vulnerable.

The next AGM is scheduled for 11 June 2026.

Andrew Oughton, Shinfield Trustee, The Edmund Godson Charity
24 June 2025