Mary Parnham Charitable Trust

Lenton, Lincolnshire

A brief history of this educational trust

The stone slab recording the endowment made by Mary Parnham in 1701

At the bottom of the lane to the south of the parish church is the Old School. Over the front door of this cottage is another stone slab, on which are recorded the donations made for the establishment of a school and paying the salary of a school teacher.

It is not known if the gift by Mary Parnham was in some way motivated by the employment of a teacher in the school. Indeed almost nothing is known about either her, or her husband Edward, other than that they are buried at St. Peter's in Lenton.

The grave of Mary Parnham in St. Peter's churchyard

Mary Parnham set up the charity, which now carries her name, with an endowment of £100, the interest on which capital sum was to be used "forever" for teaching five poor children in the parish to read and write. One hundred pounds was a relatively large sum of money in 1701.

The Modern CharitableTrust

The charity is now registered with the Charity Commission (number 512303) and is administered by a board of 5 trustees, under a Scheme approved by the Charity Commission on 20th August 1990. The annual report and accounts are presented at the AGM of the Lenton Village Meeting.

Applications for awards may be made by, or on behalf of school children and young people under the age of 25. There is one eligibility qualification which is that either the applicant or at least one of their parents must reside in the parish, which includes the hamlets of Hanby, Keisby and Osgodby.

There is no application form. Requests may be sent to any of the trustees by letter or email. The trustees meet to consider applications three times during the school year, ahead of the start of each term. All applications and matters to do with the trust are dealt with confidentially. The names of applicants are not released or stated in any report or the accounts.

Recent awards have been approved for school uniforms, text books, computers and specialist software, sport clothing and equipment, as well as fabric for fashion design coursework. Other eligible items would include travel expenses, protective clothing, tools and equipment for apprenticeship training. The annual income available for distribution is about £500.

The email addresses for applications is secretary@maryparnham.org