The Railway Community Homes (the ‘Charity’) is an unincorporated charitable trust that holds a permanent endowment fund comprising of cash and investments largely arising from the sale proceeds of former designated land properties previously held by the Charity (the ‘Fund’).

The Fund is a permanent endowment fund held on the basis that the income can be spent for any of the charitable purposes of the Charity. The Charity’s charitable purposes primarily relate to the relief of need (including through the provision of accommodation) of a beneficiary class comprising of people connected with the railway and transport industries.

The Charity recently obtained a Charity Commission Scheme to amend the purposes that applied to an existing property of the Charity, Bridge House, which is held as functional permanent endowment. Bridge House was previously used to provide convalescent care and the Charity now proposes to redevelop the property to provide independent living units e.g. almshouse accommodation.

The capital value of the Fund was £7,680,948 as of 30 December 2024. The anticipated total cost of the redevelopment of Bridge House is £6,600,000.

The Charity intends to change the terms of the Fund so that £5,000,000 capital of the Fund, as well as the income, can be spent on the charitable purposes of the Charity so that part of the Fund can be used to meet the costs of redeveloping Bridge House. The Charity’s view is that those charitable purposes could be carried out more effectively if that change is made. The remaining funds will continue to be held as permanent endowment within the Fund.