The Addington Fund is a registered farming charity and our main area of work is to provide homes for farming families living in England and Wales who have to leave the industry, through no fault of their own, and by doing so will lose their home. In times of emergency and where hardship prevails we may be able to assist with a grant towards certain business costs.
Our office is situated in a village called Barford, which is near Warwick, and we currently employ four members of staff.
The ARC-Addington Fund was set up in 2001 as the Churches’ response to Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), when it distributed grants totalling £10.3 million to over 22,000 applicants. The name was changed to Addington Fund in 2011 and today we focus more on housing, although hardship grants are available, at the Trustees’ Discretion, in times of emergency.
Our Strategic Rural Housing Scheme (SRHS) provides homes for farming families who, through no fault of their own, have to leave their farm and have no other available housing options. We mainly help tenant farmers who have to give up the land and farmhouse when they relinquish their tenancy. Regrettably, we cannot assist everybody who applies to us for housing and there is an application process to complete. We purchase property on the open market to meet the specific needs of successful applicants. We are very flexible and over 50% of our tenants have shared equity in the property they live in.
Affordable Rural Housing (ARH) As well as our SRHS we also run an Affordable Rural Housing Scheme. This differs somewhat from our SRHS. We currently own 12 properties in three counties that are rented to people who have a link to agriculture or a rural industry. In Cornwall we have four live/work properties to enable the self-employed to run their own business from home. All of our ARH properties will always remain in Addington’s ownership and there are no shared ownership options.
Our Trustees’ Discretionary Fund (TDF) is the grant giving aspect of our work. In times of emergency where hardship prevails and short-term aid will make a difference, we may be able to help with certain business costs. We cannot assist with farm debt, or when market forces have an impact on your cashflow.
George Stephens Charity (GSC) We administer applications to the GSC which can provide help to farm workers, ie those that are/were employed on a farm, resident in England, or their widows, widowers, children or dependants, who receive a low income.
Addington Fund is one of the Farming Help charities.
