The United Charities of Cambridge (UCC) was formed to manage the properties and money that have been left to the people of Cambridge by local philanthropists since the 17th Century. In November 2023, the Charity updated and streamlined the previous Charity Commission Scheme approved in 2014 and the approval for the 2023 Scheme was granted by the Charity Commission. The 2014 Scheme amends the 2017 Scheme which in turn replaced the much earlier Cambridge Municipal Charities that had been operating from the mid-1800s.
As its name implies, United Charities of Cambridge is a combination of many charities which have operated in Cambridge for many years. The Charity runs almhouses and also manages various investment, the income from which is to be “expended on the poor and needy of the City and upon the young”.
Origins of Cambridge United Charities
The Charity was set up by deed on 24 July 1970 to administer the following charities:
The Consolidated Almshouses Charity
The Charity of Edward Chapman
The Charity of Richard Chevyn
The Charity of John Crane
The Charity of Lambert Damps
The Charity of Thomas Ellys
The Charity of Thomas Johnson
The Charity of William Mott
The Charity of Sir Thomas White
The Charity of Thomas Hobson
The Charity of Roger Roe
The Charity of Stephen Mansfield
The Charity of Emily Wood
The Hobson and Crane Exhibition Foundation
On 14th November 2023 the Charity Commission approved a new scheme (ref. 1171/2324) replacing the 1970 Scheme and 2014 Supplementary Scheme. The new 2023 Scheme maintains the ethos and the objectives of the Charity but updates and streamlines the governance and operation of the Charity. The two branches of the Charity, the Almshouse branch and the Relief in Need branch, are merged. The name of the Charity is changed from the Cambridge United Charities to the United Charities of Cambridge.
On 9th December 2014 the Charity Commission made a supplementary scheme (ref. 879/1415) approving a number of amendments to the 1970 Scheme, which allow CUC greater administrative flexibility in the allocation of funds to aid qualifying almspeople (as redefined), and also under Relief in Need, where the definition of persons entitled to benefit has also been redefined.
Up to the 31st March 2017 the Charity enjoyed administrative support from Cambridge City Council, an arrangement which was discontinued because of conflicts of interest. The Charity is now run entirely by volunteers who reside in Cambridge and surrounding areas, with the exception of the Secretary to the Board of Trustees which is a remunerated post. Furthermore, in order to pursue its objectives effectively, the Charity seeks professional advice where necessary.
Hobson and Crane
Thomas Hobson, a carrier and wealthy merchant (with whom the expression “Hobson’s choice” is said to have originated), and John Crane, an apothecary, both lived in Cambridge in the 17th century. Hobson and Crane both left money and property in charitable trust for educational purposes which originally financed apprenticeship fees for young people in the City to enable them to learn a trade.
Since the coming of universal education, the role of charities changed, and the Hobson and Crane Exhibition Foundation was registered in 1962, using the endowments to make educational grants to individuals under 25.
In 2000, the Charity Commission agreed to remove the educational foundation as a separate charity, and to amalgamate it with the Relief in Need Branch. Trustees now use Hobson & Crane funds to make annual grants to groups in the City who support disadvantaged children, with a particular emphasis on the educational benefit of the activities or services supported in this way.
Hobson House
One of the benefactors, Thomas Hobson, set up a workhouse charity which is now part of Cambridge United Charities. It owned and ran the Spinning House in St Andrews Street on the site occupied for many years by City Council offices known as Hobson House. This site, whose freehold is owned by the Charity, has now been vacated by the City Council, and is being sold for development as a hotel. Profits from the sale of the lease will be shared between the Charity and Cambridge City council, and future income from the ground rent will be a welcome addition to the funds available for the beneficiaries.
The St Radegund
The Charity owns this pub in King Street, the smallest in Cambridge, and the rents help to support the adjacent almshouses.
Mere Sermon
The University of Cambridge still recognises another aspect of past benefactors, when it carries out the provisions of John Mere’s will.
This provides for the Mere Sermon to be given at St Ben’et’s Church, where his grave is decorated by floral tributes which may include a posy from one of the residents of St Anthony’s Walk.
United Charities of Cambridge 