Parish · 01
Fetcham
Our registered office sits on Kennel Lane. The Village Hall — where most of our coffee mornings take place — is a five-minute walk away on The Street. St Mary's Fetcham is the parish church.
Community impact
Four Surrey parishes, a handful of named partners, and one quietly kept list of the people we have helped.
The geography of The Astede Lodge Benevolent Fund is small enough to walk: from St Mary's Fetcham to St Giles Ashtead is two miles by footpath, and from there to Bookham High Street another mile. This page sets out the parishes we serve, the small partner charities we know by name, and an honest record of where the money has gone since the present Almoner took post in 2018.
Where the money goes
A six-year register, by fund.
Total grants paid out, year by year, separated into Brethren-and-family aid and small local grants. Single figures in pounds, drawn from each year's Annual Return.
The 2020 figure dipped because we ran a smaller Almoner's Discretion that year — most local foodbanks had received emergency Covid funding from larger sources, and the Trustees agreed to hold our small reserve back for the winter that followed.
The four parishes
A geography you could walk on a long Saturday.
The trust deed binds us to these four parishes. We have not given outside them since 1963 — not for want of need elsewhere, but because a fund of this size can only really know one small place at a time.
Parish · 02
Ashtead
The Lodge takes its name from Astede, the Anglo-Saxon name for Ashtead, recorded in Domesday. St Giles' is the principal parish church; we have supported its heating fund three times since 2011.
Parish · 03
Great & Little Bookham
Bookham Community Garden has had two small cheques from us, in 2019 and 2022. We have also supported the village's monthly community lunch on three occasions.
Parish · 04
Leatherhead
Leatherhead Foodbank has been a partner since 2010 — fifteen consecutive springs of a small cheque. The bank's main warehouse is on Kingston Road and runs distribution from the Methodist Church hall.
Named partners
A handful of organisations who know us by name.
We do not have many partners and we like it that way. Each of the organisations below has had a cheque from us at least twice in the last decade; each writes back, each spring, with a short account of where the money went.
Leatherhead Foodbank
An independent foodbank serving the wider Leatherhead community, run from the Methodist Church on Church Road. We have given a small cheque each spring since 2010.
Partner since 2010
Fetcham Village Hall & Community Trust
The community trust that runs Fetcham Village Hall, where we hold our annual coffee morning. Twice in the last decade we have contributed to the hall's heating-oil fund.
Partner since 2014
Parish of Ashtead St Giles
The Anglican parish church serving Ashtead. The Vicar runs a small parish hardship fund into which we have contributed three times since 2011.
Partner since 2011
Masonic Charitable Foundation
The national charitable Foundation of English and Welsh Freemasonry, into whose Surrey Festival we contribute a small annual cheque from the Festival Fund.
Partner since 2008
Provincial Grand Lodge of Surrey
Our provincial body, through whom the Surrey Festival contributions are channelled. The Provincial Grand Almoner is the standing point of contact for cross-Lodge enquiries.
Partner since 1963
Bookham Community Garden
A small volunteer-run garden on Lower Road, Great Bookham, providing fresh vegetables to households on local hardship lists. Two cheques from us since 2019.
Partner since 2019
Quiet things, counted plainly
Six numbers from the last six years.
These are the only impact figures we publish. We do not commission impact reports, hire evaluators, or speak the language of outcomes. We count what we can count, and we trust the rest to letter and conversation.
If a fuller record would help your school project, your dissertation, or your local-history piece, the Lodge Secretary will gladly meet you at the Village Hall and walk you through the ring-binders.
63Years on the Register
11Gifts paid · 2024
12Widows on the list
4Parishes served
6Days · first ask to cheque, 2024
0Paid staff, ever
A small fund, a small geography, a quiet welcome
Come and meet us at the coffee morning.
The next one is a Saturday in June at Fetcham Village Hall. Anyone — Brother, neighbour, curious passer-by — is welcome.