A Welcome to the Cottages
A short handbook for new residents — what we ask, what we provide, and how to ring the clerk when the boiler gives up on a Sunday evening. 24 pages.
PDF · 1.4 MB
Leaflets & guides
A small shelf of paper.
We are not a research organisation. The notes below are the public-facing leaflets, guides and policy summaries we keep for residents, families and curious neighbours. Each is available as a printed copy on request to the clerk; the digital versions below are plain-text companions.
A note for the family of a prospective resident
For the daughters, sons and grandchildren who often write to us first. What an almshouse is and is not, what the weekly contribution covers, and what to expect from a visit. 8 pages.
PDF · 0.6 MB
Becoming a resident at Louisa Cottages
Our short application leaflet, with eligibility criteria, residency conditions, and a plain-English statement of weekly contributions. 6 pages.
PDF · 0.5 MB
Our safeguarding policy summary
A short summary of the safeguarding policies we hold, in plain English. The full policy is held by the clerk and reviewed annually. 4 pages.
PDF · 0.3 MB
Making a complaint
How to make a complaint to Louisa Cottages Charity, the timeframes we work to, and the right of escalation to the Housing Ombudsman or the Charity Commission. 3 pages.
PDF · 0.3 MB
A short note for volunteers
What we ask of our volunteers and what we promise in return. Includes the lone-working policy and the boundaries we keep around residents’ private lives. 5 pages.
PDF · 0.4 MB
A short history of English almshouses
A leaflet for visitors to the open garden, putting our cottages in the context of the wider almshouse movement — the oldest surviving English almshouse foundations, the Almshouse Association, and the place of these small trusts today. 12 pages.
PDF · 1.1 MB
Plants in the cottage garden
A field-guide leaflet for the open garden day in late June, listing the species in the walled plot with a small line drawing of each. Written by Joseph in cottage five. 16 pages.
PDF · 1.7 MB