The Harborne Parish Lands Charity has a long history. Its Trustees were mentioned in 1640 but it has endowments which are older, one dating from the will of Mrs Elizabeth Cowper (formerly Piddock) written in 1576. For its first two hundred years the charity acted as a grant making trust only, but by 1786 it was also providing almshouses for “paupers” who lived in them rent free. The income of the charity came from rent and even today an important element of the charity’s income remains rent from commercial properties. The charity has no religious affiliation, its name refers to the geographical area of the Ancient Parish of Harborne. Nowadays the ancient parish has been replaced by 12 parishes which cover Harborne, Smethwick and parts of Quinton and Bearwood. The parish is almost equally divided between Sandwell and Birmingham. The Charity is a trust managed in accordance with Schemes of the Charity Commission, registration number 219031. The trust is registered as a Housing Association with the Homes and Communities Agency under number A2993. We provide two main services a) Social housing for older people, vulnerable people or those with restricted mobility. b) Grants to individuals in need or organisations helping individuals