Page 84 - QDG Volume 9 No. 2 2021

82 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards
The Leathersellers’ Company
The past Livery year is likely to be recorded in history as one of the most unusual and unexpected, with every aspect of the Compa- ny’s activities dominated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Hall was closed for lengthy periods and
Zoom became the norm for Court, committee,
staff and Governors’ meetings. This was
an expedient medium, although the loss of
face-to-face interaction and lack of fellowship
was sadly missed. The staff team, under the
leadership of our retired Clerk, David Santa-
Olalla, and our new Clerk, Matthew Lawrence,
responded with professionalism and diligence
to all the diverse challenges of the past year, ensuring the continuation of our work covering the development and maintenance of our estate, the stewardship of our finances, our grant giving activities and our relationships in the City and beyond. A series of webinars focused on different areas of our activities were greatly appreciated by Liverymen, Freemen and staff.
The 2020-2021 Livery year saw a range of new challenges faced across the charity sector, with funds normally raised through events, corporate donations and community fund- raising heavily affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and many resulting practical challenges to ensure safe operation for many vulnerable groups. The former indicator
of the success of a charity holding multiple and varied income streams suddenly became a concern as it became clear the pandemic would not be a short-lived alteration to our lives and ways of working.
As a long-standing charitable funder we
were able to pivot to meet emergency needs
in the early months of the pandemic, but the
question of how to adapt to the changing
needs for the 2020-2021 Livery year presented
a fresh set of considerations. Fortified by the
many centuries of giving we stayed true to our
giving principles of providing and honouring
multi-year commitments, supporting charities
undertaking transformational work within their communities and seeking to constantly improve
our own approach and processes. As a result
we focused our new in-year funding on two areas, home- lessness and domestic abuse, whilst continuing to provide long-term support to other charity partners.
Giving by the Leathersellers’ Company to Education in the last year totaled over £1,000,000, continuing our long heritage of sharing resources and skills to enable children, young people and adults to unlock their potential. Recog- nising our strengths we provided a combination of support, via long-standing partnerships, to provide certainty and stability through these tumultuous times, and sought to be flexible, open and responsive to ensure that we remain accessible and impactful.
The Company’s partner schools, Colfe’s and the Leath- ersellers’ Federation, excelled themselves in tackling the challenges of the pandemic with innovation, resilience and tenacity. We continue to work with their senior leadership teams to improve our support, from small changes to the match-funding programme to enable pupils to get more involved in charitable work from an early age, to shaping and funding new programmes to increase opportunity and social mobility. We are so grateful to all those associated
with our schools including teachers, staff and Governors and of course to the pupils who despite all the adversity of the past year have continued to inspire and motivate us for the future.
Life at Leathersellers’ Close, the Compa- ny’s almshouses in Barnet, was also affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite the need to stay physically apart we were keen to ensure that our residents knew they were in our thoughts, and so we found different ways to connect with them. We now provide a welcome pack for new residents introducing the Company and Charitable Fund (along with
a fruit hamper), the Trustees (and some former Trustees) phoned and caught up with residents particularly during lockdown periods, and we kept in regular contact via letters and through the Scheme Manager who continued to be a supportive presence at the Close throughout.
Our military affiliations continue to be important to us and we value the opportunity to offer support. The past year saw our affiliations across the forces addressing significant chal- lenges at home and overseas. We were also delighted that HMS Audacious was commissioned.
Despite the challenges of the past year work has continued uninterrupted on the much-needed refurbishment of 3 St Helen’s Place. All the demolition works are complete and we are now entering the re-building phase of the project. The following fit-out phase will take some five months, with the completion
date set for mid-2022.
On behalf of all the Members of the Leath-
ersellers’ Company and its staff, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very safe Christmas and all the very best for the New Year.
PJ MBE
Our military affiliations continue to be important to us and we value the opportunity to offer support