The Trustees, staff and almshouse residents were saddened to learn of the passing of Jessica Skippon, recent Trustee of our Alms charity.

Jessica joined us in 2020, assisting with individual grants, grants to organisations as well as with our Almshouses.  Herself a local resident for many decades, she was a most valuable colleague who was dedicated, with great fortitude, to helping others.

Her wisdom and astonishing local knowledge were always at the disposal of those of us who had less experience of the area.  She seemed to have absorbed every fact that had ever come her way, filed it somewhere sensible in her capacious brain and efficiently tagged it for future use.  And these little nuggets of information, coupled with a sensible opinion, is part of what made her contribution invaluable to the board’s decision making.

Her softly-spoken voice belied the steely determination behind those twinkling, concerned eyes.  One almshouse resident said of her, ‘she was an inspiration for me’.  An endless willingness to be involved in local projects, going above and beyond, but most of all, her thoughtful appreciation of the uniqueness of each of the people she encountered; a quality rarely seen.

At her memorial we learned more about her early life – the pioneer and activist with a resolve for fairness rarely surpassed.

We will miss her enormously.

The Trustees & Staff of the Alms Charity

Original Post: Alms Charity welcomes Jessica as a new Trustee