Helping Nottingham People

Nottingham Municipal Charities operates through two linked charities, Sir Thomas White’s Loan Charity and Bilby’s & Cooper’s Relief in Need Charity, which administer two separate funds to help people in Nottingham.

Sir Thomas White’s Loan Charity

The Sir Thomas White’s Loan Charity has been in existence since the 16th century.  Born in Reading in 1492, Thomas White was brought up in London and apprenticed as a clothier.  On receiving an inheritance, he began business for himself in 1523 and became very successful and prosperous.  In 1547 Thomas became Sheriff of London and in 1553 he was knighted by Queen Mary 1 following which he was elected as the Lord Mayor of London.  On his death in 1567, Sir Thomas White bequeathed his fortune to buy land.  The profits from renting this land were to be given to young men in Coventry, Leicester, Northampton, Nottingham and Warwick to help set themselves up in business or to provide for their education.  The Sir Thomas White’s Loan Charity for Nottingham was registered as a separate Charity in 1859 since which time the Scheme has been revised and updated on several occasions.

Sir Thomas White Scholars

Sir Thomas White’s Loan Charity also receives an annual distribution from Sir Thomas White’s Charity of Coventry, which is passed on to Nottingham High School to fund scholarships.

Bilby’s and Cooper’s Relief In Need Charity

The origins of the Bilby’s & Cooper’s Relief in Need Charity are more uncertain. What is known is that the Bilby Hospital was endowed and built in Coalpit Lane, Nottingham in 1709 by William Bilby.  William was an eccentric philanthropist whose occupations included astrologer, astronomer, chemist and shoemaker. Coalpit Lane was the main route into the City of Nottingham for coal from the local pits.  The hospital or almshouse was built initially to provide a place of residence for 8 poor, old and distressed people of Nottingham.  The almshouse was later rebuilt on Cooper Street in the St. Ann’s area of Nottingham.  Bilby’s & Cooper’s Almshouses was registered as a Charity in 1963 but when the area of St. Ann’s was largely demolished and redeveloped in the 1970s it was amalgamated within the Bilby’s & Cooper’s Relief in Need Charity.  The charitable object was to relieve persons resident in the City of Nottingham who are in conditions of need, hardship or distress.