SHREWSBURY'S OLDEST SURVIVING ANCIENT GUILD
Shrewsbury Drapers Company is a long-established Guild which was granted a royal charter in 1462. The Guild has been running almshouses continuously since 1444.
Today the Guild is a modern, volunteer-led organisation which mobilises the skills of dozens of volunteers to work for the public good. As well as continuing to build and run almshouses for the benefit of our residents, we preserve and maintain an historic guildhall, encourage textile crafts and education by an annual competition for both adults and students at school and college and continue the historic connections and traditions of The Company within Shrewsbury.
Shrewsbury Drapers Company wins Queen's Award
The highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK has been awarded to the Company in recognition for the outstanding work they do as a volunteer group that benefits their local community.
It has been granted in appreciation for their efforts in providing almshouses, preserving the heritage of their Guild and their historic buildings and encouraging textile design through their annual competition for adults, students and schools.
The award was created in 2002 to celebrate The Queen's Golden Jubilee and is awarded on June 2nd each year, the anniversary of the Queen's Coronation. The competition for awards is extremely strong and being one of only 241 in 2021 and only 4 in Shropshire is a real achievement.
DRAPERS ALMSHOUSES
Historically, since the early 15th century, Shrewsbury Drapers have owned and maintained up to 25 Almshouses around Shrewsbury in three different locations- at Fairford Place, St Giles and Holy Cross. Their fundraising efforts over the past decade have culminated in the planning and building of Drapers Place, providing an additional 25 units. The 50 units now cater for both single and double occupancy and are ideally situated close to amenities and the centre of Shrewsbury.
As in the past, the charitable endeavours of the Shrewsbury Drapers, include the welfare of its almshouse residents. Although we may have moved on from the provision of 'faggots of firewood', volunteers provide a support to residents very much as it would always have been in these establishments and from coffee to welfare, volunteers with specialist knowledge lead the organisation supported by our professional 'wardens'.
Our aim in managing our almshouses throughout the Coronovirus epidemic has been to follow official guidance, help our residents to stay healthy where we can and avoid placing our staff or volunteers at risk.
Although there has been a relaxation of regulations, the Government guidelines continue to encourage the use of sensible precautions particularly when coming in contact with people who may have raised risk from infection. This includes continued emphasis on hand hygiene and not visiting any of the almshouses if you have any symptoms or have tested positive for the virus.
Further information can be obtained from www.gov.uk/coronavirus
