PropertyRetirement LivingSociety celebrates 60 years of providing security for retired ministers Society celebrates 60 years of providing security for retired ministers
08/04/2008
2008 marks the 60th annversary of the Methodist Ministers’ Housing Society (MMHS) - that's six decades of providing ministers with homes following their retirement, following years of dedicated service to their communities.
Every year, more than 70 Methodist ministers retire. Many of these leave the Manse with little or no savings, faced with the prospect of finding and affording a new home.
According to their individual needs, the Society provides homes for retired ministers and their families across the country, offering many of them the opportunity to take the first step on the housing ladder.
It also enables them to continue to be active within their community, carrying out vital volunteer pastoral activities.
Chief executive of MMHS, Shelagh Morgan, said: “Some ministers are able to finance their own housing when they retire but a significant number are not in this position. The rise in property prices has made it increasingly difficult to afford to purchase a relatively modest home and this is where the Society steps in.
“Before the Society was founded, ministers found themselves having to move in with family or take on jobs which provided accommodation. They can now enjoy their retirement living in a property which they have chosen and continue their ministry in a wide variety of ways in their community.”
Founded in 1948 following the gift of a manor house in Barrow-on-Trent, Derbyshire, the Society has grown over the years. In 2007 alone it found homes for 37 new retirees and enabled 12 tenants to move to accommodation more suitable to their current circumstances.
Benevolent funds, organisations and individuals have helped the Society build up a stock of property, but despite now having more than 960 houses and flats around the country, demand still outstrips supply.
The Society will spend 2008 – its diamond anniversary year – raising awareness of its work in an effort to generate greater financial support, so ministers, deacons and their spouses will be able to look forward to a comfortable home when they retire.
In turn, this will enable them to continue to contribute to our communities through their ministry in hospices, prisons and hospitals, as well as other community groups supporting the young, elderly and disadvantaged.
METHODIST MINISTERS’ HOUSING SOCIETY – FAST FACTS
• The Society’s roots can be traced back to 1946 when Mrs Hoult made the very first gift of a property, a manor house and grounds in Barrow-on-Trent
• NHS founder Aneurin Bevan secured planning permission for a further 20 flats to be built in the grounds and the portfolio was established
• The development was officially opened in September 1950 by the Reverend W E Sangster
• When Reverend A Kingsley Lloyd was appointed secretary of the Department of Connexional Funds in 1956 he made it his personal crusade to increase the number of properties available
• Thanks to his efforts, by 1969 the Society owned 200 houses and flats
• Today, on average, ministers move into accommodation aged 65 years after 32 years of service
• The Society now owns 960 properties located as far apart as Inverness and Guernsey