20 January 2025
Charity devoted to literature and the arts seeks financial expertise
We are a unique and small charity which brought to reality a solution to Virginia Woolf’s famous quote that for a woman to write she needs money and a room of her own. We extend that help to established women writers and artists over 40 by providing periods of free residency in a charming cottage in the Warwickshire village of Clifford Chambers, two miles from Stratford-upon-Avon.
You would be joining us at a crucial period as we transition from a registered charity to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation and create plans for growth. An ideal trustee would have time available to carry out the responsibilities described below and be geographically located near Stratford to minimise time needed to get to meetings.
The Hosking Houses Trust needs someone who could
- Advise the trustees on the financial implications of operational and strategic plans and year end accounts
- Help set a realistic budget annually and ensure that the Trust has an appropriate reserves policy.
- Attend four Trustee meetings per year as well as participate in occasional meetings regarding finance.
- Meet up once or twice a year with one of Trust’s residents
You’ll need to
- Accept the responsibilities and liabilities as a trustee
- Have accountancy qualifications or significant accounting experience
- Have some knowledge or experience of charity finances, fundraising, and financial consequences
- Have an interest (the keener the better) in art and literature.
Applications (your CV – no more than 2 pages – and a covering letter) should be sent to the Chair, Carole Manship (hoskinghousetrust@gmail.com). If you’d like to discuss your application before submission, please email Carole in the first instance to arrange a telephone call. We are not expecting to be overwhelmed with applications and each one will be treated individually. We are eager to appoint someone quickly so a prompt response would be welcomed.
2 December 2024
New Administrator for the Trust
Excited would be a low key word to describe how we feel about the appointment of Sarah Mullen to the position of Administrator for the Trust. The position was created with two aims in mind: firstly, to address the need to relieve our Founder, Sarah Hosking, of many of the tasks she has undertaken as a volunteer for the past 25 years or more and secondly, to bring on board someone who potentially could eventually lead the organisation, as Sarah Hosking steps further away from the running of the Trust.
When we advertised in October for this new position, we were delighted with the response we received – both the number and the quality of the applications. Amongst these – a pleasant surprise to us – was one from Sarah Mullen, who had successfully led our Open House project, largely funded by Arts Council England with additional support from Amazon Literary Partnership. Sarah was previously the owner of the independent Bookshop on the Green in Bournville and had an outstanding track record of experience in establishing literary festivals, literary charities and to top it off, more than a decade’s experience as a successful solicitor.
She is taking up the post at a key moment as the Trust transitions to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). The Founder and Trustees are all keen to be working with her as we enter this new phase of change and growth.
20 September 2024
Ukrainian artist wins this year’s HHT Women in Art prize
Hosking Houses Trust became involved with Women in Art since 2022. The values of Women in Art and our Trust were so well aligned, we knew we should be working together. Though based in London, the competition attracts women artists from around the UK and abroad. For the past two years it has been run by Gabrielle du Plooy, helped this year by Gigi Ozturk.
In discussions with Gabrielle Du Plooy, we conceived the HHT sponsorship of a prize that would provide a free period of residency in our Trust’s cottage.
As Chair, I was invited to the Roundhouse to present the prize on the evening of 18 September.
The Roundhouse walls were covered with shortlisted entries for the various prizes. Here’s a sample of that wall space:
Amongst them was a painting called The Ukrainians by Yana Barabash who managed to reach the UK and settle on the Isle of Wight after the Russian invasion of her country. All entrants aged over 40 were eligible to apply for the HHT prize and we’re delighted that Yana won this award with her stunning painting.
Yana wrote about her painting: I see my paintings as a window to a better, imaginary world – one that is free from wars and poverty, filled with beauty and harmony. I draw inspiration from the natural world, using elements like minerals, trees, and herbs to influence my creative process and themes.
My work is an invitation to pause and appreciate the enduring beauty and harmony that surround us. As I continue to develop my practice, I strive to create pieces that inspire and resonate with the deepest aspects of the human spirit.
The evening itself was well attended; guests enjoyed the mixing and mingling and it was a full audience of 150 who sat through the presentations. Huge thanks to Gabrielle du Plooy and Gigi Ozturk who organised the evening and made it an exceptional night. We were very proud to be one of the partners of the event and also wish to congratulate all the winners, runner ups and those who made the shortlist. With 1600 entries this year, you did incredibly well.
If you’d like to know more about Yana Barabash, please visit her website: https://www.yanabarabash.com and if you are interested in the Women in Art Prize, please visit their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/womeninartprize.
Written by Carole Manship with photos by Denise Senneca
14th July 2024
Over the last year, trustees have worked intensively to re-register the Hosking Houses Trust as a CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organisation). Originally registered in 1995 as a charity, active since 1999 and hosting residents continuously since 2002, the Hosking Houses Trust has inevitably developed as it gained experience and faced changing circumstances. Twenty-seven trustees, three chairs and four patrons have served the Trust, and they have all added to our quality. We are therefore seeking this new status that will re-define our purposes and give updated legal and advisory protection to our trustees, volunteers and residents. We expect to complete this process this calendar year.
A substantial bequest is being made to the Trust which will allow more property to be bought and utilised for the expanded use of our residents. This is expected to be finalised in the summer of 2024 and will be announced in detail at that time.
The Trust’s founder, Sarah Hosking, was included in the King’s Birthday Honours list for summer 2024 and awarded an MBE for services to literature and the arts. This is in recognition not only of her initiation of the Hosking Houses Trust but also for innovative work in the world of government arts subsidy during the 1970/80s and her work in the NHS on environmental issues.
31st December 2022
As the year ends we have a few happy announcements:
Our Open House Project now has an Artistic Director, Sarah Mullen. The project, funded by Arts Council England and also supported by the Amazon Literary Partnership and Writing West Midlands, will see ten emerging women writers participate in a programme that includes a week’s residency at Church Cottage, introductions to publishers and literary agents, mentoring, and training in public performance. Sarah Mullen was an ideal candidate given her background in establishing literary festivals and ownership of an independent bookshop, The Bookshop on the Green in Bournville, Birmingham. She has also established two literary charities and understands well the world of Hosking Houses Trust. We are delighted to welcome her to the Trust.
Management of the Trust’s residency programme is in new hands. Two women, both authors themselves and long associated with the Trust, Professor Louise Campbell and Elizabeth Speller, have taken on the task of publicising the residency scheme and selecting residents for 2023. In the new year, you should see announcements on this website about the new programme.
Three new trustees have joined the Trust this year: Helen Maclagan OBE and Carole Manship joined in May and Margo Galvin in the autumn (following the completion of her MA in Shakespeare and Theatre). All bring a wealth of knowledge, experience and skills and the Trust is in excellent hands as it moves into 2023. We were sorry to say goodbye to a number of retiring trustees and thank them for their service: Kate McLuskie and Teresa Howard, who were both long serving and influenced the development of the Trust; Mary Jane Baxter, Marion Fleetwood, Stefan Buczacki, Rachel Drake and Syan Kent.
12th July 2022
Sarah has been invested as an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. See the picture story RSL Investiture.
6th July 2021
The Hosking Houses Trust is extremely proud to announce that our founder Sarah Hosking has been appointed an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. In addition, our Patron, Emma Thompson has been made a Fellow.
They are among the 15 new Honorary Fellows and 29 Fellows created this year (2021) by the RSL, which was founded in 1820 to act as a voice for the value of literature, to engage people in the written word and to encourage and honour writers.
Daljit Nagra, Chair of the RSL.
“In everything we do, the RSL works to bring writers and readers together, to draw people together in a shared love of literature, and through that sharing of great writing to enrich each other’s lives. The new Fellows and Honorary Fellows, alongside our Reading Together programme for young people, all pay testament to the vitality of writing in the UK and give a sign of what literature can do to shape society, and to change lives.”
Huge congratulations to both Sarah and Emma on this considerable honour.
For further information please visit the RSL website www.rsliterature.org