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THE ALMONER - AN ANCIENT ROLE REDEFINED.
THE ALMONER - AN ANCIENT ROLE REDEFINED.
Going back to a time when City Guilds and Livery Companies first began, one of their main purposes was to be charitable; to bring some financial aid and support to those in suffering, including their own members. Such fund raising was done on an ad hoc, non-regularised basis for the most part and it was not until the 1970s that the Corporation of London made it a requirement that these funds exist more formally.
Our own Company, even before its grant of livery in 1944, initially asked that each of its members donate a sum that should not be more than £1.05 (£106 in today’s money) and when all this was collected, a cheque for the combined amount was presented by the then Master of our Company to the Lord Mayor at the Company’s Inaugural Dinner in 1909. These monies were to be used to aid victims of a recent earthquake.
In 1946, A.T. Cummings, who had gone through the ranks from Clerk to Master, provided a poor box into which newly admitted members were encouraged to make a donation.
It was not until 1965 that the then Master, T.G. Bennett, felt a more formal approach should be taken and a charitable fund properly established. Within six months of it being set up, this fund amassed £151 (£2500 in today's money) but it was then decreed that only one third of raised donations should be spent on charitable help and the remainder should be held to build up a capital reserve.
In 1970, the Lord Mayor, Sir Peter Studd, launched an appeal to do some works on St Paul's Cathedral. The donation from the Solicitors’ Company was £25 (£336 in today's money).
This did not go down very well with the Lord Mayor and both the Master and the Company were well and truly berated at the Mansion House Banquet for only contributing such a meagre sum.
Embarrassed and angry at this public humiliation, the Master, one John Snaith, created a new office of Almoner, a traditional Livery Company role, which he personally took on after ceasing to be Master and which he was to hold for 13 years during which time he turned the fund around, ensuring and encouraging donations and arranging their distribution to worthy charitable causes.
Today, the City of London Solicitors' Company's charitable activities are conducted through its Charities Committee which manages the Company's Charitable Fund and the City of London Solicitors' Educational Trust which oversees our City Solicitors Horizons initiative and the Social Welfare Solicitors Qualification Fund. It has a capital base of over £800,000 and it makes awards each year totalling over £40,000. The objects of the Charitable Fund are wide enough to permit donations for any charitable purposes, but the Court of the Company agreed guidelines in October 2007 which give precedence to organisations which have charitable purposes with a legal or City of London connection.
Although the role of Almoner in the Company created by John Snaith had been assumed by the Charities Committee, our current Master Edmund Parker and our Court has breathed life back into the concept, by appointing Dominic Griffiths, Mayer Brown LLP’s London Managing Partner as our new Almoner in the more historic role of ensuring that the Company cares for its members when they are times of need.
“A lot of what Livery Companies did in the City hundreds of years ago is and should still be relevant today. The idea of providing aid to those suffering is not just about giving money, but also about giving care and support to everyone in our profession who needs it not only lawyers and not only our own members, but more broadly.
Mental health is a huge issue right now and we have to do as much as we can to make sure we care for people and that means providing support, a listening ear, signposting to organisations that can provide professional help. If anyone finds themselves in a position of difficulty or despair, we should be able to find the means to comfort them, in whatever form that entails.
Bereavement is another factor which can greatly affect people and I believe it is a part of my role to reach out to those people affected and provide not just condolences but any practical guidance we can give.
The same is true of people who have fallen on hard times; guidance as to what to do next can be invaluable. I have also found that we lawyers are some of the least well prepared for retirement so when it does come, it can hit hard. That is where we can step in, again signposting
where and how to get advice and help; support and training where appropriate and requested.
There is so much talk around well-being in our profession right now, but I feel we need to do more than talk. We need to look after our young lawyers who are the lifeblood of our organisations, and more senior lawyers some of whom, perhaps, have never been used to communicating what they may be feeling.
Kind words and gestures are not everything people need in difficult times, but being connected to and talking with others who understand can make some positive difference.”
Dominic is someone who has spoken very openly about mental health, including his own experiences, which made him probably one of the best people for this role. He is genuinely redefining what charity should and can do and helping making our profession a much healthier one. And, far from being a Company which was once scolded for not giving enough, now we can hold our heads high knowing we are doing all that is in our power to give as much as we can.
"A lot of what Livery companies did in the City hundreds of years ago is and should still be relevant today. The idea of providing aid…is also about giving care and support to everyone in our profession who needs it not only lawyers and not only our own members, but more broadly.”
We have to do as much as we can to make sure we care for people and that means providing support, a listening ear, signposting to organisations that can provide professional help.
