| Founder(s) | William Harpur |
|---|---|
| Type | Charitable trust |
| Founded | 1566 |
| Location | Princeton Court, Pilgrim Centre, Brickhill Drive, Bedford, England |
| Focus | Education and Almshouses |
| Website | http://www.bedfordcharity.org.uk |
The Bedford Charity (The Harpur Trust) is a charity in Bedford, England which is principally concerned with the operation of private schools. The Bedford Charity (The Harpur Trust) is the legal name, but it is most often referred to as the Harpur Trust.
The stated aims of the Harpur Trust are as follows:
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The Bedford Charity was founded in 1566 by Sir William Harpur (1496-1573). Harpur was a merchant from Bedford who became Lord Mayor of London in 1561. He was knighted in the following year. In 1566 he and his wife Dame Alice gave an endowment which consisted of some property in Bedford and 13 acres (53,000 m2) of water-meadows which are now Holborn. It was to support free schooling, dowries for poor maidens and “nourishing and informing poor children”. The school which he had founded in Bedford eventually became Bedford School. It was not until 1882 that girls' education was introduced.
Today the trust runs a range of fee-charging private schools:
It is these schools run by the Harpur Trust that make Bedford famous for the quality of its private education. In March 2009, the Harpur Trust confirmed it would enter the state education sector with the opening of a new academy in Bedford: Bedford Academy opened in September 2010, and is sponsored by the Harpur Trust along with Bedford College.[1]
The Harpur Trust also runs almhouses in Bedford and the nearby village of Bromham, and has a grants programme for local good causes. The Trust's gross income for the year to 30 June 2006 was £46,646,000, and at that date it had investments valued at just over £80 million. Its current Chief Executive is David Russell.