SURREY DISPENSARY
Surrey Dispensary (charity registration number 208091) is another historic, endowed Southwark charity. It was founded in 1777 to administer advice and medicine to the poor in the north of what is now the London Borough of Southwark. Originally the Dispensary was a physical building, located first in Montague Street and later, from 1927, in Falmouth Road. The Falmouth Road building was closed in 1971, after which the Dispensary existed only as an endowed charitable fund.
The income from the fund is to be applied “for the purpose of relieving in cases of need persons … who are sick, convalescent, disabled, handicapped [sic] or infirm by providing or paying for items, services or facilities which are calculated to alleviate the suffering or assist the recovery of such persons in such cases but are not readily available to them from other sources.”
The Dispensary’s area of benefit incorporates the whole of the St George the Martyr Charity area of benefit plus the former Metropolitan Borough of Bermondsey (see map below). Grants may be awarded to individuals and organisations.
Since January 2019, St George the Martyr Charity has been providing the ‘clerking’ function for the Surrey Dispensary trustees. This includes administering the Charity’s grant giving, both the individuals and organisations.
The Charity does not accept direct applications for grants to individuals, only referrals from recognised public and voluntary sector agencies, for example: the NHS Social Prescriber Link Workers that are based in GP surgeries, Age UK Lewisham & Southwark, Time & Talents and Southwark Council Social services teams. Agencies wishing to make a referral should download, complete and submit (by e-mail) the form below:
Organisations wishing to apply for grants should contact Andy Murphy at St George the Martyr Charity by e-mail at: surreydispensary@stgeorge1584.org.uk.
