Partners

Four neighbours, all within walking distance.

Our partnerships are with the institutions that share our parish. We do not enter into agreements with national bodies; we are too small. These four are our local working family.

Two pairs of hands across a parish-room table sealing a simple paper agreement headed 'Mary Wrench Charity · A note of partnership with Cranford Church of England Primary School · 2026'.
St John the Baptist Church, Knutsford — roundel mark

St John the Baptist Church · Knutsford

The parish church. Our meeting place, our archive home, and the seat of our chairing trustee under the founding deed.

Since: 1830 (the deed itself)

Cranford C of E Primary School — roundel mark

Cranford C of E Primary School

Recipient of the annual £400 Cranford School Fund grant. The school's pastoral team decides quietly how the fund is spent each year.

Since: 1982

Knutsford Town Council — roundel mark

Knutsford Town Council

The civic neighbour. Grants the use of the Royal George coach-house annually for the Christmas tea, free of charge.

Since: 1996

Knutsford Deanery — roundel mark

Knutsford Deanery · Diocese of Chester

Consulted on trustee appointments and standing safeguarding policy.

Since: 1964 (by reading of the deed)

What partnership means here

A note rather than a contract.

The trust does not enter into formal partnership agreements with national charities or corporate bodies. We are small enough that the relationships we keep are best kept by hand, on a single sheet of cream paper signed by both parties and tucked into the cashbook. The four partnerships above are all of this kind. The Cranford School partnership is renewed each Michaelmas with a one-page note headed 'A note of partnership with Cranford C of E Primary'; the school countersigns and returns it.

We have, on three occasions in the last five years, been approached by larger bodies seeking to partner with us — once by a national foundation, once by a regional CSR programme, and once by a property developer with a Knutsford site. We have declined all three, with regret, on the grounds that we cannot bring anything to those tables that would be of use, and that the time involved in such relationships is better spent on the visiting round.

If you are nearby and would like to talk

If you are a Knutsford-based organisation — a school, a community group, a place of worship, a small business with a kitchen-table-shaped offer — and you would like to talk to the trustees, we would be glad to hear from you. We are slow, but we read everything. Please use the form below, or simply walk in on a Tuesday evening.

Write to the trustees

A partnership enquiry.

Or by post

A printed letter to the parish office still works.