Official Opening of Hignett Place, Oswestry, May 2015

The Chair and Committee members of Oswestry Rotary Club's Mary Hignett Bequest Fund were invited to cut the ribbon to open the new Hignett Place housing development in Oswestry this morning.

On 1 April 2013, Shropshire Towns and Rural Housing Ltd took responsibility for the management of all 4,200 Shropshire Council owned homes in the Oswestry & Bridgnorth areas.  Hignett Place has been created off the old Swan Lane, Oswestry council flats site following their demolition to make room for 19 new houses. These new affordable homes will form part of 68 new council homes built this year to be rented or sold under Shared Ownership (part rent, part buy) to help people get on the property ladder.  One property in Hignett Place will also be taken by Transhouse, the registered charity for people with spinal cord injuries, who have been supported through our Tree of Light 2014 Appeal.

Hignett Place is an ST and R development and has been renamed in honour of Mary Hignett , a much-loved local writer, teacher and naturalist who left half of her substantial estate – a substantial six-figure sum - to the Rotary Club of Oswestry. Her Will gave the Club wide discretion regarding how the money was to be administered and disbursed, with the only guidance being that it should be used mainly for local small projects in the fields of Sport and the Arts.

The Committee charged with administering the Fund meets regularly to consider applications received. Each year an invitation to interested groups to apply is published in the Advertizer during the autumn and the resulting awards are announced early in the New Year. Ad Hoc applications can also be accepted.

Most awards are in the range of £500 to £2500, but each application is treated on its merits: Is it local? Is it a project? Does it provide lasting legacy? Is it related to Sport or Art? In Rotary Year 2014/15, the following grants have been awarded: 

The Rotary Club of Oswestry feels privileged to undertake this work in memory of Mary Hignett and is delighted that her name should also be perpetuated at Hignett Place.

Report from the Oswestry Advertizer