The Brentham Society

The Brentham Society is a registered charity whose main aim is to increase awareness and help protect the character and charm of Brentham Garden Suburb. The society  organises a number of annual events that foster a sense of community and encourage an appreciation of the Suburb and its history. These include fundraising and charity events such as a strawberry tea, an open garden day, carol-singing round the suburb, educational walks and talks, and an annual heritage outing. Among projects to date are a centenary book, a resource pack for schools, a DVD and a photographic virtual tour. The Brentham Society maintains a rich historical archive. Membership of the Society is open to individuals and organisations that support its objectives.

Members of the Society’s committee offer free advice to anyone thinking of making changes to their Brentham home, and they work closely with the planning department of Ealing Council to ensure that all developments or restoration works within the suburb comply with conservation rules and guidelines.

Objectives

The charitable objectives of the Brentham Society are:
For the public benefit for the following purposes in Brentham Garden Suburb:

• (A) To stimulate public interest and care for the amenity, beauty and character of Brentham Garden Suburb.
• (B) To preserve, protect and improve the amenity, beauty and character of Brentham Garden Suburb, including the features of historic, architectural, landscape and public interest there.
• (C) To promote high standards of planning and architecture in Brentham Garden Suburb.
• (D) To advance the education of the general public in the heritage, architecture and development of Brentham Garden Suburb, in particular by the collection and preservation of photographs, documents, films and other artefacts that relate to the history, architecture or development of Brentham Garden Suburb.

History of The Brentham Society

The beginnings of the Brentham Society go back to 1969, when the garden suburb was granted conservation area status. The following year, residents established the society to help preserve, conserve and promote the area.

As the centenary of the suburb approached, a group of residents undertook an ambitious project to produce a comprehensive history of the area. They soon discovered that without charitable status, the Society would not be able to access much needed funding. For this reason the Brentham Heritage Society was established in October 1999 as a charitable offshoot of the Brentham Society; it was granted charitable status in March 2000. For several years the Brentham Heritage Society worked alongside the Brentham Society in a broadly educational role – maintaining and extending the archive, and developing quality resources like the centenary book, this website, a DVD, and a schools pack.

In 2006 there was a change in charity law, which made it easier for trustees of small charities to change their objectives. The objectives of the Brentham Heritage Society were widened to encompass the work that the Brentham Society carries out. On 22nd October 2009 members voted to dissolve the Brentham Society and to rename the Brentham Heritage Society the ‘Brentham Society’.