Tom Shore

Supporter Relations Officer at Architects Benevolent Society.

Architects Benevolent Society was set up in 1850 by leading architects to help colleagues and their dependants "​in necessitous circumstances"​. In 1853, the assets of the organisation amounted to £439. Records from that year described the Society's work, helping two widows with nine children between them, a "professional gentleman"​ and an architect "​in the evening of his life"​. These cases remain typical of what we do today.

The Society is governed by a Council of 20 trustees, working with specialist committees and a country-wide network of ambassadors - all of them volunteers.

Full-time staff include trained welfare officers, who regularly visit all the people supported by the Society, help the Case Committee decide on the most suitable form of support and give confidential advice.

We care for architects, assistants, technologists, technicians and landscape architects and their dependants - including husbands, wives, partners, widows, widowers and children.

Because nobody is immune to misfortune, we don't have age restrictions. Each applicant is assessed according to need by our Case Committee and decisions are made quickly and in confidence.

The ABS belongs to the Fundraising Standards Board as the Society has always believed in conducting fundraising in an open and transparent manner. We endorse the requirements of membership, one of which is to clearly explain our fundraising promise, and also our complaints procedure.

Watch or listen to the full conversation in the Architecture Social CPD: Architects Benevolent Society ft. Tom Shore - Supporting the Architectural Community.