AFTER 17 years of service to the March Almshouse and Pension Charities, clerk and treasurer Helen Fosbueary has hung up her pen and ledger and retired from the job.

A presentation of a photo frame was made to Helen at the Jenyns House almshouses in The Avenue yesterday, when trustees chairman Freddie Grounds paid tribute to her long standing commitment and care.

He said: “Although the trustees are not directly responsible for the health and treatment of the almspersons, Helen has overseen the almsperson with much loving care and kindness, and has carried out her duties most diligently.”

“After 17 years, she quite understandably feels she would like to spend more time pursuing her career as a wife and grandmother.”

The original March almshouses were on the site of the current March museum, they provided free accommodation and were built at the expense of Roger Jenyns in 1672.

These were replaced with Jenyns House in The Avenue in 1851. Originally eight homes with one shared bathroom, the property was modernised and converted into four homes in 1973.

Eight trustees meet on a regular basis to ensure the Grade II listed building is maintained, and over the last 10 years the building has been substantially upgraded, with a new roof, windows and bathrooms. Twenty-one allotments at the rear of the property are let under licence.