John Richmond, a Freeman and former mayor of the city of Ripon, is calling for the resignation of three charity trustees at the centre of a highly controversial eviction, that will make a family with four children homeless in less than a fortnight.
The 90-year-old former Methodist preacher who has been a churchgoer for all his life said:
“Almost 30,000 people from Ripon and across the UK have now signed the Change.Org petition that I launched ten days ago, respectfully calling on Holy Trinity Properties Trust to reconsider the eviction notice it has served on Linsey Reeves, her husband and their four children, one of whom is autistic.
The family say they have had many issues with the property and have always raised details of what needs fixing. They also say they have always paid their rent on time.
Mr Richmond added: “With no satisfactory response from any of those who could readily have the notice removed, the Anglican Church, along with people of all faiths and non, need to wake up to the fact that the actions of three Trustees – Robert Thew, Susan Crompton and Marjorie Warner – are bringing the good name of Holy Trinity Church and our wider Christian community into disrepute.
“As they are completely out of step with the vast majority of people who find their un-Christian actions totally unacceptable, it is time for all three of them to resign.
The trustees of Holy Trinity Properties Trust say, on the Charity Commission’s website, that they are ‘furthering the religious and other charitable work of Holy Trinity Church’
The church, just over the road, is not involved in the management of the trust. Its parishioners are, by and large, deeply concerned about the effect the matter is having on their place of worship and the church in general though.
John Richmond continued: “To my mind, their behaviour deems them unfit to carry out these duties, as seen by the fact that chairman of the trust Mr Thew, has refused repeated requests from the Mayor of Ripon Councillor Andrew Williams, to meet with him to discuss the increasingly urgent plight of Mr and Mrs Reeves and their four children.
“I’m afraid it’s a case of shame on you, and your fellow trustees.”
The devastating eviction notice was hand-delivered to the family by a member of staff from estate agents Linley & Simpson on April 29th – less than a month after Ripon Cathedral, enjoyed UK-wide positive exposure and praise after being selected BBC One as the location for its live Easter Sunday Morning broadcast, watched by hundreds of thousands of viewers.
Mr Richmond pointed out: “I met with John Dobson the Dean of Ripon last week to tell him about the situation being faced by the Reeves family and the petition I have raised.
“We both agreed that the timing and execution of the eviction notice, leaves many unanswered questions, while doing nothing but harm to the reputation of Ripon and its status as a City of Sanctuary.
“Dean John said he would arrange an urgent meeting with Philip Carman, the Vicar of Holy Trinity and I hope that the church and its parishioners will let the trustees know in no uncertain terms that the eviction notice and the way in which they have handled this matter, is un-warranted, unacceptable and, above all un-Christian.”
In addition to refusing to speak with the mayor, Mr Thew has not been replying to messages from YorkMix Radio either. We will update this story if he does.
