were also many cynics who cast doubt on the story

The more I look, the more I discover that Ringmer is the village that kindness built. Ian Askew's gift here is not the only legacy of its kind, with some acts of philanthropy going back hundreds of years. In 1787, Miss Henrietta Hay left £2,000 to be invested, the interest paid to elderly people in need in the parish in the form of small pensions. Her wishes have been carried out for over 200 years, with local residents receiving windfalls every year just before Christmas. Going further back still, to the 1690s, Dame Barbara Thomas and Sybilla Stapley bequeathed £200 to pay the salary of a schoolmaster at Ringmer Charity School. Teachers' salaries may have changed in the last 300 years, but the endowment still exists, donations still being made to support the village school. And Ian Askew's legacy lives on beyond Jubilee Cottages. His Charitable Fund still supports charities and organisations across Sussex.