Shepherds Friendly Society is a UK

friendly society A friendly society (sometimes called a benefit society, mutual aid society, benevolent society, fraternal organization or ROSCA) is a mutual association for the purposes of insurance, pensions, savings or cooperative banking. It is a mutual ...

and one of the oldest

mutual insurer A mutual insurance company is an insurance company owned entirely by its policyholders. Any profits earned by a mutual insurance company are either retained within the company or rebated to policyholders in the form of dividend distributions or re ...

s in the world. It is an incorporated society in the United Kingdom within the meaning of the

Friendly Societies Act 1992 Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States ...

. It has over 100,000 members.

History

The

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

led to major changes in society, with village communities diminishing and new towns and industries springing up. As there was no state provision for the poor, mutual aid organisations known as friendly societies were established to help families against hardship brought about by illness or death. Such societies began as locally based groups, whose members contributed a small amount each month so that payouts could be made to those in need, with the rest of the money received either saved or invested. Shepherds Friendly started life as a sickness and benefits society, Ashton Unity, which was formed in

Ashton-under-Lyne Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population was 45,198 at the 2011 census. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, in the foothills of the Pennines, east of Manche ...

, Lancashire on Christmas Day in 1826. It was later renamed as the Loyal Order of Ancient Shepherds, " loyal" referring to the Crown and "

shepherds A shepherd or sheepherder is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. ''Shepherd'' derives from Old English ''sceaphierde (''sceap'' 'sheep' + ''hierde'' 'herder'). ''Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations, i ...

" to the Nativity of Jesus. Its objects were "to relieve the sick, bury the dead, and assist each other in all cases of unavoidable distress, so far as in our power lies, and for the promotion of peace and goodwill towards the human race". It later spread across the country, organised into local branches; like other friendly societies such as the Oddfellows, these were known as 'lodges', and officers wore regalia somewhat similar to those of freemasons. By 1914 the membership had grown to 143,000. The Ancient Shepherds raised substantial funds from its members to support charities, presenting two lifeboats to the RNLI in the 1800s, and supported the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...

and

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...

in the Second World War. Various similar mutual associations have since amalgamated with it, including the Royal Shepherds Sanctuary Benefit Society which was established in Yorkshire in the early 19th century, and the Ancient Order of Shepherds.

Current products

Shepherds Friendly Society has changed from a traditional insurance provider to a modern diversified financial services organisation.Why half the members of trade unions have private health care
''Daily Telegraph'', 11 Sep 2001 It offers a range of savings, protection and insurance plans for its members.

References

External links

* {{Official website, 1=http://www.shepherdsfriendly.co.uk Friendly societies of the United Kingdom Financial services companies established in 1826 Companies based in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport 1826 establishments in the United Kingdom