The origins of the Magdalen and Lasher Charity go back to 1294, when Petronilla de Cham donated over 5 acres of farmland (known as the Maudlin Lands) lying mostly to the west of the present day Bohemia Road to support an old peoples' home known as the Maudlin Hospital. Over the centuries other local benefactors, notably William Parker in 1619, James Saunders and Thomas Lasher, gave substantial gifts of land to support charities for the care of the elderly, the relief of poverty and schooling of local children. The income from the charitable land holdings consisted mostly of rent from tenant farmers and was insufficient to maintain any of the charitable activities continuously at a satisfactory level. Neither of the two schools (Parker's and Saunder's) had permanent premises, for example, and occasionally had to cease operations for lack of money or a room in which to teach.

By the middle of the nineteenth century, Hastings was being transformed from a small fishing port located in the Bourne Valley to a large, prosperous and rapidly expanding seaside resort. The previously low value agricultural land was becoming high value development land. in 1847, for example, the Trustees of the Maudlin lands sold to the South Eastern Railway Company the site on which to build Warrior Square station.

The potential for charitable activity was being greatly increased, but so also was the potential for encroachment, mismanagement and misappropriation. The Charity Commission intervened and in 1877/78 it prepared a scheme drawing all the Charities and their endowments together and redistributing them into two charities: The Magdalen & Lasher Charity and the Hastings Grammar School (now the William Parker Foundation).

The current objectives of the Charity are:-

• To pay pensions to elderly and necessitous residents of Hastings

• To manage Old Hastings House

• To provide relief in need

• To support the provision of education in the Borough

The Charity pays pensions of £300 per year to 225 elderly residents of Hastings. It funds an outreach worker, located within the Hastings Advice and Representation Centre (HARC), to act as their Visitor and provide advice on social security benefits. It provides grants to meet the needs of individuals in financial distress and to fund the activities of other local charitable organisations. It provides grants to schools for equipment and projects and bursaries to individual students. It owns and runs Old Hastings House on a not-for-profit basis.