{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2018}}
{{Infobox company
-| logo = [[File:National Friendly Logo.png]]
-| name = National Friendly
-| type = [[Friendly Society]]
-| foundation = 1868 ([[Albury, Surrey]])
-| location = 11-12 Queen Square <br>Bristol<br>BS1 4NT<br>
-|area_served = [[United Kingdom]]
-| num_employees = 60
-|products = [[Health insurance]], later life care, life assurance and [[investment]] products
-| industry = Insurance
-|subsid = National Friendly Financial Solutions Limited
-| homepage = {{URL|www.nationalfriendly.co.uk}}
+| logo = [[File:National Friendly Logo.png]]
+| name = National Friendly
+| type = [[Friendly Society]]
+| foundation = 1868 ([[Albury, Surrey]])
+| location = 11-12 Queen Square <br>Bristol<br>BS1 4NT<br>
+| area_served = [[United Kingdom]]
+| products = [[Health insurance]], later life care, life assurance and [[investment]] products
+| industry = Insurance
+| subsid = National Friendly Financial Solutions Limited
+| homepage = {{URL|www.nationalfriendly.co.uk}}
}}
-[[File:National Friendly's Head Office.jpg|thumb|11-12 Queen Square, Bristol]]
+[[File:National Friendly's Head Office.jpg|thumb|Office at 11-12 Queen Square, Bristol]]
-'''National Friendly''' is the trading name of National Deposit Friendly Society, a British [[friendly society]] providing financial products and services. It was formed in 1868 as the Surrey Deposit Friendly Society and is currently based in [[Queen Square, Bristol]] .<ref>[https://nationalfriendly.co.uk/about-us/ National Friendly - About us]</ref>
+'''National Friendly''' is the trading name of National Deposit Friendly Society, a British [[friendly society]] providing financial products and services.
-== History ==
-
-===The first 50 years===
-
-The Surrey Deposit Friendly Society was founded in 1868 by The Reverend Canon George Raymond Portal, who set up a scheme to support the health and welfare of families. The name was changed to National Deposit Friendly Society in 1871.
-
-The National Insurance Act was introduced in 1911 and this was the first time the State took contributions from the public towards medical care.<ref>[https://schoolshistory.org.uk/topics/british-history/modern-britain/liberal-reforms/national-insurance-act-1911/ National Insurance Act 1911]</ref> Friendly societies and trade unions were given a major role in administering health insurance, which increased National Friendly’s membership.<ref>Cordery, Simon. British friendly societies, 1750-1914 (Springer, 2003)</ref> <ref>Beveridge, William H., Voluntary Action: A Report on Methods of Social Advance (Routledge, 2015)</ref>
-
-During [[World War I]], National Friendly established its own convalescent home, which offered support to the injured soldiers.<ref>http://catalogue.stmargaretshistory.org.uk/collections/show/78 St. Margaret's Village Archive: Portal House</ref>
-
-===The Second 50 years===
-
-During [[World War II]], National Friendly moved to [[Somerset]].<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Nc89BaPe3o&feature= National Friendly - 150 Years Together</ref> The NHS was formed in 1948, bringing a huge change in the provision of medical services.
-
-It continued to sell a stream of endowments while looking for new forms of income, including taking over the Railway Deposit Friendly Society.<ref>http://www.creditfinancecentre.co.uk/national_deposit_friendly_article.html National Deposit Friendly Article</ref>
-
-===The Third 50 years===
+It was formed in 1868 as the Surrey Deposit Friendly Society. {{As of|2021|post=,}} National Friendly is based in [[Queen Square, Bristol]].<ref name="csb_promosignmaker"/><ref name="nf_homepage"/>
-In 1982 National Friendly moved to [[Clifton, Bristol]] and put a new General Secretary in place. Its assets increased and tipped over £100 million as it celebrated its 125th birthday.
-
-The migration from cheques and cash to direct debt meant that it could streamline its offices to just one building and in 2014 it moved to [[Queen Square, Bristol]].<ref>http://www.capitolsignsbristol.co.uk/europes-largest-georgian-square-becomes-new-home-for-national-friendly/ Europe’s largest Georgian Square becomes new home for National Friendly</ref>
-
-In 2016, after a period of focusing on existing members, National Friendly returned to the health care market and over the following years released a range of new products.<ref>https://www.ftadviser.com/2016/06/20/insurance/national-friendly-returns-to-intermediary-market-j6CWuWBg7TVGQr1BXB9oKP/article.html National Friendly returns to intermediary market</ref><ref>https://www.healthinsurancedaily.com/health-insurance/product-area/long-term-care/article482833.ece National Friendly launches Assisted Living Assurance</ref><ref>https://www.covermagazine.co.uk/cover/news/3030510/national-friendly-launches-over-50s-guaranteed-life-assurance-plan National Friendly launches over 50s guaranteed life assurance plan</ref>
-
-In 2018, National Friendly celebrated its 150th anniversary and released a commemorative logo.
-
-
-[[File:National Friendly 150 Logo.png|National Friendly's gold logo to commemorate their 150th anniversary.]]
+== History ==
+{{Advert section|date=July 2022|2=Most content is from self-promotional material published by the National Friendly.}}
+The Society was founded in 1868 by the Rev. George Raymond Portal to provide sickness cover for the poor. Portal was born in 1827 and educated at Rugby School where he was friendly with [[Thomas Hughes]] (Tom Brown's Schooldays) and [[Charles L Dodgson]] (Lewis Carroll). After ordination, Portal worked in London where his exposure to the appalling level of poverty was the impetus for the establishment of the friendly society. In 1858 Portal was appointed Rector of Albury, near [[Guildford]]; ten years later he started the Surrey County Deposit Benefit Club.<ref name=Roper>Roper and Harrison, ''The First Hundred Years 1868-1968'',</ref>
-==Fundraising and supporting the community==
+The deposit system was the idea of Rev. Samuel Best, Rector of [[Abbots Ann]] in [[Andover, Hampshire|Andover]]. In essence, the deposit principle was that part of the contribution was for the benefit of the individual, and part for the common pool. Portal's Society was unusual in that it admitted women and children, By the end of 1869 the Society had around 200 members and was beginning to spread into the surrounding villages and then [[Guildford]] where it had a small office with a general secretary. In 1871, Portal was appointed to the living of Burghclere in [[Hampshire]] at the instigation of his friend [[Henry Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon|Lord Caernarvon]].<ref name=Roper/>
-National Friendly's employees choose a ‘Charity of the Year’ to raise funds for on an annual basis. Firstly, all its staff are invited to nominate charities about which they are passionate. The CSR committee, against pre-agreed selection criteria, then reviews nominations to create a shortlist. All staff then vote from the shortlist for their preferred charity of the year and the charity with the most votes is selected.<ref>https://nationalfriendly.co.uk/media/1646/annual-report-2017.pdf National Friendly Annual Report and Financial Statements 2017</ref>
+Whether or not it was co-incidental, Portal's move marked a radical change in the scale of the Society. He proposed a move into other counties and to facilitate that, a new organisational structure was established and the name changed to the ambitious National Deposit Friendly Society. The first moves were into [[Berkshire]] and [[Hampshire]]. George Portal died in 1889, with the National Deposit's membership approaching 7,000; in 1897 London became the new headquarters. Two years later there were 36,000 members and by 1930, the membership reached one million.<ref name=Roper/>
-Over the past five years it has selected charities such as [[Alzheimer's Society]], Wallace and Gromit's Grand Appeal, Penny Brohn UK, [[St Mungo's (charity)|St Mungo's]] and [[Cystic Fibrosis Trust]], raising over £50,000 in funds.<ref>https://nationalfriendly.co.uk/about-us/corporate-governance/ National Friendly - Corporate Governance</ref>
+By providing state benefits, the 1911 National Insurance Act had the potential to threaten the voluntary principle of the voluntary system. However, the administrative systems of the friendly societies were necessary to implement the State scheme and the National Deposit was the first friendly society to become an approved administrator under the act; in the event, membership increased.<ref name=Roper/><ref name="bma_1913_act1911passed"/><ref name="sc_insuranceact"/><ref name="cordery_2003_friendlysocieties"/><ref name="beveridge_2015_voluntaryaction"/> At the end of [[World War I]], National Deposit established its own convalescent home, which offered support to injured soldiers.<ref name="smh_2020_portalhouse"/><ref name=national>{{Cite web|url=https://nationalfriendly.co.uk/about-us/|title = About us - National Friendly}}</ref> The establishment of the [[National Health Service]] posed similar threats and in 1949 the National Deposit lost 278,000 members. The Society responded by issuing a range of new policies during the 1950s and 1960s, such as variations in the length of sickness cover. In 1982 the Society moved to Bristol.<ref name=national/>
-National Friendly has also supported the local community in the Bristol area by sponsoring local sports teams and working with Ablaze's 'Reading Buddy' programme to help improve the reading and communications skills of local primary school children.
+In 2011, National Friendly stopped writing new health insurance policies due to capital inadequacy issues. It resumed such activity in 2016.<ref name="fta_20160620_natfriendreturn"/>
== References ==
-{{Reflist}}
+{{Reflist|refs=
+
+<ref name="nf_homepage">{{cite web
+ |url = https://nationalfriendly.co.uk/about-us/
+ |title = About Us
+ |website = nationalfriendly.co.uk
+ |language = en
+ |access-date = 15 July 2021
+ |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180725122857/https://nationalfriendly.co.uk/about-us/
+ |archive-date = 25 July 2018
+ |url-status = live
+}}</ref>
+
+<ref name="bma_1913_act1911passed">{{cite journal
+ |last1 = BMA
+ |author-link = British Medical Association
+ |title = Regulations For Medical Benefit. Text Of The New Draft Regulations
+ |journal = [[The British Medical Journal]]
+ |date = 1913
+ |volume = 2
+ |issue = 2759
+ |pages = 401–420
+ |jstor = 25307868
+}}</ref>
+
+<ref name="sc_insuranceact">{{cite web
+ |url = https://schoolshistory.org.uk/topics/british-history/modern-britain/liberal-reforms/national-insurance-act-1911/
+ |title = National Insurance Act 1911
+ |author = Dan Moorehouse
+ |website = schoolhistory.org.uk
+ |access-date = 15 July 2021
+ |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191102105546/https://schoolshistory.org.uk/topics/british-history/modern-britain/liberal-reforms/national-insurance-act-1911/
+ |archive-date = 2 November 2019
+ |url-status = live
+}}</ref>
+
+<ref name="cordery_2003_friendlysocieties">{{cite book
+ |last = Cordery
+ |first = Simon
+ |title = British friendly societies, 1750-1914
+ |publisher = Palgrave Macmillan
+ |location = Basingstoke
+ |date = 2003
+ |oclc = 1205395891
+ |isbn = 9780230598041
+}}</ref>
+
+<ref name="beveridge_2015_voluntaryaction">{{cite book
+ |last = Beveridge
+ |first = William H.
+ |title = Voluntary Action: A Report on Methods of Social Advance
+ |publisher = Routledge
+ |location = London
+ |date = 2015
+ |oclc = 897376725
+ |isbn = 9781317572992
+}}</ref>
+
+<ref name="smh_2020_portalhouse">{{cite web
+ |url = http://catalogue.stmargaretshistory.org.uk/collections/show/78
+ |website = St. Margaret's Village Archive
+ |title = Portal House
+ |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200114225216/http://catalogue.stmargaretshistory.org.uk/collections/show/78
+ |archive-date = 14 January 2020
+ |url-status = dead
+}}</ref>
+
+<!-- <ref name="nfs_2018_promovideo150years">{{cite AV media
+ |url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Nc89BaPe3o
+ |title = National Friendly - 150 Years Together
+ |type = Motion picture
+ |date = 20 April 2018
+ |website = [[YouTube]]
+ |time = 0m52s
+}}</ref> -->
+
+<ref name="csb_promosignmaker">{{cite web
+ |url = http://www.capitolsignsbristol.co.uk/europes-largest-georgian-square-becomes-new-home-for-national-friendly/
+ |title = Europe's largest Georgian Square becomes new home for National Friendly
+ |website = capitolsignsbristol.co.uk
+ |date = 2 August 2019
+ |access-date = 16 July 2021
+ |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200928035944/https://capitolsignsbristol.co.uk/europes-largest-georgian-square-becomes-new-home-for-national-friendly/
+ |archive-date = 28 September 2020
+ |url-status = live
+}}</ref>
+
+<ref name="fta_20160620_natfriendreturn">{{cite web
+ |last = Walker
+ |first = Peter
+ |url = https://www.ftadviser.com/2016/06/20/insurance/national-friendly-returns-to-intermediary-market-j6CWuWBg7TVGQr1BXB9oKP/article.html
+ |date = 20 June 2016
+ |website = FT Adviser
+ |title = National Friendly returns to intermediary market
+ |access-date = 16 July 2021
+ |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160621130725/http://www.ftadviser.com/2016/06/20/insurance/national-friendly-returns-to-intermediary-market-j6CWuWBg7TVGQr1BXB9oKP/article.html
+ |archive-date = 21 June 2016
+ |url-status = live
+}}</ref>
+
+}}
[[Category:Financial services companies established in 1868]]
[[Category:Friendly societies of the United Kingdom]]