Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence received.

There were no items of urgent business received.

There were no declarations of interest received.

There were no public questions received.

The Minutes of the meeting of the Charitable Trust Committee held on Wednesday 11^th March are attached for approval.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 11^th March 2020 be approved as a correct record.

Consideration was given to a report of the Director of Finance which recommended approval of the Clayton Playing Fields Trust accounts to enable the Trustees to make an appropriate resolution at their Annual General Meeting to approve the accounts of the Clayton Playing Fields Trust for the year ended 31 March 2020.

The Committee were informed that the Charity Commission required all charities to hold an annual general meeting and approve the latest year’s financial statement at the meeting. It was also a requirement than an annual return be sent to the Charity Commission with, amongst other things, the main financial details. The presentation of the report and approval of its recommendations would enable the Trustees to discharge this requirement.

The Committee noted the summary of the financial position of the Trust and the following key points:-

·         Expenses of £39,132 were incurred which were higher than the £37,985 incurred in 2018/19.

·         Income from lettings was £8,540 which was a reduction of £85 from the £8,625 received in 2018/19.

·         Interest on investments was £465, an increase of £105 from 2018/19.

·         The Council was required to make up the deficit which for 2019/20 was £30,127, which was an increase of £1,127 compared to 2018/19. This was funded from the Councils Asset Management budget.

·         The Trust had investments of £54,000 which were managed by the Council.

RESOLVED that the Clayton Playing Fields Trust accounts for the year ended 31 March 2020 be approved.

The Committee gave consideration to a report of the Strategic Director of Communities and Reform which provided them with an update on the application to the Charity Commission to broaden the objectives of the charity to Nature-based educational activities.

The Committee noted the history of the site and were informed that, further to their resolution on 11^th March 2020, an application was made to the

Charity Commission to broaden the objects of the charity with some proposed new objects for its consideration. The Charity Commission had declined the proposed new objects and had suggested its own new objects as set out in the draft Cy-pres scheme.

The objects proposed were: “To promote for the benefit of the inhabitants of the borough of Oldham and the surrounding area the provision of facilities for recreation or other leisure time occupation of individuals who have need of such facilities by reason of their youth, age, infirmity or disablement, financial hardship or social and economic circumstances or for the public at large in the interests of social welfare and with the object of improving the condition of life of the said inhabitants.”

The Committee was informed that the recreation ground was in the centre of the land covered by the Northern Roots Project and the release of the limited objects for the use of the land and the widening of the objects proposed by the Charity Commission would enable the Northern Roots Project to make better use of the site in alignment with the overall development of the area.

RESOLVED that:-

1.    The report be noted

2.    The draft Cy-Pres Scheme be approved.

Consideration was given to a report of the Strategic Director of Communities and Reform which proposed that an application be made to the Charity Commission to release the permanent endowment of the Sarah Anne Lees Charity for distribution via means of grants to local voluntary and community organisations who could demonstrate their activity met the charitable objects.

The Committee noted the Charity’s capital asset, 146 Werneth Hall Road, had recently been sold with funds of £277,069.22 now held in the charitable trust account.

The objects of the Charity were to advance the education of the public by grant funding charities offering training and learning in the life skills necessary to manage financial hardship, social or economic deprivation, social exclusion or poor mental or physical health.

The Committee noted that the income from the investment of the funds at the current time was minimal and insufficient to achieve the charitable purposes.

There were more than 1,200 voluntary and community organisations in Oldham, a significant proportion of which undertook activity which would be aligned to the objects of the charity. Covid19 had presented a further challenge with regards the financial resilience and long term viability of those organisations due to reducing their ability to fundraise or generate income whilst demand for their services had increased.

The Committee was informed that more than half of organisations surveyed in Oldham during the crisis had concerns about their financial sustainability over the next 3-6 months. Although emergency funds had been made available nationally and locally, these were largely focused on crisis response, rather than maintaining vital core activities which continued to be needed more than ever.

This presented an opportune time to invest in the sector to deliver the objects of the Charity, which were clearly in line with the needs of communities at the current time. It was proposed that a mechanism was established to enable community and voluntary organisations to bid for grants, and through this bid to demonstrate how their project or activity met the charitable objectives, how the funds would be used, how the activity would be sustained and how the impact of the activity would be evaluated. A Panel would be convened to review bids and make recommendations for a final decision to award by the Charitable Trust Committee.

RESOLVED that an application be made to the Charity Commission to release the permanent endowment of the Sarah Anne Lees Charity for distribution via means of grants to local voluntary and community organisations who could demonstrate their activity met the charitable objects.