Charlbury's Charities and Community Facilities

Sun 7 Apr 2013, 12:32

I do not wish to comment on the fact that some correspondents would like to avail themselves of other local charities' funds but now that it is clear that the Town Council is not to sell the CH & WMH (TC Chair at Parish Meeting) there is a workable scheme in place from the Gifford Trust which has no risk to other organisations or their funds - with the possible exception of the Football Club's Social Centre - so I believe that should go ahead if that is what Charlbury wants and needs. Please also see my posting today under the "CH & WMH to be sold?" heading.

Thu 4 Apr 2013, 16:22

Yes you're absolutely right Alan I was just pointing out there had been one in past even though when thought about it afer too late to amend, but never mind the outcome was same it closed. Hope you are keeping well.

Thu 4 Apr 2013, 14:57

Yes the YMCA was sold to a business. It was the Youth Hostel that was sold for housing.

Thu 4 Apr 2013, 13:03

Actually, if I remember rightly, the YMCA was sold and became a business---but perhaps I'm wrong. It must have been pre mid 1970s.

Thu 4 Apr 2013, 01:01

We always end up cutting off our noses to spite our faces, don't we?!!

Thu 28 Mar 2013, 06:28

The reason being our YMCA was closed down and sold for housing many years ago!

Wed 27 Mar 2013, 22:54

Maybe pie-in-the-sky or irrelevant, but I was just thinking the other day that if Charlbury's wanting a really brilliant sports facility, then what about partnering with YMCA? In the US, at least, their leisure centres are amazing, and from what I can tell, there's not another YMCA until you get to Cheltenham or Milton Keynes or High Wycombe.

Tue 26 Mar 2013, 22:47

Eileen, your comments and valued information on the current usage is something that needs to be considered . we must remember that the facilities are here for all members of the community and the current trustees are in place to act in the interest of the town and the future generations. The past decisions of others should not be used as an excuse and the emotional issues raised are not constructive going forward.

I must say that the balanced and well put together information provided by Ian from TG Trust was first class. Ian, you have my vote......but can it get better ? Can it self fund or borrow, if we can build housing to obtain rent from for future possible investment.

Can the Charlbury Motor fire Brigade Fund come to the party and offer some support, or at least comment on future plans and past donations. The last 3 years look , on paper, rather small.

Tue 26 Mar 2013, 15:46

For information I have put the following motion up for discussion at the Annual Parish Meeting at 8.00pm Friday 5th April
'To arrange for a full public meeting on the subject of Community Facilities in Charlbury now and in the Future to include a complete list of all current community facilities and their use, a review of how the facilities fit these purposes and any proposals for future facilities. This meeting should be held as soon as possible when all the information is available'
This has been done in my capacity as a resident not a councillor.
The procedure would be that it will be put up for discussion by all at the meeting, If agreed it will then go to the Full Council Meeting in April for a decision on whether to adopt it.
I just feel that I am being asked for an opinion on several possible schemes when I do not have all the information about these to be able to make a decision. I would like to see proposals in a form to that already made by the Thomas Gifford Trust along with assessment of the current facilities, including users views, provisional costings and envisaged time scale. This would then enable a reasoned discussion of any proposal and consideration of whether is would be desirable and feasible.
I would therefore encourage all who have an interest in this or who have any proposals to come along to the Annual Parish Meeting to discuss and support the motion. Hopefully this can be done in a proper manner which would lead to consideration of ALL alternatives.

Tue 26 Mar 2013, 08:37

Sell the Memorial Hall and Corner House?
Over my dead body!!!
(AND the Shed, come to that!)

Tue 26 Mar 2013, 00:51

Eileen in the cold light of day maybe it would be a good idea to sell off those lovely two buildings which mean so much to us in Charlbury and are there - not just a drawing on a piece of paper!!! I think not we would never get anything to replace them or at least have to wait another 15 years. What further development do we need if we have all three buildings ?

Mon 25 Mar 2013, 19:55

Eileen, I respect what you're saying about the facilities because you have first-hand knowledge of use and purpose, etc, but I shudder at the words that MH and CH should be sold because a) they need a lot of money spending on them, b) they're not fit for purpose, c) they'll make a lot of money being sold, and c) the new Community Centre would offer better, more flexible facilities. These arguments are like deja vu; in other words, the exact reasons for getting rid of the old primary site all those years ago. Don't get me wrong -- I think sports facilities are greatly needed in Charlbury -- but I personally am haunted by the possibilities of what-might-have-been if only we'd a) spent that money on the primary school, b) brought it up to purpose, and c) explored ways of making it more flexible when we had the chance. I seem to recall it was only £1000s at the time, and not millions.

Mon 25 Mar 2013, 15:25

Following on from the Thomas Gifford meeting last Thursday I would like to clarify my thoughts on the matter and provide some answers to questions raised.

I must stress that these comments are purely personal, but I do have a lot of knowledge to back them up as for approx…

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Mon 18 Mar 2013, 21:10

The information provided in these links gives a clear indication of what is intended and the funds available for what looks to be a fantastic scheme. It would be the ideal opportunity for contributions to be offered , or an overview of the current facilities and a cost analysis to see how we can make the most of the various facilities and sell, rent or upgrade the current buildings. Just make the most of what is available. The Charlbury motor fire brigade trust need to come forward and help or donate.....or merge .

Mon 18 Mar 2013, 19:00

Even better - some animation and more information at
www.giffordtrust.org.uk/

Mon 18 Mar 2013, 18:03

Just noticed the Community Centre's website - maybe it's been there a while and I've just noticed but it shows, amongst other things, a draft plan of the new facilities. It's at www.charlburycommunitycentre.org.uk/index.html

Fri 15 Mar 2013, 16:50 (last edited on Fri 15 Mar 2013, 16:52)

Judy, in response to your questions (on behalf of Thomas Gifford's Charity's trustees):

A lot of money was spent in the past when the Town Council as trustee pursued a scheme for the site that failed. As a result of the failed scheme the Charity's trustee structure was changed so…

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Fri 15 Mar 2013, 09:39

Some clarity on the amount of spending that has taken place over the past 3 years needs clarification as the figures contained in the charity commission returns , do show very little activity. I assume that the information needs to be accurate to comply with requirements of the commission ?

When this is known it will provide a good overview to see if the funds can be put to some use, or gift / loan maybe to assist the situation. Money sitting in the account , no or little current spending does not give any benefit . It needs to be put to good use. What better use than the current proposals under discussion. Land is available, the need is agreed, money and assets are sitting in various pots, what a fantastic position to be in ! All that is required are the various groups to work together....for the good of the town and the people

Thu 14 Mar 2013, 17:40

I agree it would be great for Charlbury if we could once again have a large hall which we could use for various sports and balls/dances/ wedding receptions etc like the one we used to have the old Spendlove School.
Can someone clarify the following and explain in detail.
1. Did the Thomas Gifford Charity fritter away £400,000 in the past.
2. Did they lose a lottery grant?

If so what's the guarantee this is not going to happen again.
It's all very well charities merging together but what's the guarantee the money is going to be safe.

If/when the building goes ahead wouldn't it be great for the Community spirit to use Charlbury builders/plumbers/carpenters and architects to build it.

Thu 14 Mar 2013, 14:51

Oh dear ! Jim-----your information about WODC is very sad. It is several years ago now and my memory is not as good as it was (poss. gd I am no longer a district councillor !!) but I do remember the WODC council meeting when the removal of the money from the prearation pool came up. Diana Potten made a v. eloquent speech as rep. of the Charlbury Community Centre Appeal and I also protested strongly. Perhaps the promises and/or assurances made to us by the cabinet were never meant to be kept and were just to keep us quiet and (dare I say it) to avoid losing too many votes in the next election.
Jon----even more oh dear !!! I have only been a trustee for c.4 yrs and in that time we handled the problems of the void and the sale----which obviously affected cash flow. I honestly can't quote figures. The requests for grants came in and, in my experience, if it was a local organisation, were met. The £100 sum seemed amazingly low to me but obv. I was not at every meeting in that time and the record of monies was kept by the treasurer/secretary and chair.
Having (reluctantly) put my head over the parapet to try and give a few background details to counter what seemed to be the rising temperature and some false information on the Forum, I am left feeling (as so often) that I wish I hadn't !!

Thu 14 Mar 2013, 11:07

And you can mesrge charities as long as the beneficiaries of the trust are the same or similar. It's all very easy and can be done on line. As the beneficiaries of both the Motor Fire Brigade and the Thomas Gifford Charity are the same, there should be no problem. And I am sure the trustees of the MFB would rather wish to see a community centre in the middle of Charlbury, rather than more housing.

Thu 14 Mar 2013, 10:37 (last edited on Thu 14 Mar 2013, 10:37)

But Glena, according the Charity Commission, you are a trustee! And the figures are here.

Thu 14 Mar 2013, 10:10

Glena, re WODC funding, when we last met with WODC they acknowledged that the £50k of previously allocated grant had been reallocated. This was some years ago I believe. We were told we could apply for a Community Facilities Grant (maximum £50k), which is a scheme which when we met had £500k of total annual funding, but advised that we should only do this when we have planning. We were given no assurance that we would be treated differently from any other applicant. TGC will of course apply for this if the scheme is still running when we get planning, but while there is good reason to hope we would be successful, we cannot assume that the funds will be available.

Tue 12 Mar 2013, 22:24

I understand Richard's argument but in my (limited) experience of the Charlbury Motor Fire Brigade Trust a great deal more than £100 was given out in grants each year. Those figures could relate to the year that there was a void or we were in the middle of the sale or something like that but it is not the usual occurrence.

Tue 12 Mar 2013, 20:39

I think it's worth noting, too, that funding for small groups in Charlbury has changed vastly since the Motor Fire Brigade Fund was set up many years ago.

Since 2005, we have all benefited from the fantastically generous giving of the charity funded by the Beer Festival, now called Charlbury & Overseas Community Projects. This typically raises £20,000 per year, which rather puts the Motor Fire Brigade Fund's grants last year of £100 in the shade. This graph shows that the Fund's giving has been consistently small in the last few years.

With this in mind, I would hope the trustees of the Motor Fire Brigade Fund give careful consideration to whether their charitable aims - stated here as "distributing monies for the benefit of the inhabitants of Charlbury... including the local school, playgroups, after-school clubs, recreation areas and such like" - are now best served by another approach, especially given long-term low interest rates and the strong case for capital spending by the Thomas Gifford Charity.

Tue 12 Mar 2013, 20:25

The overview on the history and location of the old fire brigade building is well received and many new people to the town may not have known the location. I did not think anything sinister was going on, just shocked at the level of funds.
on viewing the charity commission WEB site the information recorded shows since year ending Dec 2010 spending amounts to just £100.00 and an income of £2934.00 ( assumed interest )for the year ending 2010 and 2011 together. This does not look like it is being used with great effect.
it would be great if comments on the WODC money were posted........at this rate we will have enough money to build, run and produce an income greater than the current returns if these pots of money are released !

Tue 12 Mar 2013, 18:59 (last edited on Tue 12 Mar 2013, 19:01)

Mark----the Charlbury Motor Fire Brigade Trust was responsible for letting the old fire brigade building in Browns Lane (a very small building which most people have probably never noticed) for the benefit of Charlbury. The rent, when expenses had been paid, was distributed in grants to various Charlbury organisations---the pre-school playgroup, scouts and guides, the Shed etc. etc. The building, despite all efforts, became increasing difficult to let and there was a longish void so the decision was taken to sell the building and invest the money and all interest is used in the above way.There is nothing sinister or secret about this. I write as a WODC trustee but I coming off soon.
On another matter----no-one has commented on the WODC money I spoke about in an ealier posting on the other thread which they promised to replace when the plans were in place.

Tue 12 Mar 2013, 13:14 (last edited on Tue 12 Mar 2013, 13:15)

Charlbury Motor Fire Brigade Fund, with a fund of £250k !!!!

The assets of which are being used for what ? and how long have they been at this level, when fund raising is a constant issue to provide local facilities in the town !!!

Tue 12 Mar 2013, 09:46

Having seen the thread "Memorial Hall and Corner House up for Sale?", as a Thomas Gifford trustee I would like to highlight some facts about Thomas Gifford's Charity and other Charlbury community charities. While Charlbury's current and future needs are a prime concern of the trustees of these charities, as…

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