Case study: Grayrigg Coronation Hall

The organisation

Grayrigg Coronation Hall is a village hall trust that serves the civil parishes of Grayrigg, Lambrigg, Whinfell, Patton & Docker in Cumbria.

The trust was set up by an indenture on 13 January 1912 'conveying a piece of land upon which an Institute and Recreation Room (to be called Grayrigg Coronation room) be erected'.

The challenge

Grayrigg Coronation Hall is part of the South Lakeland Sustainable Village Halls project, and is carrying out a refurbishment incorporating environmentally sustainable elements throughout. A large part of these refurbishments have to be grant assisted, and applications have been made to various funders, including the Northern Rock Foundation.

The Northern Rock Foundation noted that the original indenture doesn't contain a dissolution clause - a clause explaining that, if the worst came to the worst, and the hall was no longer used or wanted by the community and it needed to sold, how the proceeds of this sale would be put to similar charitable uses.

The Northern Rock Foundation has requested that the Hall incorporate a dissolution clause into their indenture if they wish to apply to them for funds.
Looking into things further, it was also discovered that three of the four Holding Trustees had passed away some time ago.

Meeting the challenge

The first reaction from the Committee was one of 'Do we really have to do this? Can't we just leave things as they are?' After being assured that to do nothing was not an option, the Committee decided to take the route of tackling the issue one step at a time, against the advice of the village hall's adviser.

The first task they undertook was to elect new Holding Trustees to replace those who had passed away. It had been suggested to them that the Official Custodian of Charities serving as Custodian Trustee would be the most preferable option, but the Committee felt that they did not want to break the local connection of having local people acting as Holding Trustees.

The existing indenture was duly altered through a solicitor to update the details of the new Holding Trustees, at a cost of around £200. The next step for the Committee to debate was whether to amend the original indenture with the required dissolution clause, or to take the opportunity to treat their Governing Document with the same approach they are taking with their Hall and bring it into the 21st century by modifying then adopting the ACRE model trust deed for a village hall.

After being debated at a number of Committee meetings, and a specific meeting arranged with Carl Glynn, the village hall's adviser, it was finally agreed to take the forward-thinking approach of adopting the modified Model.

A local retired solicitor has since taken on the preparation and modification of the Model as a project, donating their services for free as a contribution towards the project.

The outcome

Once the Charity Commission has accepted the new Trust Deed as the Governing Document for the Hall, Northern Rock Foundation will be happy to accept the application and process it. The updated deed will contain all clauses required currently and for the foreseeable future, and should also be easier for the committee to read and understand.

The impact

The Committee are now aware of the need to review their governing document to check that what they are doing still meets with what they were established to do nearly 100 years ago.
Trustees often feel that the preparation of legal documentation such as trust deeds is an unnecessary mountain to climb but once they are over the psychological barrier the process is never as bad as they imagine and well worth the effort.

Lessons and tips

What could similar organisations do?

Review your deeds and constitution - particularly relevant to long-established groups - to check they will comply with current funding and legal requirements.
If the hall has Holding Trustees, are they still alive?

Why should they do this?

Periodic review of legal documentation and its safekeeping is essential - there are many sorry tales of out-of-date or missing deeds. Trustees are liable only when acting out of 'trust' i.e. differently to that laid out in the trust deeds.
The majority of funders ask to see a charity's Governing Document as a matter of course when requested to fund any activity, mainly to see if the charity is allowed to carry out the activity in the first place.
Having an up-to-date Governing Document is not only a requirement, it can also help reassure funders and other bodies, organisations or agencies that the charity is being administered appropriately, and that the project will be managed accordingly.
The Charity Commission is a non departmental public body, and so has procedures that can lead to delays which means changes take a long time. So don't leave it until you need funding to address your Governing Document as you might miss deadlines.
If none of the named Holding Trustees are still alive, a death certificate needs to be produced for each of them in order for them to be removed, a potentially expensive and time consuming exercise.

How do they go about it?

Set some time aside to look at and review your governing documents
Get advice - for example from a Council for Voluntary Service, Rural Community Council or the Charity Commission about what types of governing documents could apply to your organisation and meet current funding and legal requirements

What resources will help them?

For rural organisations, ACRE
Charity Commission - see publications and available resources
ACRE Model Trust Deed, which is approved by the Charity Commission, covers village halls specifically and other types of community centres
The Managing Your Hall document and CD available from ACRE.
CSD 1342A Amending Governing Documents: Unincorporated Charities
OG 45 A1 Unincorporated Charities: Amendments to Governing Documents