Trustees’ Annual Report for Pitstone Recreation Ground Charity for the period:

From 	1-4-2019       	 To	   31-3-2020         

Reference and Administration Details

Charity name:  Pitstone Recreation Ground Charity

Charity registration number:  1094867

Principal address: 9 Warwick Road, Pitstone, Beds, LU7 9FE

Sole Trustee: Pitstone Parish Council, as a corporate body

Name and address of Advisers: 
			
Solicitor	John Reddington 
Partner	Horwood & James
7 Temples Square, Aylesbury, HP20 2QB	

Structure, Governance and Management

Description of charity’s trusts:		Charity Commission Sealed Scheme of 29/12/1922, and Sealed Scheme of 20/6/1973.	
Type of governing document	Para 1.25
	Trust deed	
How is the charity constituted? 
(e.g. unincorporated association, CIO)	Para 1.25	Unincorporated Trust	
Trustee selection methods including details of any constitutional provisions e.g. election to post or name of any person or body entitled to appoint one or more trustees	Para 1.25	As the Parish Council, as Corporate Body, is Trustee, the trustees are selected via local government election every four years.  Where a casual vacancy occurs during the 4 years, a new member is co-opted.  

Central Government postponed the election from May 2019 to May 2020, to align with the elections for the new unitary council for Buckinghamshire being created in 2020.  The May 2020 election has subsequently been postponed by central government until May 2021 due to the Coronavirus outbreak therefore members will serve an additional two years in office.

Additional information (optional)
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
Policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees
	Para 1.51	All councillors joining the parish council (sole trustee) are provided within information about the charity and Charity Commission guidelines such as The Essential Trustee.  

The clerk has undertaken the SAVO trustee e:learning course, and council is willing to fund training for any further members willing to undertake this commitment.
	
The charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works

	Para 1.51	Pitstone Parish Council, as Corporate Body, is the Sole Trustee.  

Meetings of the charity are always separate from meetings of the council and are separately documented.
	
Relationship with any related parties

	Para 1.51	Not applicable.	

Objectives and Activities

	SORP reference		
Summary of the purposes of the charity as set out in its governing document	Para 1.17	The aim of the Recreation Ground Charity, as defined in the sealed scheme, is to provide facilities and open space, on the appointed Recreation Ground land, for the inhabitants of the parish of Pitstone and the surrounding areas to freely enjoy for leisure, recreation and sport.
	
Summary of the main activities in relation to those purposes for the public benefit, in particular, the activities, projects or services identified in the accounts.	Para 1.17 and 1.19	The charity:

•	Maintains and develops the recreation ground, and land it manages under licence, to ensure it provides a safe, pleasant and fit-for-purpose space.
•	Grants permission to local football and cricket clubs to use the recreation ground land for matches and training purposes and manages occupational licences to those bodies.
•	Grants permission to other local bodies for occasional recreation/sporting activities to take place on the recreation ground, such as Aylesbury Vale District Council’s Play around the Parishes or the local community Party in the Park.
•	Works with local community groups to ensure that recreation and leisure provision and opportunities within the village are maximised.
•	Seeks to provide excellent facilities that encourage as many residents as possible to benefit from the village green space.
	
Statement confirming whether the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit	Para 1.18	Pursuant to Section 17(5) of the Charities Act and the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 the Charity Trustee has taken due regard of the guidance on public benefit issued by the Charity Commission when exercising its duties.

Additional information (optional)
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
	SORP reference		
Policy on grant making
	Para 1.38	Not applicable, this charity does not provide grants.	
Policy on investment	Para 1.38	Not applicable, this charity does not make investments.	
Contribution made by volunteers	Para 1.38	All members of the Parish Council are volunteers.  None claim an allowance or refund of expenditure.

The Charity is extremely grateful to the groundkeeper, Mr J Groom, for the significant volume of voluntary hours contributed (on top of commissioned times) to the upkeep of both the football and cricket pitches on the Charity site.	

Achievements and Performance

	SORP reference		
Summary of the main achievements of the charity, identifying the difference the charity’s work has made to the circumstances of its beneficiaries and any wider benefits to society as a whole.	Para 1.20	•	Pitstone, Ivinghoe & Cheddington United Football Club; Pitstone & Ivinghoe United <18 team; plus the Ivinghoe & Pitstone United Cricket Club (both seniors and colts) were granted permission to use the recreation ground as their respective home sites and Occupational Licences issued.
•	Pitstone Parish Council funded two Play around the Parish sessions that were held on the Recreation Ground in the summer of 2019.   These sessions are primarily aimed at attracting families with children under 11 years of age and are provided free to the residents, with dozens of local families attending.  Sessions for summer 2020 have been booked but may need to be cancelled due to the Coronavirus outbreak.
•	The area has been suitably maintained with remedial works carried out as necessary.    
•	The Recreation Ground charity had previously managed an additional adjoining parcel of land owned by Pitstone Parish Charity under licence.  The Parish Charity had previously given notice of the revocation of this licence.  This extra parcel of land has now been sold to Pitstone Parish Council, as Local Authority, who intend to maintain this as leisure land in perpetuity.  Pitstone Parish Council, as Local Authority, have committed to replace the play equipment on this land during 2020/21 (works were postponed from March 2020 following the Coronavirus outbreak).  No further actions therefore required by the Recreation Ground Charity in relation to this extra parcel of land.
•	In March 2014, the Ivinghoe & Pitstone United Cricket Club advised that they wished to continue to use the Recreation Ground as their home site.   The cricket club would like to see several improvements to the cricket square, and the Recreation Ground Charity is working with the cricket club to ensure the ground is developed in line with requirements, to achieve improved playability and safety for the cricket club without limiting access to the general public.
•	The charity is progressing a prior lease of a small section of land to the Memorial Hall charity which does not appear to have been correctly administered.  This appears to be a complex legal situation to resolve, so work is ongoing.
•	The charity sought advice from the Charity Commission as to whether the charitable status should be removed, as this parcel of land is also designated as a Registered Village Green and all day-to-day management is carried out and funded by the parish council open spaces program.  The Charity Commission has declined wind-up of the charitable status citing that the charitable status provides additional protection over and above that of village green status.	

Financial Review

Review of the charity’s financial position at the end of the period	Para 1.21	The Recreation Ground Charity operates a dedicated bank account to receive receipts (operational since 2016) eg through hire of the football pitch

Following receipt of advice during 2016, the parish council resolved to undertake day-to-day ground maintenance of the Recreation Ground Charity land (which is also a registered Village Green assigned to the Parish Council) as part of its open spaces policy.  The Recreation Ground Charity may, from time to time, resolve to pass any held funds over to the Pitstone Council as a contribution towards the costs incurred.

At the year end, the Recreation Ground Charity holds £2,492.16.  Receipts in the year were £780  (pitch hire) and payments were just £72 of bank charges.  

The parish council insurance specifies the trustees of this charity and their work as part of its policy.  The Recreation Ground Charity land is listed on the parish council’s asset register.

The charity has no debtors or creditors and no outstanding loans.	
Statement explaining the policy for holding reserves stating why they are held	Para 1.22	Not applicable at present, no reserves	
Amount of reserves held	Para 1.22	Zero	
Reasons for holding zero reserves	Para 1.22	The charity has limited financial standing, primarily just land ownership, and relies heavily upon the parish council as a local authority.
	
Details of fund materially in deficit	Para 1.24	Not applicable, no deficit	
Explanation of any uncertainties about the charity continuing as a going concern	Para 1.23	None.	

Additional information (optional)
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The charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising) 	Para 1.47	The principal source of funds comes from the limited hire of the football pitch.	
Investment policy and objectives including any social investment policy adopted	Para 1.46	Not applicable at present	
A description of the principal risks facing the charity 	Para 1.46	Ongoing management of conflicts of interests.  	
Any funds or assets held on behalf of another charity		Not applicable	

Other optional information

History
As part of the 1856 Enclosure Award, the land that the recreation ground sits upon was vested in Wibraham Egerton & James, Earl of Powis as recreation ground.     The area in question relates to the grassed surface you can see at present and doesn’t include the Memorial Hall land/car park or the land at the far end which houses the cricket nets and play equipment.   In 1922, the Charity Commission vested the land in the Parish Council and in 1973 it was officially registered as a Village Green in the “Registrar of Common Land or Village Greens”.  The Recreation Ground was officially registered with Land Registry in 2010.
Children’s Playground and Future Leisure Development
In the 1970’s the Charity Commission granted permission for the Recreation Ground Charity to manage an additional neighbouring strip of land belonging to the Pitstone Allotments for the Labouring Poor under licence.    This additional land enabled the recreation and leisure facilities to be extended, including the provision of children’s play equipment.   Pitstone Parish Charity has not charged rental to the Recreation Ground charity but receives the benefit-in-kind of all expenditure related to the land being borne by another body.
In April 2013 Pitstone Recreation Ground Charity received notice from Pitstone Parish Charity that they intended to revoke the licence to manage this parcel of land.   The Parish Charity were following advice from the Charity Commission that the entirety of the land they owned should be disposed to maximise the benefit to the Parish Charity.   The parcel of leisure land (not required as part of the charities sale of land to Nicholas King Homes) was subsequently disposed of by Pitstone Parish Charity to Pitstone Parish Council, as Local Authority, in 2019 and therefore there are no ongoing commitments relating to this adjoining parcel of land by the Pitstone Recreation Ground Charity. 

Pitstone Recreation Ground Charity has supported the aspirations of the Parish Council to upgrade the current provision to a Neighbourhood Equipped Area of Play (NEAP) from a Local Equipped Area of Play (LEAP) with an exciting new play space, skate park and multi-use games area to improve the asset for the community and attract more usage of the Recreation Ground.  The play equipment was due to be replaced by Huck Teck (commissioned by the Parish Council, as Local Authority) in March 2020 but works were postponed due to the Coronavirus outbreak and will now take place as soon as possible.  The multi-use games area will be installed by Nicholas King Homes on an adjoining parcel of land, which will also create additional parking provision for the Recreation Ground (estimated for completion within the next 2 years).  The parish council intends to commence tendering for the skate park during the 2020/21 financial year.  
The Pitstone Recreation Ground Charity obtained advice from the Charity Commission in 2019, to determine if the Charitable Status could be removed, as the same parcel of land is also a designated local Village Green assigned to the Parish Council for care.  The Parish Council, as Local Authority, manage the day-to-day maintenance of the village green under their Open Space policy.  The Charity Commission declined the application, citing that the charitable status provided additional protections over and above that of village green status.  The Recreation Ground Charity will therefore continue as an entity for strategic decisions and receipt of income etc.

Declarations

               The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above. 

              Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:
	
Signature(s)		
Full name(s)		
    Position (eg Chair)	

Date