The Lemon Fool

I help run a sports club that has for very many years used the facilities provided by a charitable trust.
It is fair to say that the charitable trust has significantly financially supported the two sports clubs that benefit since the trust was incorporated.

The trust is seeking to renegotiate and reduce the levels of support and is now arguing that they have no actual requirement to support sports.

The trust is governed by an Memorandum of Association which states that the object is to:
TO PROVIDE AND MAINTAIN LAND WITHIN THE AREA KNOWN AS .... AS AN OPEN SPACE, PARKLAND AND RECREATION GROUND IN THE INTERESTS OF SOCIAL WELFARE FOR THE RECREATION AND LEISURE TIME OCCUPATION OF THE PUBLIC ... WITH THE OBJECT OF IMPROVING THEIR CONDITIONS OF LIFE.

The next clause then states:
In furtherance of the above object but not further or otherwise the trust shall have the following powers:
.... b) To lay out and provide, manage and maintain sports pitches...

The argument that they are making is that the objects does not explicitly state sport

So I have two questions:
1) Is there a legal meaning to the phrase "In furtherance of the above object but not further to..." above? It seems to be common in similar documents but I'm not sure what it is actually saying?
2) Does the specific power (which does mention sport) have any bearing or bring any clarity to the objects?

Thank you in advance for any thoughts - and great to see this community continuing.

Rich

IANAL

When you say the trust has provided significant financial support to the clubs do you mean in terms of cash and equipment over and beyond providing pitches?

It seems to me that the only obligation on the trust is:

"TO PROVIDE AND MAINTAIN LAND WITHIN THE AREA KNOWN AS .... AS AN OPEN SPACE, PARKLAND AND RECREATION GROUND"

In order to achieve the above then you MAY

"lay out and provide, manage and maintain sports pitches..."

but there does not seem any requirement that you MUST do it.

As for providing any more assistance to the clubs, unless it is specifically stated elsewhere then there seems no need.

This may help clarify things:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-to-writ ... e-purposes

It talks specifically about the difference between "purpose" and "powers", purpose being what you do and powers being how you propose to do it.

It also looks at the specific phrase you mention

Link your powers to your purposes with the word ‘by’ after the purposes, or a linking sentence:

In furtherance of this object, but not further or otherwise, the trustees shall have the following powers:

JOHN

It seems from the extracts of the memorandum that you've quoted that the Trust is set up to manage the grounds under their care. The phrase you've quoted limits the trustees powers to activities aimed at this end, and quite arguably precludes directly funding groups which use the land. I'd say (IANAL) that the argument that "they have no actual requirement to support sports" could be put more strongly if someone felt an inclination to challenge the trustees actions because it takes those actions further than the objective. The trustees could seek to show that the support they provide to those groups is because their usage directly assists in the wellbeing of the land (our local football juniors for instance pick litter and dog dirt etc.) and the strength with which they put this claim would depend really on the trustees personal views on the merits of supporting any particular user group as opposed to putting more cash towards other activities. Perhaps the makeup of the trustees has changed recently?

richhthfc wrote:....
The trust is governed by an Memorandum of Association which states that the object is to:
TO PROVIDE AND MAINTAIN LAND WITHIN THE AREA KNOWN AS .... AS AN OPEN SPACE, PARKLAND AND RECREATION GROUND IN THE INTERESTS OF SOCIAL WELFARE FOR THE RECREATION AND LEISURE TIME OCCUPATION OF THE PUBLIC ... WITH THE OBJECT OF IMPROVING THEIR CONDITIONS OF LIFE.

The next clause then states:
In furtherance of the above object but not further or otherwise the trust shall have the following powers:
.... b) To lay out and provide, manage and maintain sports pitches...
....
1) Is there a legal meaning to the phrase "In furtherance of the above object but not further to..." above? It seems to be common in similar documents but I'm not sure what it is actually saying?
2) Does the specific power (which does mention sport) have any bearing or bring any clarity to the objects?

1) This means that the power to lay out and provide ... sports pitches can only be exercised if it helps to achieve the object of the trust. I think the "but not further to" part is unnecessary because a charity cannot legally do things which are not "in furtherance" of their objects - but it's there for emphasis

2) Only insofar as it makes clear that the trust can (but is not obliged to) "lay out.. sports pitches".

IANAL

richhthfc wrote:TO PROVIDE AND MAINTAIN LAND ...
,,, the trust shall have the following powers:
.... b) To lay out and provide, manage and maintain sports pitches...

Alas, it seems the Trust is all about the land.

Inter alia, they have the power, but perhaps not the obligation to lay out pitches.

Nowhere do I see any duty to contribute to the activities carried out on any pitches the Trust may choose to provide.

V8

richhthfc wrote:IThe trust is seeking to renegotiate and reduce the levels of support and is now arguing that they have no actual requirement to support sports.

Unfortunately from your point of view I would echo the comments made by others, and say that the trust's arguments are basically correct.

The object as set out in the Memorandum is, as they usually are, very vague. The reason for this vagueness is to give the trustees as free a hand as possible to decide how to spend the trust's funds to achieve the general objectives of the trust.

However, the stated object certainly does not commit the trust to provide or maintain sports facilities. It has the power to do so, but not the obligation.

Thank you all for your responses.

As always, very much appreciated.

Rich