Compton's Yard Charitable Trust
A Brief History of Compton's Yard Trust
The Compton’s Yard trust was established in 1982 “to provide facilities and amenities for social welfare, specifically a centre for the benefit of the inhabitants of Llanidloes and the neighbourhood, and to provide education, particularly in the arts and with special regard to the history, crafts and culture of the area of benefit”.
The idea of the Trust was initiated by Nicholas Saunders, who had already created the successful NEALS Yard project in Covent Garden, and who wanted to start up something similar outside London in a more rural location. In 1981 Nicholas found and bought a block of semi-derelict buildings on Great Oak Street in Llanidloes, and began to plan how to use them. For various reasons he then lost interest in the project and decided to sell the property on to The Dartington Hall Trust in Devon, to which he had previously made a large donation.
In 1982 a group of people living in the Llanidloes area, most of whom had already had some involvement in the project, got together and made a formal proposal that it should be continued by setting up ‘The Compton’s Yard Trust’. This group eventually managed to persuade Nicholas Saunders and The Dartington Hall Trust to lease out part of the property for twenty five years at a peppercorn rent, and to donate a small amount of capital to help to get the project going. Dartington also offered the assistance of two of its experienced officers, Gareth Keene and Charles White, who gave a lot of vital help and advice on the setting up of the Trust, and who became its official ‘Subscribers’ (see below).
The Compton’s Yard project has developed remarkably closely to the spirit of the original proposal, and has become an important part of the local community of Llanidloes.
The Legal Structure.
The Compton’s Yard Charitable Trust Ltd. (to give it its full name) is registered as a Charity, and also as a Company Limited by Guarantee (see bottom of last page for details). This means that the Trustees of the Trust are also Directors of the Company.
The Trust is regulated by a document called the ‘Memorandum and Articles of Association’, which was drawn up by the Subscribers in consultation with the local ‘proposal group’, and then approved by The Charity Commissioners and by Companies House. This important document sets out in great detail (often in somewhat dense legalistic language!) what the Trust can do, what it cannot do and how it must be run. All potential Members and Trustees/Directors should study this document very carefully.
The Trust (Company) consists of ‘Members’ and ‘Trustees’ (‘Directors’). Members are ‘admitted to membership’ by the Trustees (and Subscribers), and are allowed to attend, speak and vote at General Meetings (both Annual and Extraordinary). There must be a minimum of six Members at any one time, of which at least two must be present at a General Meeting to form a quorum. Each Member has a legal liability of £1. Decisions at General Meetings are taken by a majority vote of the Members, with the Chairman of the meeting having a casting vote if necessary.
The first Members and Trustees were appointed by the original Subscribers (see above), and all subsequent Trustees are appointed by a simple majority of the Members. There must be a minimum of three and a maximum of ten Trustees, and a Trustee need not be a Member of the Trust. The Trustees decided amongst themselves who is to act as Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary etc. There are regular Trustees management meetings (usually monthly) to discuss the running of the Trust, and decisions are taken by a simple majority vote. Minutes are taken at all meetings.
The week-to-week running of the Trust is carried out by an Administrator, who is paid for his work on a self-employed basis.
As a ‘Limited Company’ the financial affairs of the Trust are regulated by Companies House, to which it is required to submit properly audited annual accounts. These must always be inspected and approved by the Trustees, and signed by a trustee and the independent accountant.