Some newly co-opted Councillors and the Clerk on Datchet Parish Council are still asserting that they manage the DRCCT. They are wrong – and the local Council Tax payers will pay the bill for this dispute. For the 2015 Datchet Parish election there were 23 nominations for 15 places. In 2019 (when all the former DRCCT trustees resigned) there were insufficient nominations to justify a DPC election and only ten nominations for 15 places at the 2023 election. Two of those elected have since resigned – leaving only eight ‘elected’ Councillors. [Now nine because Adam Buck was elected in August 2025] The remainder are co-options.
I have lived in Datchet since 1977 and was first elected to Datchet Parish Council (DPC) in 1986. Whatever has been claimed or asserted – you have my personal assurance that DPC IS NOT AND NEVER HAS BEEN the sole managing trustee of the Datchet Recreation Centre Charitable Trust (DRCCT). I can confirm that there has been some confusion and significant expenditure on this problem in the past. Since being appointed in 2019 I have examined the relevant DRCCT documentation that dates back over 50 years. I would be happy to see any evidence supporting what I consider to be the spurious, unfounded and unsubstantiated claims by DPC. I expect that I will have to wait some time.
It is interesting to note that Datchet Parish Council already has significant income derived mainly from the precept (the local tax that was raised by 83% this year) and from land/buildings owned by DPC.
The DRCCT holds significant assets but has no ability to raise funds through taxation. The DRCCT annual income is tiny when compared with DPC income, and comes from Hall booking receipts and building lease/rentals. DRCCT administration costs are virtually nil because the appointed Trustees are unpaid. The DRCCT Annual Report and Accounts are submitted firstly to DPC and then the Charity Commission every year. The DRCCT 2023/24 Annual Accounts, financial performance and Trustees can be located (and downloaded) from the Charity Commission web site here.
The 2024/25 accounts have still to be finalised and will be uploaded in time to meet the nine-month submission deadline .
You can be assured that the 2024/25 accounts will make very interesting reading.
The previous report (Datchet Parish Councillors continue in their attempt to hijack a local charity – posted on June 1, 2025) can be found here.
A previous report about ‘Nine Datchet Parish Councillors named in failed attempt to hijack local Charity assets’ can be found here.
For further explanation try:
Understanding Charitable Trusts: The Datchet Recreation Centre Situation
Meanwhile you can also be confident that the DRCCT will continue to be managed for the benefit of the community by a small group of unpaid, loyal, trustworthy, reliable, experienced and capable local people who will take personal responsibility for their decisions and actions rather than hide beneath the ‘corporate liability’ umbrella .
I look forward to this issue being resolved as soon as possible but DPC continues to assert rights that they do not possess and furthermore to claim that www.drcct.org is not an official web site
While the dispute remains unresolved it is important to note that some contact and address information on the Charity Commission web site is incorrect simply because the Clerk has changed the details and locked out the de facto Trustees.
END