UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Some Datchet Parish Councillors (as named below) have now failed in their (April 2025) attempt to hijack the assets of the Datchet Recreation Centre Charity Trust.
In April 2025 – DPC Chairman David Buckley said – “Datchet Parish Council remains committed to the objectives of the Datchet Recreation Centre Charitable Trust and to ensuring that the Sabatini Land and its facilities continue to benefit the community for which they were intended.”
These are the DPC members that voted in April 2025 for this action – Chairman David Buckley, Darren Sanders, Caroline Wise, Andrew Clemins, Cllr Glover [resigned December 2025], Cllr Young, Cllr Bacon, Cllr Loveridge and Cllr Whelan. These Councillors are now blaming the Charity Trustees for this expenditure.
The Agenda for the 12-1-2026 Parish Council Meeting refers to item 25/225 and associated papers as follows:
The Draft Budget and Precept 2026/27 – Public Information Summary Page 2 states as follow: The Council has had to instruct solicitors following legal action brought by two residents* concerning the trusteeship of the Datchet Recreation Centre Charity Trust (DRCCT).–These individuals are asserting that they are the sole trustees of the charity, a position the Parish Council disputes.
Firstly it is to be noted that Datchet Parish Council confirmed at its meeting in May 2025 that this is a Parish Council that currently does not hold the General Power of Competence. This is still the case and if you are interested the Clerk will explain why.
As I understand it – in April 2025 some Councillors (as named above) held a meeting in Windsor and then – claiming to be the new management committee – conducted an early morning raid on the Village Hall, demanded and gained access by deception, changed the locks and demanded that the Hall takings be passed to them. The Clerk then accessed the Charity Commission web site to change the Trustees, contact and address details.
Some previous reports concerning the DRCCT and dated 24/12/2025, 12/12/2025, 2/12/2025, 23/11/2025 and 19/11/2025 may be found on this site.
* The ‘two residents’ referred to in the above report are the two Datchet Parish Councillors as shown on the Charity Commission web site here. These two Trustees were properly appointed in April 2019, before the majority of the Councillors (and the Clerk) joined the Council. Between them, these two DRCCT Trustees have about 50 years experience on Datchet Parish Council and about 14 years looking after the DRCCT assets. The DRCCT Annual Reports and Accounts are submitted annually and can be found on the Charity Commission web site.
The two DRCCT Trustees of the Registered Charity 252303 will continue to defend and to manage the DRCCT assets in accordance with the Governing Documents and for the intended purposes.
END