The Charity Commission is about to investigate the attempt by some (mainly co-opted) Datchet Parish Councillors (led by Cllr David Buckley – Reform UK, the Clerk and Cllr Dennie Loveridge) to hijack the assets of the Datchet Recreation Centre Charity Trust. The External Auditor is currently looking at DPC claims in the AGAR (the mandatory Annual Report to the External Auditor).
From an email dated 21/10/2026 the Charity Commission has written as follows: The Commission has now been notified that mediation has concluded without a formal resolution. Therefore, I am writing to inform you that, in accordance with the Commission’s Disagreements and disputes in charities guidance, this has now been passed to the Assessment Team to consider the next steps in accordance with the Raising a concern with the Charity Commission (CC47) – GOV.UK guidance. The Assessment team will correspond with all parties in due course.
IN CONCLUSION: My view is that the DPC never was, is not and cannot possibly ever be the owner of the DRCCT assets due to the legislation (LGA 1972(s139)3) that was drafted to avoid duplication and conflict of interest. Furthermore using public money to hire security men to keep the Trustees out of their own building is not a good thing for a Parish Council to do. You only need to check the published accounts on the Charity Commission website to see who the Trustees are and how long they have been in place!
Ewan Larcombe (DRCCT Chair since 2019)