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CHARNEY BASSETT AND LYFORD EDUCATIONAL TRUST – A BRIEF HISTORY

When the school was closed for the last time the Charity Commission were persuaded to appoint five trustees. E J Clarke, Colonel J J Dingwall, D Douglas, V A Hodgkins and the Revd Canon H J Stuart. By an Order dated 14 October 1986, the Charity Commissioners authorized the Trustees to sell the School for not less than £65,000. The premises were sold at that price on 27th November 1986 to R & D McBain Ltd, a business owning the site next to the School. The sale proceeds were invested in an interest bearing account and in 1991 were worth £100,622.54. Neither the capital nor the accrued interest could be spent without the consent of the Charity Commission or a Court Order.

At first, the Church (the Diocese not the local Church) claimed the money because it had been a Church Maintained School. The Charity Commission decided, however, that the money was a local educational charity. There then followed a lengthy dialogue between the Trustees and the Charity Commission as to what form the Charity would take. The Charity Commission were for giving the whole amount to Hanney School. This was the school that the current Charney and Lyford children went to as they do now.

Eventually, in 1999, the Charity Commission decided that we could give grants to persons from Charney and Lyford providing that they were 25 years or under for individuals and for groups of any age (e.g. the Village College) and the grant was for educational purposes. In addition, we could give grants for purposes that would be of help to either village if we felt that there was some sufficient educational content.