The Trustees are a group of volunteers from Westcott who enthusiastically support the charitable aims of the Westcott Village Hall Trust and would like to establish an enduring legacy that is in harmony with the original legacies of the Reading Room and the Hut. Trustees sit for a 3-year term (renewable) and positions are re-elected yearly on a rotating basis.
If you would like to attend a meeting, raise any points or be nominated to stand as a Trustee, please contact info@westcottvillagehall.com
Debbie Lewis
Sally Hewetson (Interim Chair person)
Helen Everett
Andy Taylor
Andy Gray
Tony Winch
James Brodrick
Westcott Village Hall Trust CIO (Trust) is responsible for two sites that are subject to permanent endowments in the village of Westcott for the benefit of the local villagers. After a complex legal process involving the Charity Commission, these two sites were amalgamated in May 2022 and the Trust is now the corporate trustee of both charities and controls both sites.
General Contact Details
For all general contact, please email us on info@westcottvillagehall.com or call the mobile - 07967286636
The land on which the Reading Room is built was acquired by three sisters – Maria Fuller, Julia Barclay and Emily Barclay – (Barclay Sisters) in 1874. In 1876/77 the Barclay Sisters built a Reading Room and caretaker’s house (now Draycote) on the land acquired. The Reading Room was “for the recreation and benefit of the inhabitants of Westcott”. On 11 March 1892 the Barclay Sisters endowed the buildings and land to a Trust called the Westcott Reading Room Trust (Registered Charity Number 311990). The present Reading Room was erected in 1967 on land that was the kitchen garden for the caretaker's house (Draycote). In 1980 Draycote was sold and the proceeds amounting to £18,675 were used to extend and improve the Reading Room facilities. Further renovations were carried out in 2004 and 2009.
In 2017 the Trustees adopted the Charity Commission Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) model as the operating entity for the land and buildings owned by the Westcott Reading Room Trust. This constitution was approved by the Charity Commission on 19 April 2017 and has been entered onto the Register of Charities with the Registered Charity Number of 1172629. As a result, all the assets and liabilities of the Westcott Reading Room Trust (Registered Charity Number 311990) were transferred to the CIO during 2017. However, the beneficial ownership of the Reading Room land which is permanent endowment created in 1892 remains with the Westcott Reading Room Trust (Registered Charity Number 311990). Under a Charity Commission Scheme dated 19 November 2020, the CIO was formally appointed as the sole corporate trustee of the Westcott Reading Room Trust (Registered Charity Number 311990) and the individual Trustees retired as from their roles.
The Hut Westcott (Charity Commission number 305136) was founded in 1959 with a gift of land of the site in Furlong Road for: “the purposes of a village hall for the use of the inhabitants of Westcott and the neighbourhood without distinction of sex or of political religious or other opinions and in particular for meetings lectures and classes and for other forms of recreation and leisure time occupation with the object of improving the conditions of life for the said inhabitants”. It is striking how similar the Hut’s objects are to the terms of the gift which established Westcott Reading Room Trust in 1892. The site is large and incorporates a (now disused) bowling green. The Hut ceased trading in 2017 and is currently boarded up awaiting development.