Heacham Sports & Social Club

Council of Heacham Club Charity
Response to “Public Clarification” by the, so called, Trustees
The “Annual General Meeting”, AGM, has been called by the Council in accordance with rule 6b of the Heacham Club Rules, the Rules, where it provides that “An Annual General Meeting of the club shall be held in the month of March in each year and 15 months shall not elapse without an Annual General Meeting”.
These rules were originally drawn up in 1974 and amended several times since. These were drawn up by the Trustees and others and reflect the intention that the members were to be fully involved in the running of the Charity. It would be idle for the “Trustees” to suggest that these rules be ignored at this present time.
The Council accepts that this meeting is slightly later than provided for in the Rules but it is less than 15 months since the last one.
The “Trustees” make several claims about this meeting:
• It is not organised by the Charity. Clearly it is organised by the Charity, in the form of the Council of the Charity.
• It is not authorised by the “Trustees”. Nowhere within the Rules does it provide that the Trustees must authorise an AGM.
The Trustees then assert that Heacham Club Charity Council” is not part of the Charity and has no authority from the Trustees. I’ll deal with this as follows:
Paragraph 7 of the original 1921 deed, the Governing Document” of the Charity, known as The Heacham Club, clearly provides that Matters connected with the conduct and general management of the Charity shall be under the administration and control of a Council. It goes on to provide, briefly, that this Council shall consist of:
• The Trustees, and
• Non-Official Members of the Council
In January last year Members of the Charity got together to make arrangements for the constitution of the Council and arranged for a meeting to be held in early February. The Trustees were invited to attend the meeting and to become part of the Council. Sadly, they did not attend the meeting and therefore did not take their place up on the Council. The Council, as constituted, clearly does not require any authority from the “Trustees”.
The AGM of this Charity, and indeed any other Charity in the land, is a very important part of the management of the Charity. It is the place where members get the chance to vote on those people holding various positions within the Charity. It is also a place where members can make suggestions as to the way that the Charity is run. In short, it’s the one guaranteed day where members can have their say on the way that the Charity is run.
You the members, will note that at no time have the “Trustees” set aside a date for an AGM. They have set sail on a course which we, on the Council, say will lead to serious damage to the Charity and even its demise. At no time have they sought the views of the Members of the Charity. They deny that the Council has any authority to hold an AGM yet they make no suggestion for themselves to hold an AGM. Basically, these three, probably illegal, Trustees and the Vicar (for goodness’ sake) believe that they have no obligation to explain themselves and their actions to the members of the Charity or to the village of Heacham.
The Council has considered its position and it strongly believes that there is a requirement to hold an AGM and accordingly it will go ahead as planned. The Council asks that all members attend this meeting to give their views on the way that the Charity is going. It is also open to the Trustees to attend and perhaps explain to the members of the Charity why they have taken the legal action and answer any questions from the meeting.

A Direct, Factual Response to the Trustees’ Latest Public Statement
Let’s cut through the spin again and look at the actual rules of the 1921 Charity Commission Scheme that governs this charity. The Trustees' recent statement claims that Heacham Club Ltd (HCL) refused to recognise their authority. The truth is that at least two of them are not even properly appointed as trustees, and the Scheme itself does not recognise them. That is a serious risk to you. Beyond that, the Trustees are demanding power that the charity's own rulebook simply doesn’t give them.
Here is the plain-English reality check of their claims:
1. The Financial Reality (Replying to their Points 1 & 2)
• The Trustees claim: HCL refused to hand financial accounts over to them and that they had to report "irregularities" to the authorities.
• The Actual Rule (Clause 19): The 1921 rulebook explicitly states that club finances are to be provided to the Council—not to the Trustees. HCL has always followed the rules by reporting directly to the Council. If the Trustees wanted to see them, they should have attended the Council meetings. Furthermore, HCL uses professional accountants who fully certify the accounts.
• The Truth About the "Authorities": The Trustees took their financial claims to the police, explicitly accusing the club of Fraud and other wrongdoing. The police investigated, found the claims to be entirely without substance, and dropped the case completely without even interviewing the HCL directors. Bypassing the Council to make baseless criminal allegations to the police is a shameful way to treat local volunteers, and it is actively harmful to the charity.
2. The Power Illusion (Replying to their Points 3 & 6)
• The Trustees claim: HCL made decisions without "Trustee approval" and failed to recognise their authority.
• The Actual Rule (Clause 7): The Scheme rules explicitly stop the Trustees from running the day-to-day activities. Clause 7 states in black and white that the general management and control of the charity belongs to the Council. The Trustees hold seats on that democratic Council, but they do not have the right to dictate terms—and they haven't actually attended a single meeting in over three years. By demanding total executive power over the club, the Trustees are the ones breaking the 1921 rules—not the club, and not the Council.
3. The Myth of "Keeping the Club Open" (Replying to their Points 4 & 5)
• The Trustees claim: They want everything to "continue as normal" and hint at compliance or licensing issues.
• The Commercial Reality: Responsibly closing down a 25-year-old business under an active eviction order takes an immense amount of work. Under mandatory UK company law, HCL’s directors have a strict duty to look after their staff, manage redundancy regulations, and pay off suppliers first. They cannot legally risk the company or its insurance on optional events when a physical eviction could be just weeks away. Pausing the car boots, handling the necessary health and safety paperwork, and winding down stock is a legal necessity to protect the directors and staff. Apart from the paid staff, everyone else gives their considerable time completely for free to make this club the success it is.
4. Breaking the Trust of Volunteers
• The Trustees claim: They will seamlessly "reopen" the facilities once HCL is gone.
• The Practical Reality: They do not own the mowers, the tractors, the bar fittings, the stock, or the equipment. All of that belongs to HCL, who also maintains it. The club's contracts and insurance will remain in place strictly until the eviction, at which point much, if not all, of this equipment may need to be sold to cover the legal costs of closing down the business and meeting HCL's legal obligations.
• The Human Reality: You cannot kick an organisation out and expect to inherit the hearts and minds of the people who built it. The hard-working, unpaid volunteers who run the car boots get out of bed at 5:30 am on Wednesday mornings to support the club and the village. They do not work for the Trustees; they have worked for the community. These volunteers are already making it perfectly clear that they will not provide free labour to people they do not trust.
The Verdict HCL has completely respected the rules and reported to the proper, constitutional Council. It is the Trustees who have stepped outside their boundaries by bypassing the Council, pushing a destructive lawsuit, and turning the village, its members, and its volunteers into "trespassers."
They sued for physical possession of the land—that is all. They do not own the charity, they do not own the volunteers, and they do not own the members. They will now entirely own the responsibility for the loss of our community club. If the village is losing out, that sits squarely on the Trustees' shoulders—no one else's.
So, use your own eyes. You can clearly see how well the club and the charity have been running. After three years of doing absolutely nothing of value for this charity, all of a sudden, the Trustees want you to believe they are here to help.

The Heacham Fete Sunday 2nd August 2026

It is with regret that, due to the present circumstances, the organisers of the 2026 Fete have no alternative other than to cancel the event. They cannot guarantee who us will and will not be allowed on the Charity’s land at this time.

For further information please contact the ex-officio Trustee, The Reverand Wilson.