New community charity launched

A local community charity has been formed to help fund and improve facilities, activities and services for the community. The charity will provisionally be called Trotton Area Support Community Association (to be known as TASC-force) and its formation was part of the parish priorities action plan launched by the parish council last year, following its residents survey the previous autumn.

A working party comprising representatives of the parish council (Dominic Ferguson, Kathryn Mackellar and Neil Ryder), local church council (Amanda Townshend) and other residents (Jon Butler and Simon Southern) has agreed the legal structure and constitution, and will form its initial management committee to handle the set-up process. They will shortly send invitations to every household in the parish inviting residents to join the charity as free, voting members, to nominate potential trustees and to give their views about the charity's priorities and use of funds. It will then arrange an inaugural meeting at which new trustees will be elected and the charity's constitution will be adopted, so that it can be registered with the Charity Commission.

The parish council last night approved an initial start-up contribution of £2,000 to be transferred as soon as the charity has a bank account, as well as the transfer of £1,000 from the proceeds of the Trotton fete last year.

Newly elected chairman of the parish council, Max Maharajh, welcomed the launch and said: "We are lucky to live in a parish with a strong sense of community. 44% of households responded to our resident survey in late 2023 and it was clear there was a strong appetite for more community facilities, activities and support. We hope this new charity will attract even higher participation and funding for these parish priorities."