Governing Documents

The original governing documents were the Letters Patent signed by King Henry in 1545. These effectively remained in place until 1978, when the Charity Commission issued a new Scheme. In addition to the general rules that any charity is expected to follow, the Schemes and Orders issued by the Charity Commission set out a charity’s own obligations and powers.

The 1978 Scheme was a major overhaul of the governing documents and it was written by the Charity Commission after they had conducted a thorough review of the original intentions. The Church (represented by the Diocese of Coventry), Warwick Schools Foundation and the Town of Warwick (represented by Warwick Town Council) were all involved in the review.

Since 1978 there have been a number of additional Charity Commission Schemes and Orders issued for the Trust. These have mainly reflected the changes with the local Church of England parishes and how their share has been allocated amongst themselves.

These Schemes and Orders are effectively legal rules that the Trustees must follow. They have no discretion in respect of the Church or School shares. Their only discretion is on how to distribute the 20% Town Share by way of grants.

The key points from the Schemes and Orders are:

• Up to 12 Trustees:
  • 4 nominated by Bishop of Coventry, Archdeacon of Warwick, Warwick Schools Foundation, Warwick Town Council. They serve 4 year terms.
  • 8 co-opted who have knowledge of Warwick through residence, occupation or employment. They serve 5 year terms.
• The Permanent Endowment can be managed on a Total Returns basis.
  • Trustees have to decide how much can be distributed each year in such a manner that it is sustainable over the long term. [More detail in the Accounts]
• The annual distribution must be:
  • 50% to the Anglican churches in Warwick and Budbrooke:
    • Stipends and housing for the 5 parishes
    • Balance paid to the 5 Parochial Church Councils to be used for religious and charitable work of the Church of England in the parishes. St Mary’s gets 40% and the other 4 PCCs get 15% each. The Trustees can vary this percentage. [There is currently an agreement in place that reduces these percentages with the funds released then included in a Project Pool, which allows joint projects.]
  • 30% to the Warwick Schools Foundation
  • 20% for the benefit of the inhabitants of the Town of Warwick.
• Any questions about the construction or validity of the Schemes are to be determined by the Charity Commission.