FUTURE OF WOOTTON SCHOOL BUILDINGS

​

The site and buildings of Wootton school are owned by the historic parish charity, the Parrott & Lee Educational Foundation.   One of the main purposes of the charity is to make the school site and buildings available for the use of a school for local children.   When Wootton school is declared closed then the site and buildings will revert to the Foundation.

​

The Foundation is a charitable trust set up over 200 years ago to provide a school for local children, and give grants, bursaries and other support to help young people in the village pursue their education and training for work.   To discharge its main purpose the Foundation currently gives the school an annual grant and makes the site and buildings available free of charge. Separately from this, it also gives small grants to young people (up to 25 years of age) who live in the village and/or who attended Wootton school. 

​

When Wootton school closes, the main purpose of the charity will no longer be possible.  The charitable trust will therefore need to be revised; a process which will be subject to the oversight and approval of the Charity Commission. 

​

Under charity law, both the present Trustees and the Charity Commission are expected to go back to the original founding aims and ideas behind the trust and ask how best can these original aims be carried out in today’s circumstances.   If the buildings turn out to be no longer appropriate or needed for the revised purposes then they should be disposed of and the proceeds used to continue the work of the Foundation.

 

The first stage of this revision therefore needs to be a discussion about how best the original aims of helping those young people living in the village to secure the education or training to enable them to reach their full potential, or to pursue their chosen career or calling, can now be carried out.

If you have ideas of how the Foundation could or should develop in the future or have specific projects you feel would fit within these broad aims, then please make contact with me or one of the Trustees

​

JOHN HARWOOD - Chair & Trustee Parrott & Lee Educational Foundation

For more details you can reach us on woottonbywoodstock@hotmail.com